¶ Athaliah's Treachery and Joash's Reign
A reading from the Book of Second Kings. Now when Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. The daughter of King Joram. sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king's sons, who were being put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom.
Thus they hid him from Athaliah so that he was not put to death. And he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the Lord while Etheliah reigned over the land, and But in the seventh year Jehoidah sent and brought the captains of the Kerites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the Lord. And he made a covenant with them, and put them under oath in the house of the Lord, and he showed them the king's son. And he commanded them.
This is the thing that you shall do. One third of you, those who come off duty on the Sabbath and guard the king's house, another third being at the gate sure, and a third at the gate behind the guards, shall guard the palace. And the two divisions of you, which come on duty and force on the Sabbath, and guard the house of the Lord on behalf of the king, shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And whoever approaches the ranks is to be put to death.
Be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in. The captains did according to all that Jehoida the priest commanded, and they each brought his men who were to go off duty on the Sabbath with those who were to come on duty on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoida the priest. And the priests gave to the captains the spears and shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of the Lord.
And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand from the south side of the house to the north side of the house around the altar and the house on behalf of the king. Then he brought out the king's son, and put the crown on him, and gave him the testimony. and they proclaimed him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, Long live the king When Ethel heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the Lord to the people.
And when she looked. There was the king standing by the pillar, according to the custom, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpet. And Atheliah tore her clothes and cried Treason Treason Then Jehoida, the priest, commanded the captains who were set over the army, bring her out between the ranks, and put to death with the sword anyone who follows her.
For the priest said, Let her not be put to death in the house of the Lord. So they laid hands on her, and she went through the horse's entrance to the king's house, and there she was put to death. And Jehoidah made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, that they should be the Lord's people, and also between the king and the people.
Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal and tore down. His altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Matan, the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the Lord. And he took the captains, the Kerites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, marching through the gate of the guards to the king's house.
And he took his seat on the throne of the kings. So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Atheliah had been put to death with the sword at the king's house.
¶ King Joash Repairs the Temple
Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign. In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba. And Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days, because Jehoidah the priest instructed him. Nevertheless, the high places would not take it away. The people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places.
Jehoash said to the priests all the money of the holy things that is brought into the house of the Lord, the money for which each man is assessed, the money from the assessment of persons, and the money that a man's heart prompts him to bring into the house of the Lord, Let the priest take, each from his donor, and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered. But by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests had made no repairs on the house.
Therefore King Jehoash summoned Jehoeda, the priest, and the other priests, and said to them, Why are you not repairing the house? Now therefore take no more money from your donors, but hand it over for the repair of the house. So the priests agreed that they should take no more money from the people, and that they should not repair the house.
Then Jehoida the priest took a chest and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the Lord. And the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord. And whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, The king's secretary and the high priest came up, and they bagged and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord.
Then they would give the money that was weighed out into the hand of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the Lord. And they paid it out to the carpeters. and the builders who worked on the house of the Lord, and to the Masons and the Stone Cutters, as well as to buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the Lord, And for any outlay for the repairs of the house.
But there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or of silver, from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, for that was given to the workmen who were repairing the house of the Lord with it. And they did not ask for an accounting from the men, into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly,
The money from the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord. It belonged to the priest. At that time Hazael, king of Syria, went up and fought against Gath, and took it. But when Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem, Jehoash, King of Judah, took all the sacred gifts that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah his fathers, the kings of Judah, had dedicated.
and his own sacred gifts, and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king's house, and sent these to Hazael, king of Syria. Then Hazael went away from Jerusalem. Now the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? His servants arose and made a conspiracy, and struck down Joash in the house of Milo, on the way that goes down to Scylla.
It was Josekar, the son of Shimeath, and Jehazabad, the son of Shomer, his servants, who struck him down so that he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and Amaziah his son reigned in his place.
¶ Joash's Enthronement and Reforms
A reading from the book of Second Chronicles.
🔇 Silence
Now when Atheliah, the mother of Aziah, saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. But Jehoshab, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Aziah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be put to death.
And she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeth the daughter of King Jehoram, and wife of Jehoidah the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Atheliah, so that she did not put him to death. And he remained with them six years hidden in the house of God while Etheliah reigned over the land. But in the seventh year Jehorda took courage, and entered into a covenant with the commanders of hundreds of people.
