2 Chronicles 23

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

After Joash had been hidden in the temple for six years, Jehoiada the priest decided that it was necessary to do something. So he made an agreement with the army commanders of groups of 100 soldiers: Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zicri.

2 And they go around in Judah, and gather the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and heads of the fathers of Israel, and come to Jerusalem,

They went throughout Judah and gathered the descendants of Levi and the leaders of Israeli families from all the towns. When they came to Jerusalem,

3 and all the assembly make a covenant in the house of God with the king, and he says to them, “Behold, the son of the king reigns, as YHWH spoke concerning the sons of David.

the whole group went to the temple and made an agreement with the young king there. Jehoiada said to them, “This is the son of the previous king of Judah. So he is the one who must rule, like Yahweh promised that the descendants of King David must do.

4 This [is] the thing that you do: the third of you, going in on the Sabbath, of the priests, and of the Levites, [are] for gatekeepers of the thresholds,

“So this is what you must do: One-third of you priests and other descendants of Levi who are starting their work on the Sabbath day must guard the doors [of the temple].

5 and the third [are] at the house of the king, and the third at the Foundation Gate, and all the people [are] in the courts of the house of YHWH.

One-third of you must guard the king’s palace, and one-third of you must guard the Foundation Gate. All the other people will be in the courtyards outside the temple.

6 And none enter the house of YHWH except the priests, and those ministering of the Levites (they go in for they [are] holy), and all the people keep the watch of YHWH;

Only the priests and the descendants of Levi who work there will enter the temple. They will be allowed to enter the temple because they are set apart [for that work]. All the others must remain in the courtyards, obeying what Yahweh has commanded.

7 and the Levites have surrounded the king all around, each with his weapon in his hand, and he who has gone into the house is put to death; and be with the king in his coming in and in his going out.”

You descendants of Levi must stand around the young king, each of you with your weapon in your hand. Anyone else who tries to enter the temple you must kill. And stay close to the young king, wherever he goes.”

8 And the Levites and all Judah do according to all that Jehoiada the priest has commanded, and each takes his men going in on the Sabbath, with those going out on the Sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest has not let away the divisions.

So the descendants of Levi and all [the men of] Judah did what Jehoiada had told them. He did not allow anyone to go home after having finished his work on that Sabbath day. Each commander took charge of his men, the ones who were finishing their work on that day and those who were starting their work on that day.

9 And Jehoiada the priest gives to the heads of the hundreds the spears, and the shields, and the bucklers that [are] King David’s, that [are] in the house of God;

Then Jehoiada gave each of the commanders the spears and the large and small shields that had been put there in the temple by King David.

10 and he stations the whole of the people, and each [with] his dart in his hand, from the right shoulder of the house to the left shoulder of the house, at the altar, and at the house, by the king, all around.

He commanded all the guards to stand in their positions, each with his sword in his hand, all around the king—around the altar and the temple, from the north side to the south side.

11 And they bring out the son of the king, and put the crown on him, and [give him] the Testimony, and cause him to reign; and Jehoiada and his sons anoint him, and say, “Let the king live!”

Then Jehoiada and his sons brought Joash out. They put a crown on his head and gave him [a scroll] on which were written the rules [that the kings needed to obey], and proclaimed that he was now the king. They anointed him with olive oil and shouted, “We hope that the king will live for many years!”

12 And Athaliah hears the voice of the people who are running, and who are praising the king, and she comes to the people [in] the house of YHWH,

When Athaliah heard the noise being made by the people running [toward the king] and cheering, she ran to the temple.

13 and sees, and behold, the king is standing by his pillar in the entrance, and the heads, and the trumpets [are] by the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and shouting with trumpets, and the singers with instruments of song, and the teachers, to praise, and Athaliah tears her garments and says, “Conspiracy! Conspiracy!”

She saw the young king there, standing alongside the pillar at the entrance of the temple, [which is the place at the temple] where the kings usually stood. The army commanders and trumpet players were standing beside the king, and all the people of Judah were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and singers with their musical instruments were leading the people while they praised God. Then Athaliah tore her robes and started screaming, “You are committing treason!”

14 And Jehoiada the priest brings out the heads of the hundreds, inspectors of the force, and says to them, “Take her out from within the rows, and he who has gone after her is put to death by the sword”; for the priest said, “Do not put her to death [in] the house of YHWH.”

Jehoiada the Supreme Priest said to the army commanders, “Kill her, but do not kill her at the temple of Yahweh!” Then he said to them, “Bring Athaliah out in front of the troops and kill anyone who tries to follow her!”

15 And they make sides for her, and she comes to the entrance of the Horse Gate at the house of the king, and they put her to death there.

[She tried to flee, but] they seized her as she reached the gate where horses enter the palace area, and they killed her there.

16 And Jehoiada makes a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king, to be for a people to YHWH;

Then Jehoiada made an agreement that he and the king and all the other people would be Yahweh’s people.

17 and all the people enter the house of Ba‘al, and break it down, indeed, they have broken his altars and his images, and they have slain Mattan priest of Ba‘al before the altars.

Then all the people who were there went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars [of Baal]. They also killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of those altars.

18 And Jehoiada puts the offices of the house of YHWH into the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had apportioned over the house of YHWH, to cause the burnt-offerings of YHWH to ascend, as written in the Law of Moses, with joy, and with singing, by the hands of David;

Then Jehoiada appointed the priests, who were also descended from Levi, to work at the temple. They were part of the group to whom King David had given various jobs at the temple, to sacrifice the animals that were to be completely burned on the altar, doing what was written in the laws that Moses had given to them. He also told them to rejoice and sing, which was also what David had commanded.

19 and he stations the gatekeepers over the gates of the house of YHWH, and the unclean in anything do not go in.

He also put guards at the gates of the temple in order that anyone who was unacceptable to God would not be allowed to enter.

20 And he takes the heads of the hundreds, and the majestic ones, and the rulers among the people, and all the people of the land, and brings down the king from the house of YHWH, and they come in through the high gate to the house of the king, and cause the king to sit on the throne of the kingdom.

Jehoiada took with him the army commanders, the important men, the leaders and many others, and brought the king down from the temple. They went into the palace through the Upper Gate, and put the king on his throne.

21 And all the people of the land rejoice, and the city has been quiet, and they have put Athaliah to death by the sword.

Then all the people of Judah rejoiced. And there was calm throughout the city, because Athaliah had been killed.