< 2 Chronicles 22 >
1 And the inhabitants of Jerusalem cause his youngest son Ahaziah to reign in his stead (for the troop had slain all the chiefly that came in with the Arabians to the camp), and Ahaziah son of Jehoram, king of Judah, reigns.
The people of Jerusalem appointed Jehoram’s youngest son Ahaziah as their king, because the men [from Philistia] who had invaded Judah with some Arabs had killed all of Jehoram’s other sons. So Ahaziah started to rule Judah.
2 Ahaziah [is] a son of twenty-two years in his reigning, and he has reigned one year in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Athaliah daughter of Omri;
Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of [King] Omri [of Israel].
3 he has also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother has been his counselor to do wickedly.
King Ahaziah conducted his life just like the members of Ahab’s family had done, because his mother encouraged him to do things that are evil.
4 And he does evil in the eyes of YHWH, like the house of Ahab, for they have been his counselors, after the death of his father, for destruction to him.
He did things that Yahweh considers to be evil, like the descendants of Ahab had done, because after Ahaziah’s father died, they became his advisors. And Ahaziah died as a result of heeding their bad advice.
5 Also, he has walked in their counsel, and goes with Jehoram son of Ahab, king of Israel, to battle against Hazael king of Aram in Ramoth-Gilead, and they of Ramah strike Joram;
He also did what they advised when he went with Joram, the son of King Ahab of Israel, to fight against the army of Hazael, the king of Syria, at Ramoth-Gilead.
6 and he turns back to be healed in Jezreel because of the wounds with which they had struck him in Ramah, in his fighting with Hazael king of Aram. And Azariah son of Jehoram, king of Judah, has gone down to see Jehoram son of Ahab in Jezreel, for he [is] sick;
Then King Ahaziah went down to Jezreel [city] to see Joram, the son of [King] Ahab, because he had been wounded.
7 and to come to Joram has been from God [for] the destruction of Ahaziah; and in his coming he has gone out with Jehoram to Jehu son of Nimshi, whom YHWH anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.
It was during that visit that God caused Ahaziah to die. When Ahaziah arrived, he went with Joram to meet Jehu, the son of Nimshi, whom Yahweh had appointed to kill all the descendants of Ahab.
8 And it comes to pass, in Jehu’s executing judgment with the house of Ahab, that he finds the heads of Judah and sons of the brothers of Ahaziah, ministers of Ahaziah, and slays them.
While Jehu [and the men who were with him] were killing the descendants of Ahab, they found the leaders of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s relatives who had been working for Ahaziah, and they killed all of them.
9 And he seeks Ahaziah, and they capture him (and he is hiding himself in Samaria), and bring him to Jehu, and put him to death, and bury him, for they said, “He [is] son of Jehoshaphat, who sought YHWH with all his heart”; and there is none of the house of Ahaziah to retain power for the kingdom.
Then Jehu went to find Ahaziah, and his soldiers found Ahaziah while he was hiding in Samaria [city]. They brought him to Jehu and executed him. Then they buried his corpse, because they said, “[He deserves to be buried, because] he was a descendant of Jehoshaphat, who tried hard to please Yahweh.” There were no descendants of Ahaziah who were powerful enough to become the kings of Judah.
10 And Athaliah mother of Ahaziah has seen that her son is dead, and she rises and destroys the whole seed of the kingdom of the house of Judah.
When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son had been killed, she commanded that all the members of Ahaziah’s family [who might become king] must be executed.
11 And Jehoshabeath daughter of the king takes Joash son of Ahaziah, and steals him from the midst of the sons of the king who are put to death, and puts him and his nurse into the inner part of the bed-chambers, and Jehoshabeath daughter of King Jehoram, wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she has been sister of Ahaziah, hides him from the face of Athaliah, and she has not put him to death.
But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram, took Joash, Ahaziah’s very young son, away from the other sons of the king who were about to be murdered, and she hid him and his nursemaid in a bedroom in the temple. Because Jehosheba, who was the daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of the Supreme Priest Jehoiada, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid the child, with the result that Athaliah could not kill him.
12 And he is with them in the house of God hiding himself [for] six years, and Athaliah is reigning over the land.
He remained hidden there for six years while Athaliah ruled [Judah].