Azarai the son of Jiroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azar the son of Obed, Masia, the son of Adeh, and Elishaphat, the son of Zikri. And they went about through Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of fathers houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. And all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God.
And Jehoodah said to them, Behold, the king's son, let him reign as the Lord spoke concerning the sons of David. This is the thing that you shall do. Of you priests and Levites who come off duty on the Sabbath, one third shall be gatekeepers, and one third shall be at the king's house, and one third at the gate of the foundation.
And all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord. Let no one enter the house of the Lord except the priests and ministering Levites. They may enter, for they are holy. But all the people shall keep the charge of the Lord. The Levites shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And whoever enters the house shall be put to death.
Be with the king when he comes in, and when he goes out. The Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehorada the priest commanded. And they each brought his men who were to go off duty on the Sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the Sabbath, for Jehoida the priest did not dismiss the division. And Joada the priest gave to the captains the spears, and the large and small shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of God.
And he set all the people as a guard for the king, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house. Then they brought out the king's son and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony. And they proclaimed him king, and Jehoidah and his sons anointed him, and they said, Long live the king.
When Ethelai heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she went into the house of the Lord to the people, and when she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance. And the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and the singers with their musical instruments leading in the celebration. And Atheliah tore her clothes and cried, Treason, treason.
Then Jehorda the priest brought out the captains who were set over the army, saying to them, Bring her out between the ranks, and anyone who follows her is to be put to death with the sword. For the priest said, Do not put her to death in the house of the Lord. So they laid hands on her, and she went into the entrance of the horse gate of the king's house, and they put her to death there.
And Jehoda made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king, that they should be the Lord's people. Then all the people went to the house of Baal and tore down his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Matan, the priest of Baal before the altars. And Jehoida posted watchmen for the house of the Lord, under the direction of the Levitical priests and the Levites, whom David had organized to be in charge of the house of the Lord.
To offer burnt offerings to the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, according to the order of David. He stationed the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the Lord, so that no one should enter who was in any way unclean.
And he took the captains, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, marching through the upper gate to the king's house, and they set the king on the royal throne. So all the people of the land rejoiced. And the city was quiet after Atheliah had been put to death with the sword.
¶ Temple Repair, Apostasy, and Joash's Death
Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibia of Beersheba. And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoah the priest. Jehoeda got for him two wives, and he had sons and daughters.
After this Joash decided to restore the house of the Lord. And he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, Go out to the cities of Judah and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you act quickly. But the Levites did not act quickly.
So the king summoned Jehoodah the chief, and said to him Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the congregation of Israel for the tent of testimony? For the sons of Athelai, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord for the Baal. So the king commanded, and they made a chest, and set it outside the gate of the house of the Lord.
And proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness. And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought their tax, and dropped it into the chest until they had finished. And whenever the chest was brought to the king's offices by the Levites, when they saw that there was much money in it,
The king's secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest, and take it and return it to its place. Thus they did day after day, and collected money in abundance. And the king and Jehoida gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the Lord. And they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord. And also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the Lord.
So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward in their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it. And when they had finished They brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoday And with it were made utensils for the house of the Lord, both for the service and for the burnt offerings, and dishes for incense and vessels of gold and silver.
And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord regularly all the days of Jehorda. But Jehoida grew old and full of days and died. He was one hundred thirty years old at his death, and they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel and toward God in his house. Now after the death of Jehorada, the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king.
Then the king listened to them, and they abandoned the house of the Lord, the god of their fathers, and served the Asharim and the Idol. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. These testified against them, but they would not pay attention. Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah, the son of Jehoidah, the priest, and he stood above the people and said to them,
Thus says God, Why do you break the commandments of the Lord so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you. But they conspired against him, and by command of the king, they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoida, Zechariah's father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying he said, May the Lord see and avenge.
At the end of the year, the army of the Syrians came up against Joab. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, the Lord delivered into their hand a very great army, because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the god of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Joab.
When they had departed from him, leaving him severely wounded, his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoedah the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. Those who conspired against him were Zabad, the son of Shimeath, the Ammonite, and Jehosabad, the son of Shimrith, the Moabite, the
Accounts of his sons and of the many oracles against him, and of the rebuilding of the house of God, are written in the story of the book of the Kings. And Amazai his son reigned in his