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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. |
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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: |
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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. |
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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. |
