|
Chapter 23 |
| 1 | And in the
seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds,
Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the
son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri,
into covenant with him. |
| 2 | And they went about in Judah, and gathered
the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the chief of the fathers of
Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. |
| 3 | And all the congregation made a
covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the
king's son shall reign, as the LORD hath said of the sons of David. |
| 4 |
This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on the
sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the
doors; |
| 5 |
And a third part shall be at the king's house; and a third
part at the gate of the foundation: and all the people shall be in the courts
of the house of the LORD. |
|
6 | But let none come into the house of the
LORD, save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall go
in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the watch of the
LORD. |
| 7 |
And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man
with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever else cometh into the house, he
shall be put to death: but be ye with the king when he cometh in, and when he
goeth out. |
| 8
| So the Levites and all Judah did according to all things
that Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took every man his men that were to
come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go out on the sabbath: for
Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses. |
| 9 | Moreover
Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds spears, and bucklers,
and shields, that had been king David's, which were in the house of God.
|
| 10 | And he set all the people, every man having his weapon in his hand, from
the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar
and the temple, by the king round about. |
|
11 | Then they brought out the
king's son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made
him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the
king. |
| 12 |
Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and
praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the LORD:
|
| 13 | And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the
entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people
of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with
instruments of music, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her
clothes, and said, Treason, Treason. |
| 14 | Then Jehoiada the priest
brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto
them, Have her forth of the ranges: and whoso followeth her, let him be slain
with the sword. For the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the
LORD. |
| 15 |
So they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the
entering of the horse gate by the king's house, they slew her there. |
| 16 |
And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and
between the king, that they should be the LORD's people. |
| 17 | Then all
the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars
and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the
altars. |
| 18
| Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the
LORD by the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the
house of the LORD, to offer the burnt offerings of the LORD, as it is written
in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by
David. |
| 19
| And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the
LORD, that none which was unclean in any thing should enter in. |
| 20 | And
he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the
people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the king from the
house of the LORD: and they came through the high gate into the king's house,
and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom. |
| 21 | And all the
people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet, after that they had slain
Athaliah with the sword. |
