Second Book of Chronicles 22

¹ The population of Jerusalem made his youngest son Ahaziah king in succession to him, since the armed band that had broken into the camp with the Arabs had killed all the elder sons. That was why Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah.

² Ahaziah was twenty years old when he came to the throne and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, daughter of Omri.

³ He too followed the example of Ahab’s family, since his mother gave him wicked advice.

⁴ He did what is displeasing to Yahweh as Ahab’s family had done, for these were his advisers after his father’s death, to his undoing.

⁵ He also put their policy into practice and went with Jehoram son of Ahab, king of Israel, to fight against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. But the Aramaeans wounded Jehoram,

⁶ who returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that he had received at Ramoth, fighting against Hazael king of Aram. Ahaziah son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to Jezreel to visit Jehoram son of Ahab because he was ill.

⁷ Through this visit to Jehoram Yahweh brought ruin to Ahaziah. On his arrival he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi whom Yahweh had anointed to make an end of the House of Ahab.

⁸ While Jehu was busy executing justice on the House of Ahab, he came across the officials of Judah and the nephews of Ahaziah who were in the king’s service; he killed them,

⁹ and then went in search of Ahaziah. The latter was captured while trying to hide in Samaria, and taken to Jehu who put him to death. But they gave him burial. ‘This was a son of Jehoshaphat,’ they said ‘who sought Yahweh with all his heart.’

¹⁰ As soon as Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah learned that her son was dead, she promptly did away with all the royal stock of the House of Judah.

¹¹ But Jehosheba, daughter of the king, secretly took away Joash, her brother’s son, from among the sons of the king who were being murdered, and put him with his nurse in the sleeping quarters; in this way Jehosheba the daughter of King Joram and wife of Jehoiada the priest (a sister, too, of Ahaziah) hid him from Athaliah, and prevented her from killing him.

¹² He stayed with them for six years, hidden in the Temple of God, while Athaliah governed the country.