⁴ In the seventh year Jehoiada the high priest sent for the captains of the Carites^[a] and guards.^[b] He brought them together in the Lord’s Temple and made an agreement with them. There in the Temple of the Lord he forced them to make a promise. Then he showed the king’s son to them.

⁵ Then Jehoiada gave them a command. He said, “This is what you must do. One-third of you, from those who go on duty on the Sabbath day, must stand guard at the royal palace. ⁶ Another third will be at the Sur Gate, and the other third will be at the gate behind the guard. This way you will stand guard over the palace on all sides. ⁷ Your two divisions who go off duty on the Sabbath day will stand guard at the Lord’s Temple and protect King Joash. ⁸ You must stay with him wherever he goes. The whole group must surround the king. Each guard must have his weapon in his hand, and you must kill anyone who comes too close to you.”

⁹ The captains obeyed everything that Jehoiada the priest commanded. Each captain took his men, both those who were going on duty on the Sabbath day and those who were going off duty. All these men went to Jehoiada the priest, ¹⁰ and he gave spears and shields to the captains. These were the spears and shields David put in the Lord’s Temple. ¹¹ These guards stood with their weapons in their hands from the right corner of the Temple to the left corner. They stood around the altar and the Temple and around the king when he went to the Temple. ¹² These men brought out Joash. They put the crown on him and gave him a copy of the agreement.^[c] Then they anointed him and made him the new king. They clapped their hands and shouted, “Long live the king!”

¹³ Queen Athaliah heard the noise from the guards and the people, so she went to them at the Lord’s Temple. ¹⁴ Athaliah saw the king by the column where new kings usually stood. She also saw the leaders and men playing the trumpets for him. She saw that all the people were very happy. She heard the trumpets, and she tore her clothes to show she was upset. Then Athaliah shouted, “Treason! Treason!”

¹⁵ Jehoiada the priest gave a command to the captains who were in charge of the soldiers. Jehoiada told them, “Take Athaliah outside of the Temple area. Kill any of her followers, but don’t kill them in the Lord’s Temple.”

¹⁶ So the soldiers grabbed Athaliah and killed her as soon as she went through the horse’s entrance to the palace.

¹⁷ Then Jehoiada made the agreement between the Lord and the king and the people. This agreement showed that the king and the people belonged to the Lord. Jehoiada also made the agreement between the king and the people.

² For as long as he lived, Joash did what the Lord considered right. He did what Jehoiada the priest taught him. ³ But he did not destroy the high places. The people still made sacrifices and burned incense at those places of worship.

Joash Orders the Temple Repaired

^4-5 Joash said to the priests, “There is much money in the Lord’s Temple. People have given things to the Temple and have paid the Temple tax when they were counted. And they have given money simply because they wanted to. You priests should take that money and repair the Lord’s Temple. Each priest should use the money he gets from the people he serves. He should use that money to repair the damage to the Temple.”

⁶ In the 23rd year that Joash was king, the priests still had not repaired the Temple, ⁷ so King Joash called for Jehoiada the priest and the other priests. Joash said to them, “Why haven’t you repaired the Temple? Stop taking money from the people you serve. That money must be used to repair the Temple.”

⁸ The priests agreed to stop taking money from the people, but they also decided not to repair the Temple. ⁹ So Jehoiada the priest took a box and made a hole in the top of it. Then he put the box on the south side of the altar. This box was by the door where people came into the Lord’s Temple. Some of the priests were there to guard this doorway.^[a] They took the money that people brought for the Lord’s temple and put it into this box.

Priest Jehoiada and King Joash

23 After six years, Jehoiada showed his strength and made an agreement with the captains. These captains were Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zicri. ² They went around in Judah and gathered the Levites from all the towns of Judah. They also gathered the leaders of the families of Israel. Then they went to Jerusalem. ³ All the people meeting together made an agreement with the king in God’s Temple.

Jehoiada said to the people, “The king’s son will rule. That is what the Lord promised about David’s descendants. ⁴ Now, this is what you must do: One-third of you priests and Levites who go on duty on the Sabbath will guard the doors. ⁵ And one-third of you will be at the king’s palace, and one-third of you will be at the Foundation Gate. But all the other people will stay in the yards of the Lord’s Temple. ⁶ Only the priests and Levites who serve in the Lord’s Temple are permitted to enter it. They are the only ones who have been made holy. Don’t let anyone else enter. All the others must do only the work the Lord has given them. ⁷ The Levites must stay near the king. Every man must have his sword with him. If anyone tries to enter the Temple, kill that person. You must stay with the king everywhere he goes.”

⁸ The Levites and all the people of Judah obeyed all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. Jehoiada the priest did not excuse anyone from the groups of the priests. So each captain and all his men came in on the Sabbath with those who went out on the Sabbath. ⁹ Jehoiada the priest gave the spears and the large and small shields that belonged to King David to the officers. The weapons were kept in God’s Temple. ¹⁰ Then Jehoiada told the men where to stand. Every man had his weapon in his hand. The men stood all the way from the right side of the Temple to the left side of the Temple. They stood near the altar and the Temple, and near the king. ¹¹ They brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him. They gave him a copy of the agreement.^[a] Then they made Joash king. Jehoiada and his sons anointed Joash and said, “Long live the king!”

¹² Athaliah heard the noise of the people running to the Temple and praising the king. She came into the Lord’s Temple to the people. ¹³ She looked and saw the king standing by his column at the front entrance. The officers and the men who blew trumpets were near the king. The people of the land were happy and blowing trumpets. The singers were playing on instruments of music. They led the people in singing praises. Then Athaliah tore her clothes^[b] and said, “Treason! Treason!”^[c]

¹⁴ Jehoiada the priest brought out the army captains. He said to them, “Take Athaliah outside among the army. Use your swords to kill anyone who follows her.” Then the priest warned the soldiers, “Don’t kill Athaliah in the Lord’s Temple.” ¹⁵ Then those men grabbed Athaliah when she came to the entrance of the Horse Gate at the king’s palace. Then they killed her there.

¹⁶ Then Jehoiada made an agreement with all the people and the king. They all agreed that they all would be the Lord’s people. ¹⁷ All the people went into the temple of the idol Baal and tore it down. They also broke the altars and idols that were in Baal’s temple. They killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars of Baal.

¹⁸ Then Jehoiada chose the priests to be responsible for the Lord’s Temple. The priests were Levites, and David had given them the job of being responsible for the Lord’s Temple. They were to offer the burnt offerings to the Lord the way the Law of Moses commanded. They offered the sacrifices with much joy and singing the way David commanded. ¹⁹ Jehoiada put guards at the gates of the Lord’s Temple to prevent any unclean person from entering the Temple.

²⁰ Jehoiada took the army captains, the leaders, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land with him. Then Jehoiada took the king out of the Lord’s Temple. They went through the Upper Gate to the king’s palace and put the king on the throne. ²¹ All the people of Judah were very happy, and the city of Jerusalem had peace because Athaliah was killed with a sword.