The One Year Bible for Men - Flipbook - Page 90
July 28
one year. His mother was Athaliah, a grand
daughter of King Omri. 3 Ahaziah also followed
the evil example of King Ahab’s family, for his
mother encouraged him in doing wrong. 4 He
did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as
Ahab’s family had done. They even became his
advisers after the death of his father, and they
led him to ruin.
5 Following their evil advice, Ahaziah joined
Joram,* the son of King Ahab of Israel, in his
war against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-
gilead. When the Arameans* wounded Joram
in the battle, 6 he returned to Jezreel to recover
from the wounds he had received at Ramoth.*
Because Joram was wounded, King Ahaziah*
of Judah went to Jezreel to visit him.
7 But God had decided that this visit would
be Ahaziah’s downfall. While he was there,
Ahaziah went out with Joram to meet Jehu
grandson of Nimshi,* whom the Lord had ap
pointed to destroy the dynasty of Ahab.
8 While Jehu was executing judgment
against the family of Ahab, he happened to
meet some of Judah’s officials and Ahaziah’s
relatives* who were traveling with Ahaziah.
So Jehu killed them all. 9 Then Jehu’s men
searched for Ahaziah, and they found him
hiding in the city of Samaria. They brought
him to Jehu, who killed him. Ahaziah was
given a decent burial because the people said,
“He was the grandson of Jehoshaphat—a
man who sought the Lord with all his heart.”
But none of the surviving members of Ahazi
ah’s family was capable of ruling the kingdom.
10 When Athaliah, the mother of King Aha
ziah of Judah, learned that her son was dead,
she began to destroy the rest of Judah’s royal
family. 11 But Ahaziah’s sister Jehosheba,* the
daughter of King Jehoram, took Ahaziah’s
infant son, Joash, and stole him away from
among the rest of the king’s children, who
were about to be killed. She put Joash and
his nurse in a bedroom. In this way, Jehosh
eba, wife of Jehoiada the priest and sister of
Ahaziah, hid the child so that Athaliah could
not murder him. 12 Joash remained hidden in
the Temple of God for six years while Athaliah
ruled over the land.
23:1 In
the seventh year of Athaliah’s reign,
Jehoiada the priest decided to act. He sum
moned his courage and made a pact with five
army commanders: Azariah son of Jeroham,
Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of
Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat
son of Zicri. 2 These men traveled secretly
throughout Judah and summoned the Levites
and clan leaders in all the towns to come to
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Jerusalem. 3 They all gathered at the Temple of
God, where they made a solemn pact with Jo
ash, the young king.
Jehoiada said to them, “Here is the king’s
son! The time has come for him to reign! The
Lord has promised that a descendant of Da
vid will be our king. 4 This is what you must do.
When you priests and Levites come on duty
on the Sabbath, a third of you will serve as
gatekeepers. 5 Another third will go over to the
royal palace, and the final third will be at the
Foundation Gate. Everyone else should stay in
the courtyards of the Lord’s Temple. 6 Remem
ber, only the priests and Levites on duty may
enter the Temple of the Lord, for they are set
apart as holy. The rest of the people must obey
the Lord’s instructions and stay outside. 7 You
Levites, form a bodyguard around the king
and keep your weapons in hand. Kill anyone
who tries to enter the Temple. Stay with the
king wherever he goes.”
8 So the Levites and all the people of Judah
did everything as Jehoiada the priest ordered.
The commanders took charge of the men re
porting for duty that Sabbath, as well as those
who were going off duty. Jehoiad
a the priest
did not let anyone go home after their shift
ended. 9 Then Jehoiada supplied the com
manders with the spears and the large and
small shields that had once belonged to King
David and were stored in the Temple of God.
10 He stationed all the people around the king,
with their weapons ready. They formed a line
from the south side of the Temple around to
the north side and all around the altar.
11 Then Jehoiada and his sons brought out
Joash, the king’s son, placed the crown on his
head, and p
resented him with a copy of God’s
laws.* They anointed him and proclaimed
him king, and everyone shouted, “Long live
the king!”
12 When Ath
aliah heard the noise of the
people running and the shouts of praise to the
king, she hurried to the Lord’s Temple to see
what was happening. 13 When she arrived, she
saw the newly crowned king standing in his
place of authority by the pillar at the Temple
entrance. The commanders and trumpet
ers were surrounding him, and people from
all over the land were rejoicing and blowing
trumpets. Singers with musical instruments
were leading the people in a great celebra
tion. When Athal iah saw all this, she tore her
clothes in despair and shouted, “Treason!
Treason!”
14 Then Jehoiada the priest ordered the com
manders who were in charge of the troops,
“Take her to the soldiers in front of the Temple,*
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