II Chronicles 21-24

II Chronicles 21

¹And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.

²And he had brethren the sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah: all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.

³And their father gave them great gifts, of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fenced cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn.

⁴Now when Jehoram was risen up over the kingdom of his father, and had strengthened himself, he slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers also of the princes of Israel.

⁵Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

⁶And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.

⁷Howbeit the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a lamp to him and to his children alway.

⁸In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves.

⁹Then Jehoram passed over with his captains, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him about, and the captains of the chariots.

¹⁰So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, unto this day: then did Libnah revolt at the same time from under his hand: because he had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers.

¹¹Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and made the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, and led Judah astray.

¹²And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah;

¹³but hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like as the house of Ahab did; and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself:

¹⁴behold, the LORD will smite with a great plague thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy substance:

¹⁵and thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness, day by day.

¹⁶And the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians which are beside the Ethiopians:

¹⁷and they came up against Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

¹⁸And after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease.

¹⁹And it came to pass, in process of time, at the end of two years, that his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness, and he died of sore diseases. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.

²⁰Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years: and he departed without being desired; and they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

II Chronicles 22

¹And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his stead: for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.

²Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri.

³He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly.

⁴And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did the house of Ahab: for they were his counsellors: after the death of his father, to his destruction.

⁵He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead: and the Syrians wounded Joram.

⁶And he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which they had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

⁷Now the destruction of Ahaziah was of God, in that he went unto Joram: for when he was come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.

⁸And it came to pass, when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, that he found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, ministering to Ahaziah, and slew them.

⁹And he sought Ahaziah, and they caught him, (now he was hiding in Samaria,) and they brought him to Jehu, and slew him; and they buried him, for they said; He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart. And the house of Ahaziah had no power to hold the kingdom.

¹⁰Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah.

¹¹But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in the bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not.

¹²And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land.

II Chronicles 23

¹And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him.

²And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the heads of fathers’ houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

³And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the LORD hath spoken concerning the sons of David.

⁴This is the thing that ye shall do: a third part of you, that come in on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the doors;

⁵and a third part shall be at the king’s house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation: and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the LORD.

⁶But let none come into the house of the LORD, save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall come in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD.

⁷And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever cometh into the house, let him be slain: and be ye with the king when he cometh in, and when he goeth out.

⁸So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they took every man his men, those that were to come in on the sabbath, with those that were to go out on the sabbath; for Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses.

⁹And Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds the spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David’s, which were in the house of God.

¹⁰And he set all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, by the king round about.

¹¹Then they brought out the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony, and made him king: and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him; and they said, God save the king.

¹²And when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the LORD:

¹³and she looked, and, behold, the king stood by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets; the singers also played on instruments of music, and led the singing of praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, treason.

¹⁴And Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth between the ranks; and whoso followeth her, let him be slain with the sword: for the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the LORD.

¹⁵So they made way for her; and she went to the entry of the horse gate to the king’s house: and they slew her there.

¹⁶And Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, and all the people, and the king, that they should be the LORD’S people.

¹⁷And all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.

¹⁸And Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the LORD under the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the LORD, to offer the burnt offerings of the LORD, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, according to the order of David.

¹⁹And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the LORD, that none which was unclean in any thing should enter in.

²⁰And he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the king from the house of the LORD: and they came through the upper gate unto the king’s house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.

²¹So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet: and they slew Athaliah with the sword.

II Chronicles 24

¹Joash was seven years old when he began to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.

²And Joash did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

³And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters.

⁴And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to restore the house of the LORD.

⁵And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened it not.

⁶And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the tax of Moses the servant of the LORD, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tent of the testimony?

⁷For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD did they bestow upon the Baalim.

⁸So the king commanded, and they made a chest, and set it without at the gate of the house of the LORD.

⁹And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in for the LORD the tax that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness.

¹⁰And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end.

¹¹And it was so, that at what time the chest was brought unto the king’s office by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king’s scribe and the chief priest’s officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to its place again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.

¹²And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the LORD; and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the LORD, and also such as wrought iron and brass to repair the house of the LORD.

¹³So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they set up the house of God in its state, and strengthened it.

¹⁴And when they had made an end, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of the LORD, even vessels to minister, and to offer withal, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada.

¹⁵But Jehoiada waxed old and was full of days, and he died; an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.

¹⁶And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.

¹⁷Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.

¹⁸And they forsook the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guiltiness.

¹⁹Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.

²⁰And the spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.

²¹And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.

²²Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it.

²³And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the army of the Syrians came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus.

²⁴For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men; and the LORD delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. So they executed judgment upon Joash.

²⁵And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.

²⁶And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess.

²⁷Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens laid upon him, and the rebuilding of the house of God, behold, they are written in the commentary of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.