2 Chronicles 23

¹But in the seventh year Jehoiʹada took courage, and entered into a compact with the commanders of hundreds, Azariʹah the son of Jeroʹham, Ishʹmael the son of Jehohaʹnan, Azariʹah the son of Obed, Ma-aseiʹah the son of Adaiʹah, and Elishaʹphat the son of Zichri. ²And they went about through Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of fathers’ houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. ³And all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And Jehoiʹada said to them, “Behold, the king’s son! Let him reign, as the Lord spoke concerning the sons of David. ⁴This is the thing that you shall do: of you priests and Levites who come off duty on the sabbath, one third shall be gatekeepers, ⁵and one third shall be at the king’s house and one third at the Gate of the Foundation; and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶Let no one enter the house of the Lord except the priests and ministering Levites; they may enter, for they are holy, but all the people shall keep the charge of the Lord. ⁷The Levites shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand; and whoever enters the house shall be slain. Be with the king when he comes in, and when he goes out.”

⁸The Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiʹada the priest commanded. They each brought his men, who were to go off duty on the sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the sabbath; for Jehoiʹada the priest did not dismiss the divisions. ⁹And Jehoiʹada the priest delivered to the captains the spears and the large and small shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of God; ¹⁰and he set all the people as a guard for the king, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house. ¹¹Then he brought out the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they proclaimed him king, and Jehoiʹada and his sons anointed him, and they said, “Long live the king.”

¹²When Athaliʹah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she went into the house of the Lord to the people; ¹³and when she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and the singers with their musical instruments leading in the celebration. And Athaliʹah rent her clothes, and cried, “Treason! Treason!” ¹⁴Then Jehoiʹada the priest brought out the captains who were set over the army, saying to them, “Bring her out between the ranks; any one who follows her is to be slain with the sword.” For the priest said, “Do not slay her in the house of the Lord.” ¹⁵So they laid hands on her; and she went into the entrance of the horse gate of the king’s house, and they slew her there.

¹⁶And Jehoiʹada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king that they should be the Lord’s people. ¹⁷Then all the people went to the house of Baʹal, and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they slew Mattan the priest of Baʹal before the altars. ¹⁸And Jehoiʹada posted watchmen for the house of the Lord under the direction of the Levitical priests and the Levites whom David had organized to be in charge of the house of the Lord, to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, according to the order of David. ¹⁹He stationed the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the Lord so that no one should enter who was in any way unclean. ²⁰And he took the captains, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land; and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, marching through the upper gate to the king’s house. And they set the king upon the royal throne. ²¹So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet, after Athaliʹah had been slain with the sword.