:

Jehoshaphat's reign.

1.7.9.

20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. 21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, 1 Chr. 16.41.Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.

29

1 Chr. 16.

+ Heb. praisers.

Chr. 16.34. Ps. 136. 1.

eh. 5, 13. & 7.

16

+ Heb. And in

the time that Heb in sing

they, &re.

ing and praise.

1 Or, they mit one Wither. #Judg. 7, 22,

22 And when they began † to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

23 For the children of Ammon and Sam. 14. 20. Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every eb for the one helped to destroy another.

destruction.

Heh, there was not an

acuping.

24 And when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.

25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.

26 And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.

27 Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshleb head. aphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

Neh. 12. 43.

la 17.10.

B. C. 896.

g ch. 15. 15. Job 34. 29.

41, &c.

fathers in the city of David. horam his son reigned in his stead. 2 And he had brethren the sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah: all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.

3 And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fenced cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram; because he was the firstborn.

4 Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself, and slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers also of the princes of Israel.

5 Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house

892.

b 2 Kings 8.

16.

Edom and Libnah revolt.

B. C. 892.

c ch. 22. 2.

d2 Sam. 7. 12,

of Ahab for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD. 7 Howbeit the LORD would not de13: Kings stroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a flight to him and to his sons for

11. 36.

2 Kings 8. 19.
Ps. 132. 11,
&c.

+ Heb. lamp, or, candle.

ever.

8 In his days the Edomites revolted from under the dominion of Judah, and made themselves a king. 9 Then Jehoram went forth with his princes, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him in, and the captains of the chariots. 10 So the Edomites revolted from

Ahaziah's wicked reign.

B. C. $85.

process of time, after the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness: so he died of sore diseases. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his p ch. 16. 14. fathers.

20 Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired. How- Heb, eith beit they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

CHAPTER XXII.

Ahaziah's wicked reign. 5 In his confederacy with

Joram the son of Ahab, he is slain by Jehu. 10 Athaliah usurpeth the kingdom; and destroyeth all the seed royal, save Joash.

f

11 Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto.

12 And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

13 But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the i whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, which were better than thyself:

14 Behold, with a great plague will the LORD Smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods:

15 And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.

m

16 Moreover the LORD stirred up m1 Kings 11. against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians:

made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his stead: for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.

C

out desire

Jer. 22 12

a 2 Kings & 21, &c. See ch. 21. 17. ver. 6.

b ch. 21. 17.

© See 2 Kings 8. 26.

2 Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Athaliah & ch. 21.6 the daughter of Omri.

3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly.

4 Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab : for they were his counsellors, after the death of his father, to his destruction.

5 ¶ He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramothand the Syrians smote Jo

ing doen. g Judg. 14 41 1 Kings 12. 15. ch. 10. 15. h 2 Kings 9. 21.

i 2 Kings 9. 6, 7.

7 And the destruction of Ahaziah + Heh, tread5 was of God by coming to Joram: for when he was come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab. 8 And it came to pass, that, when Jehu was executing judgment upon 2 Kings 10. the house of Ahab, and found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, that ministered to Ahaziah, he slew them.

9 And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him, for he was hid in

10, 11. 1 2 Kings 10. 13, 14.

m 2 Kings 9. 27.

• 2 Kings 11.

878.

12 Kings 11.4,

10° But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah.

11 But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not.

12 And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Jehoiada maketh Joash king. 12 Athaliah is slain. 16 Jehoiada restoreth the worship of God.

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 2 7.12 the LORD hath said of the sons of David.

Kings 2. 4. & 2.5 ch. 6.

21.7.

&7.18. &

4 This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the LeHeh, thresh-vites, 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.

|

Athaliah is slain.

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.

B. C. 878.

e See 1 Chr. 24. & 25.

10 And he set all the people, every man having his weapon in his hand, from the right t side of the t temple to + Heb. shoul the left side of the temple, along by the altar and the temple, by the king round about.

der.

+ Heb. house.

11 Then they brought out the king's son, and put upon him the crown, and f gave him the testimony, and made Deut. 17. 18. him king. And Jehoiada and his

sons anointed him, and said, † God+Heb. Let the king live. 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 1 Chr. 25. & to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, † Treason, trea-† Heb. Conspiracy.

son.

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, h Neh. 3. 28 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 i Deut. 13. 3. 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

about 878. a 2 Kings 11. 21. & 12. 1, &C.

b See ch. 26.5.

+ Heb. to re

new.

856.

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.

:

And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto the cities of Juc2 Kings 12. 4. dah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened it not.

d 2 Kings 12.7.

• Ex. 30. 12, 13, 14, 16.

Num. 1. 50. Acts 7. 44.

5 ch. 21. 17.

h 2 Kings 12.

4.

6 And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of Moses the servant of the LORD, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?

7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the "dedicated things of the house of the LORD did they bestow upon Baalim.

8 And at the king's commandment

to repair the temple.

they made a chest, and set it without at the gate of the house of the LORD.

k

9 And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in to the LORD the collection that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness.

10 And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end.

B. C. 856.

i2 Kings 12. 9.

+ Heb. a voice.

k ver. 6.

10.

11 Now it came to pass, that at what time the chest was brought unto the king's office by the hand of the Levites, and 'when they saw that there 12 Kings 12. was much money, the king's scribe and the high priest's officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to his place again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.

12 And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the LORD, and also such as wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the LORD.

So the workmen

the work was pericen Wrother, and +Heb the healthey set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it.

ing went up upon the work

12. 13.

14 And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada," where- m See 2 Kings of were made vessels for the house of the LORD, even vessels to minister, and to offer withal, and spoons, and Or. pestils. vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada.

15 But Jehoiada waxed old, and about 850. was full of days when he died; a hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.

16 And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.

17 Now after the death of Jehoiada about 840. came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.

18 And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served "groves and idols and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.

Heb in the rmation of the year.

839.

22 Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it.

23 And it came to pass at the end of the year, that "the host of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and 12 Kags 12 destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of * Damascus.

11/7. 25.8.

Da 32. 30.

17. 35.25. Dec 23, 25.

2.

⚫ver. 21.

21 For the army of the Syrians 'came with a small company of men, and the LORD delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. So they executed judg

b

ment against Joash. 25 And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great Kings 12. diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.

26 And these are they that con10. Leaspired against him; Zabad the son Kings of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and JeShomer. hozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess.

War with the Edomites.

2 And he did that which was right B. C. 839. in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.

с

3 Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was established to him, that he slew his servants that had killed the king his father.

d

b See 2 Kings 14. 4. ver. 14.

+ Heb. confirmed upon him.

c 2 Kings 14. 5, &c.

4 But he slew not their children, but did as it is written in the law in the book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers d Deut. 24. 16. shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin.

5 T Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their fathers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and above, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield.

6 He hired also a hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for a hundred talents of silver.

7 But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the LORD is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim.

2 Kings 14. 6. Jer. 31. 30. Ez. 18. 20.

e Num. 1. 3.

8 But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle: God shall make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath 'power to help, and to cast fch. 20. 6. down.

9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? the man of God answered, LORD is able to give thee much more than this.

And + Heb. band. The Prov. 10. 22.

10 Then Amaziah separated them, to wit, the army that was come to him out of Ephraim, to go home +Heb. to their again: wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great an

ger.

11 And Amaziah strengthened and went to the valley of salt, and himself, and led forth his people, smote of the children of Seir ten thousand.

12 And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they all were broken in pieces.

13 But the soldiers of the army

place.

† Heb. in heat of anger.