II Chronicles 21-24

II Chronicles 21

¹And Jehoshaphat lieth with his fathers, and is buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigneth in his stead.

²And he hath brethren, sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah; all these are sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel,

³and their father giveth to them many gifts of silver and of gold, and of precious things, with fenced cities in Judah, and the kingdom he hath given to Jehoram, for He is the first-born.

⁴And Jehoram riseth up over the kingdom of his father, and strengtheneth himself, and slayeth all his brethren with the sword, and also -- of the heads of Israel.

⁵A son of thirty and two years is Jehoram in his reigning, and eight years he hath reigned in Jerusalem,

⁶and he walketh in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab, for a daughter of Ahab hath been to him for a wife, and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah,

⁷and Jehovah hath not been willing to destroy the house of David, for the sake of the covenant that He made with David, and as He had said to give to him a lamp, and to his sons -- all the days.

⁸In his days hath Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and cause a king to reign over them;

⁹and Jehoram passeth over with his heads, and all the chariots with him, and it cometh to pass, he hath risen by night and smiteth the Edomites who are coming round against him, and the princes of the chariots,

¹⁰and Edom revolteth from under the hand of Judah unto this day; then doth Libnah revolt at that time from under his hand, because he hath forsaken Jehovah, God of his fathers,

¹¹also, he hath made high places in the mountains of Judah, and causeth the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit whoredom, and compelleth Judah.

¹²And there cometh in unto him a writing from Elijah the prophet, saying, ‘Thus said Jehovah, God of David thy father, Because that thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, and in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

¹³and thou dost walk in the way of the kings of Israel, and dost cause Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit whoredom like the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also thy brethren, the house of thy father, who are better than thyself, thou hast slain;

¹⁴lo, Jehovah is smiting -- a great smiting -- among thy people, and among thy sons, and among thy wives, and among all thy goods --

¹⁵and thou, with many sicknesses, with disease of thy bowels, till thy bowels come out, by the sickness, day by day.'

¹⁶And Jehovah waketh up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, who are beside the Cushim,

¹⁷and they come up into Judah, and rend it, and take captive all the substance that is found at the house of the king, and also his sons, and his wives, and there hath not been left to him a son except Jehoahaz the youngest of his sons.

¹⁸And after all this hath Jehovah plagued him in his bowels by a disease for which there is no healing,

¹⁹and it cometh to pass, from days to days, and at the time of the going out of the end of two years, his bowels have gone out with his sickness, and he dieth of sore diseases, and his people have not made for him a burning like the burning of his fathers.

²⁰A son of thirty and two years was he in his reigning, and eight years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and he goeth without desire, and they bury him in the city of David, and not in the graves of the kings.

II Chronicles 22

¹And the inhabitants of Jerusalem cause Ahaziah his youngest son to reign in his stead, (for all the elder had the troop slain that came in with the Arabians to the camp,) and Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah reigneth.

²A son of twenty and two years is Ahaziah in his reigning, and one year he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother is Athaliah daughter of Omri;

³he also hath walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother hath been his counsellor to do wickedly.

⁴And he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, like the house of Ahab, for they have been his counsellors, after the death of his father, for destruction to him.

⁵Also, in their counsel he hath walked, and goeth with Jehoram son of Ahab king of Israel to battle against Hazael king of Aram, in Ramoth-Gilead, and they of Ramah smite Joram;

⁶and he turneth back to be healed in Jezreel because of the wounds with which they had smitten him in Ramah, in his fighting with Hazael king of Aram. And Azariah son of Jehoram king of Judah hath gone down to see Jehoram son of Ahab, in Jezreel, for he is sick;

⁷and from God hath been the destruction of Ahaziah, to come unto Joram: and in his coming he hath gone out with Jehoram unto Jehu son of Nimshi, whom Jehovah anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.

⁸And it cometh to pass, in Jehu's executing judgment with the house of Ahab, that he findeth the heads of Judah and sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, ministers of Ahaziah, and slayeth them.

⁹And he seeketh Ahaziah, and they capture him, (and he is hiding himself in Samaria), and bring him in unto Jehu, and put him to death, and bury him, for they said, ‘He is son of Jehoshaphat, who sought Jehovah with all his heart;' and there is none to the house of Ahaziah to retain power for the kingdom.

¹⁰And Athaliah mother of Ahaziah hath seen that her son is dead, and she riseth and destroyeth the whole seed of the kingdom of the house of Judah.

¹¹And Jehoshabeath daughter of the king taketh Joash son of Ahaziah, and stealeth him from the midst of the sons of the king who are put to death, and putteth 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 hath been sister of Ahaziah, hideth him from the face of Athaliah, and she hath not put him to death.

