2 Chronicles 23

Joash Crowned King & Athaliah Taken Out

1 In the seventh year, Jehoiada got bold and made a strong alliance with the commanders of the units of hundreds: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zichri.

2 They went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah and the heads of the Israelite families, and they came to Jerusalem.

3 The whole assembly made a covenant with the king in God’s temple. And Jehoiada told them, “Look, the king’s son is going to rule, just like the Lord promised about David’s family!”

4 “This is what y’all are going to do: A third of you, priests and Levites, who are coming on duty on the Sabbath, will guard the entrances.”

5 “Another third is going to be at the king’s palace, and another third at the Foundation Gate. And all the people are going to be in the courtyards of the Lord’s temple.”

6 “But do not let anybody go into the Lord’s temple except the priests and the serving Levites. They can go in, because they are holy. But all the other people are going to keep the Lord’s watch.”

7 “The Levites are going to surround the king, each man with his weapons in hand. Anyone who tries to bust into the temple needs to be killed. Stay with the king wherever he goes."

8 So the Levites and all Judah did everything Jehoiada the priest commanded. Each man took his troops, those coming on duty on the Sabbath and those going off duty on the Sabbath, because Jehoiada the priest had not dismissed the divisions.

9 Jehoiada the priest gave the commanders of hundreds King David’s spears and the large and small shields that were in God’s temple.

10 He positioned all the people, each man with his weapon in hand, from the south side of the temple to the north side, by the altar and the temple, all around the king.

11 Then they brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, and gave him the royal scroll. They made him king, and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him. And they yelled, “Long live the king!”

12 When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people in the Lord’s temple.

13 She looked, and look, the king was standing by his pillar at the entrance, with the commanders and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land were hyped up and blowing trumpets, and the singers were leading the praise with musical instruments. Athaliah ripped her clothes and yelled, “Treason! Treason!”

14 Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the commanders of hundreds who were in charge of the army and told them, “Bring her out between the ranks! And anyone who follows her, kill them with the sword!” Because the priest said, “She is not going to be killed in the Lord’s temple.”

15 So they laid hands on her, and when she got to the entrance of the Horses’ Gate to the king’s palace, they killed her there.

16 Jehoiada then made a covenant between himself, all the people, and the king, that they would be the Lord’s people.

17 Then all the people rolled up to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed his altars and his images into pieces, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.

18 Jehoiada set up the duties for the Lord’s temple under the priests, the Levites, whom David had divided into groups for the Lord’s temple, to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing, according to the arrangements of David.

19 He also put gatekeepers at the gates of the Lord’s temple so that no one unclean in any way could enter.

20 He took the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the Lord’s temple. They went through the Upper Gate to the king’s palace, and he sat on the royal throne.

21 So all the people of the land were hyped up, and the city was chill, because they had killed Athaliah with the sword.