23:1 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.
23:2 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.
23:3 And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in
the house of God. And he said to them, Behold, the king's son
shall reign, as the LORD hath said of the sons of David.
23:4 This [is] the thing that ye shall do: A third part of you
entering on the sabbath, of the priests, and of the Levites,
[shall be] porters of the doors;
23:5 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.
23:6 But let none come into the house of the LORD, save the
priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall go
in, for they [are] holy: but all the people shall keep the
watch of the LORD.
23:7 And the Levites shall encompass the king, every man with
his weapons in his hand; and whoever [else] cometh into the
house, he shall be put to death: but be ye with the king when
he cometh in, and when he goeth out.
23:8 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.
23:9 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.
23:10 And he set all the people, every man having his weapon in
his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of
the temple, along by the altar and the temple, by the king on
all sides.
23:11 Then they brought out the king's son, and put upon him the
crown, and [gave him] the testimony, and made him king. And
Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the
king.
23:12 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:
23:13 And she looked, and behold, the king stood at his pillar
at the entrance, 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 to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and
said, Treason, treason.
23:14 Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of
hundreds that were set over the host, and said to them, Have
her forth without the ranges: and whoever followeth her, let
him be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Slay her not
in the house of the LORD.
23:15 So they laid hands on her; and when she had come to the
entrance of the horse gate by the king's house, they slew her
there.
23:16 And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all
the people, and between the king, that they should be the
LORD'S people.
23:17 Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and broke
it down, and broke his altars and his images in pieces, and
slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.
23:18 Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the
LORD by the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had
distributed in the house of the LORD, to offer the
burnt-offerings of the LORD, as [it is] written in the law of
Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, [as it was ordained] by
David.
23:19 And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the
LORD, that none [who was] unclean in any thing should enter.
23:20 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.
23:21 And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was
quiet, after they had slain Athaliah with the sword.
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