¹²And he is with them in the house of God hiding himself six years, and Athaliah is reigning over the land.

II Chronicles 23

¹And 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.

²And 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,

³and 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.

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,

⁵and 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.

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:

⁷and 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.'

⁸And 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.

⁹And 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;

¹⁰and 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.

¹¹And 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!'

¹²And 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,

¹³and 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.'

¹⁴And 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.'

¹⁵And 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.

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

¹⁷and 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.

¹⁸And 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;

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

²⁰And 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.

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

II Chronicles 24

¹A son of seven years is Joash in his reigning, and forty years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother is Zibiah of Beer-Sheba.

²And Joash doth that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

³And Jehoiada taketh for him two wives, and he begetteth sons and daughters.

⁴And it cometh to pass after this, it hath been with the heart of Joash to renew the house of Jehovah,

⁵and he gathereth the priests and the Levites, and saith to them, ‘Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to strengthen the house of your God sufficiently year by year, and ye, ye do haste to the matter;' and the Levites have not hasted.

⁶And the king calleth for Jehoiada the head, and saith to him, ‘Wherefore hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the tribute of Moses, servant of Jehovah, and of the assembly of Israel, for the tent of the testimony?

⁷for sons of Athaliah, the wicked one, have broken up the house of God, and also, all the holy things of the house of Jehovah they have prepared for Baalim.'

⁸And the king speaketh, and they make one chest, and put it at the gate of the house of Jehovah without,

⁹and give an intimation in Judah and in Jerusalem to bring in to Jehovah the tribute of Moses, servant of God, laid on Israel in the wilderness.

¹⁰And all the heads, and all the people rejoice, and they bring in, and cast into the chest, unto completion.

¹¹And it cometh to pass, at the time one bringeth in the chest for the inspection of the king by the hand of the Levites, and at their seeing that the money is abundant, that a scribe of the king hath come in, and an officer of the head-priest, and they empty the chest, and take it up and turn it back unto its place; thus they have done day by day, and gather money in abundance.

¹²And the king and Jehoiada give it unto the doers of the work of the service of the house of Jehovah, and they are hiring hewers and artificers to renew the house of Jehovah, and also -- to artificers in iron and brass to strengthen the house of Jehovah.

¹³And those doing the business work, and there goeth up lengthening to the work by their hand, and they establish the house of God, by its proper measure, and strengthen it.

¹⁴And at their completing it, they have brought in before the king and Jehoiada the rest of the money, and they make it vessels for the house of Jehovah, vessels of serving, and of offering up, and spoons, even vessels of gold and silver; and they are causing burnt-offerings to ascend in the house of Jehovah continually, all the days of Jehoiada.

¹⁵And Jehoiada is aged and satisfied with days, and dieth -- a son of a hundred and thirty years in his death,

¹⁶and they bury him in the city of David, with the kings, for he hath done good in Israel, and with God, and his house.

¹⁷And after the death of Jehoiada come in have heads of Judah, and bow themselves to the king; then hath the king hearkened unto them,

¹⁸and they forsake the house of Jehovah, God of their fathers, and serve the shrines and the idols, and there is wrath upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt.

¹⁹And He sendeth among them prophets, to bring them back unto Jehovah, and they testify against them, and they have not given ear;

²⁰and the Spirit of God hath clothed Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, and he standeth over-against the people, and saith to them, ‘Thus said God, Why are ye transgressing the commands of Jehovah, and prosper not? because ye have forsaken Jehovah -- He doth forsake you.'

²¹And they conspire against him, and stone him with stones by the command of the king, in the court of the house of Jehovah,

²²and Joash the king hath not remembered the kindness that Jehoiada his father did with him, and slayeth his son, and in his death he said, ‘Jehovah doth see, and require.'

²³And it cometh to pass, at the turn of the year, come up hath the force of Aram against him, and they come in unto Judah and Jerusalem, and destroy all the heads of the people from the people, and all their spoil they have sent to the king of Damascus,

²⁴for with few men have the force of Aram come in, and Jehovah hath given into their hand a mighty force for multitude, because they have forsaken Jehovah, God of their fathers; and with Joash they have executed judgments.

²⁵And in their going from him -- for they left him with many diseases -- his servants themselves have conspired against him, for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slay him on his bed, and he dieth; and they bury him in the city of David, and have not buried him in the graves of the kings.

²⁶And these are those conspiring against him, Zabad son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad son of Shimrith the Moabitess.

²⁷As to his sons, and the greatness of the burden upon him, and the foundation of the house of God, lo, they are written on the ‘Inquiry' of the book of the Kings; and reign doth Amaziah his son in his stead.