2 Chronicles 22

Translated from the Hebrew of the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Tap a verse to see why it reads as it does. Tap a small letter to read its footnote.

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Ahaziah king of Judah

¹The people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, Jehoram’s youngest son, king in his place, because the band of raiders who came into the camp with the Arabs had killed every one of the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.

²Ahaziah was forty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri. ³He too walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, because his mother advised him to act wickedly. ⁴He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father’s death they were his counselors, to his destruction. ⁵He also followed their counsel and went with Jehoram son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, and Joram was wounded by the Arameans. ⁶He went back to Jezreel to recover from the wounds they had given him at Ramah, in his battle with Hazael king of Aram. Then Azariah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was wounded. ⁷Ahaziah’s downfall came from God, through his visit to Joram. When he arrived, he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab. ⁸While Jehu was carrying out judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the officials of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who were attending Ahaziah, and he killed them. ⁹Then he searched for Ahaziah. They captured him as he was hiding in Samaria, brought him to Jehu, and put him to death. They buried him, because they said, “He is a grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart.” And no one was left in the house of Ahaziah with the strength to hold the kingdom. ¹⁰Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, saw that her son was dead, and she set out to destroy the whole royal family of the house of Judah. ¹¹But Jehoshabeath, the king’s daughter, took Ahaziah’s son Joash and secretly took him out from among the king’s sons who were about to be killed, and she put him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, King Jehoram’s daughter and the wife of Jehoiada the priest, hid him from Athaliah, since she was Ahaziah’s sister, and Athaliah did not kill him. ¹²He stayed hidden with them in the house of God six years, during Athaliah’s rule over the land.