2 Chronicles 23

1 And in the seventh year hath Jehoiada strengthened himself, and taketh 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, with him into covenant.

But in the seventh year, Jehoiada had the courage to act. He made a pledge with the commanders of hundreds: Azariah, son of Jeroham, Ishmael, son of Jehohanan, Azariah, son of Obed, Maaseiah, son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat, son of Zichri.

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

They traveled all over Judah and brought together the Levites from all the cities of Judah and the family leaders of Israel. When they came to Jerusalem,

3 and all the assembly make a covenant in the house of God with the king, and he saith to them, 'Lo, the son of the king doth reign, as Jehovah spake concerning the sons of David.

they all assembled at God's Temple and made a solemn agreement with the king. Jehoiada announced to them, “Look, here is the king's son and he must reign, just as the Lord promised the descendants of David would.

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

Here's what you have to do. One third of you priests and Levites who enter on the Sabbath shall guard the entrances.

5 and the third [are] at the house of the king, and the third at the gate of the foundation, and all the people [are] in the courts of the house of Jehovah.

Another third shall go over to the king's palace, while the last third shall be at the Foundation Gate. Everyone else stay in the courtyards of the Lord's Temple.

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

No one should enter the Lord's Temple except the priests and those Levites are serving. They can enter because they have been made holy, but everyone else must follow the Lord's commands.

7 and the Levites have compassed the king round about, each with his weapon in his hand, and he who hath gone in unto the house is put to death; and be ye with the king in his coming in and in his going out.'

The Levites shall surround the king, weapons in hand. Kill anyone who enters the Temple. Stay close to the king wherever he goes.”

8 And the Levites and all Judah do according to all that Jehoiada the priest hath commanded, and take each his men going in on the sabbath, with those going out on the sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest hath not let away the courses.

The Levites and all the people of Judah did everything that Jehoiada the priest told them. The commanders each brought his men, both those coming on duty on the Sabbath and those going off duty, for Jehoiada the priest had not dismissed any of the divisions.

9 And Jehoiada the priest giveth 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;

Jehoiada the priest provided the commanders with the spears and the large and small shields of King David that were in God's Temple.

10 and he stationeth the whole of the people, and each his dart in his hand, from the right shoulder of the house unto the left shoulder of the house, at the altar, and at the house, by the king, round about.

He placed them all, with their weapons in hand, to surround the king from the south side of the Temple to the north side, and near the altar and the Temple.

11 And they bring out the son of the king, and put upon him the crown, and the testimony, and cause him to reign; and Jehoiada and his sons anoint him, and say, 'Let the king live!'

Jehoiada and his sons then brought out the king's son, placed the crown on him, presented him with a copy of God's law, and proclaimed him king. They anointed him, and shouted out, “Long live the king!”

12 And Athaliah heareth the voice of the people who are running, and who are praising the king, and she cometh in unto the people in the house of Jehovah,

When Athaliah heard the noise of people running and shouting praise to the king, she rushed to the crowds at the Lord's Temple.

13 and seeth, and lo, 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 rendeth her garments, and saith, 'Conspiracy, conspiracy.'

She saw the king standing by his pillar at the entrance. The commanders and trumpeters were with the king, and everyone was celebrating and blowing trumpets as the singers with musical instruments led the praise. Athaliah ripped her clothes and screamed out, “Treason! Treason!”

14 And Jehoiada the priest bringeth out the heads of the hundreds, inspectors of the force, and saith unto them, 'Take her out from within the rows, and he who hath gone after her is put to death by the sword;' for the priest said, 'Put her not to death [in] the house of Jehovah.'

Jehoiada ordered the army commanders, “Bring her to the men standing in front of the Temple, and kill anyone who follows her.” Earlier the priest had made it clear, “She must not be killed in the Lord's Temple.”

15 And they make for her sides, and she cometh in unto the entrance of the gate of the horses at the house of the king, and they put her to death there.

They grabbed hold of her and took her to the entrance of the Horse Gate of the king's palace, and killed her there.

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

Then Jehoiada made a solemn agreement between himself and all the people and the king that they would be the Lord's people.

17 and all the people enter the house of Baal, and break it down, yea, his altars and his images they have broken, and Mattan priest of Baal they have slain before the altars.

Everyone went to the Temple of Baal and tore down its altars and smashed the idols. They killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, right in front of the altar.

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

Jehoiada placed the responsibility for the Lord's Temple in the hands of the Levitical priests. They were the ones whom David had appointed over the Lord's Temple to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, as is required by the Law of Moses, with celebration and singing, as David instructed.

19 and he stationeth the gatekeepers over the gates of the house of Jehovah, and the unclean in anything doth not go in.

He placed gatekeepers at the entrances to the Lord's Temple, so that no one unclean for any reason could enter.

20 And he taketh the heads of the hundreds, and the honourable ones, and the rulers among the people, and all the people of the land, and bringeth down the king from the house of Jehovah, 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.

Along with the commanders, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people, he led the king in a procession down from the Lord's Temple through the upper gate to the royal palace. There they set the king on the royal throne.

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

All throughout the land people celebrated, and Jerusalem was at peace, because Athaliah had been killed by the sword.