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Athaliah Reigns over Judah

11Now when Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, saw that her son was dead, she set about to destroy all the royal family. ²But Jehosheba, King Joram’s daughter, Ahaziah’s sister, took Joash son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s children who were about to be killed; she put^* him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus she^* hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not killed; ³he remained with her for six years, hidden in the house of the Lord, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Jehoiada Anoints the Child Joash

4 But in the seventh year Jehoiada summoned the captains of the Carites and of the guards and had them come to him in the house of the Lord. He made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the Lord; then he showed them the king’s son.

9 The captains did according to all that the priest Jehoiada commanded; 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 the priest Jehoiada. ¹⁰The priest delivered to the captains the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of the Lord; ¹¹the guards 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, to guard the king on every side. ¹²Then he brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, and gave him the covenant;^* they proclaimed him king, and anointed him; they clapped their hands and shouted, ‘Long live the king!’

Death of Athaliah

13 When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the Lord to the people; ¹⁴when she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar, according to custom, with the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, ‘Treason! Treason!’ ¹⁵Then the priest Jehoiada commanded the captains who were set over the army, ‘Bring her out between the ranks, and kill with the sword anyone who follows her.’ For the priest said, ‘Let her not be killed in the house of the Lord.’ ¹⁶So they laid hands on her; she went through the horses’ entrance to the king’s house, and there she was put to death.

17 Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, that they should be the Lord’s people; also between the king and the people. ¹⁸Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, before the altars. The priest posted guards over the house of the Lord. ²⁰So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been killed with the sword at the king’s house.

¹¹ The Lord swore to David a sure oath
   from which he will not turn back:
‘One of the sons of your body
   I will set on your throne.
¹² If your sons keep my covenant
   and my decrees that I shall teach them,
their sons also, for evermore,
   shall sit on your throne.’

¹³ For the Lord has chosen Zion;
   he has desired it for his habitation:
¹⁴ ‘This is my resting-place for ever;
   here I will reside, for I have desired it.
¹⁷ There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David;
   I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.
¹⁸ His enemies I will clothe with disgrace,
   but on him, his crown will gleam.’

Concerning Treasures

19 ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust^* consume and where thieves break in and steal; ²⁰but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust^* consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The Sound Eye

22 ‘The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; ²³but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!