2 *Kings 11

₁When they told Ahaziah's mother, Athaliah, that her son had died, she immediately killed everyone in the family of King Ahaziah. ₂But Ahaziah's sister, Jehosheba, took Ahaziah's son Joash away from the other princes. No one knew about it. Athaliah killed all the other princes. Jehosheba was the daughter of King Joram. She hid Joash and the woman who had to look after him in a bedroom so that Athaliah could not get to him and kill him. ₃They hid Joash in the temple for 6 years while Athaliah ruled the land_of_Judah.

₄The next year the priest, Jehoiada, talked to the officers of the groups of 100 guards of the king and to the guards at the palace. He asked them to come to the temple. Jehoiada made an agreement with them. He asked them to promise in the temple that they would keep quiet and would not tell anyone, and then he showed them the prince. ₅Then he told the guards: ‘This is what you must do: When you are on guard on the Sabbath day, one 3rd of you must be on guard at the palace, ₆one 3rd of you must be on guard at the Sur Gate and one 3rd on guard at the gate behind the guards. Other groups must guard the palace after the first group. ₇The 2 groups who are not standing on guard on the Sabbath day must be on guard at the Lord's temple to look after the king. ₈You must stand around the king, each one with his weapon in his hand. If someone tries to go between you, then you must kill that person. You must always guard the king wherever he goes.’

₉The officers did what the priest Jehoiada told them to do. Each officer told his men to come, the men who were on guard on the Sabbath day and the guards who had finished working, and they came to the priest Jehoiada. ₁₀The priest gave the officers spears and shields. These spears and shields were in the temple and had belonged to King David a long time before. ₁₁All the guards stood around the king at the temple with their weapons in their hands. They stood from the southern side of the temple to the northern side near the altar.

₁₂The priest brought the prince out to them. He put a crown on the prince's head and he gave him a letter. In the letter it was written that they had chosen him to be king. They poured oil on his head and made him king. They clapped their hands and said: ‘Long live the king.’

₁₃Athaliah heard the guards and other people shouting. They were at the temple and she went to them. ₁₄When she got there, she saw the king standing at the pillar where the kings always stood. She also saw the officers and men who blew trumpets next to the king and she heard all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes and shouted: ‘You have betrayed me. You have betrayed me.’ ₁₅The priest Jehoiada told the officers of the army: ‘Take her and her followers outside, and kill them, but not here at the temple.’ ₁₆They took Athaliah to the gate where the horses went into the palace and they killed her there.

₁₇Jehoiada made a covenant with the Lord, the king and the people. They promised to be people of the Lord. Jehoiada also made a covenant between the king and the people. ₁₈All the people in the land then went to the temple of Baal and they destroyed it. They broke down the altars and idols and they killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, there at the altars. Jehoiada told the guards to stay at the temple of the Lord, ₁₉and then he took the officers and the king's guards and all the people of the land with him. They took the king from the temple through the gate of the guards to the palace. There they told him to sit on the throne. ₂₀All the people of the land rejoiced and the people in the city were happy because Athaliah had been killed at the palace. ₂₁Joash was 7 years old when he became king.