2 Kings 11

1 When King Ahaziah’s mother Athaliah saw that her son had been killed, she commanded that all the members of Ahaziah’s family [who might become king] must be executed.

And Athaliah [is] mother of Ahaziah, and she has seen that her son [is] dead, and she rises, and destroys all the seed of the kingdom;

2 So Ahaziah’s sons were all about to be murdered. But Jehosheba, who was King Jehoram’s daughter and Ahaziah’s half-sister, took Ahaziah’s [very young] son Joash and hid him and (his nursemaid/the woman who took care of him) in a bedroom [in the temple]. So he was not killed.

and Jehosheba daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, takes Joash son of Ahaziah, and steals him out of the midst of the sons of the king who are put to death, him and his nurse, in the inner part of the bed-chambers, and they hide him from the presence of Athaliah, and he has not been put to death,

3 He stayed with Jehosheba for six years. All during that time, he remained hidden in the temple, while Athaliah ruled [Judah].

and he is with her, in the house of YHWH, hiding himself, six years, and Athaliah is reigning over the land.

4 But during the next year, Jehoiada the Supreme Priest summoned the officers who supervised the royal bodyguards and the palace guards. He told them to come to the temple. There he required them to solemnly promise that they would do what he told them to do. And he showed King Ahaziah’s son Joash to them.

And in the seventh year Jehoiada has sent and takes the heads of the hundreds, of the executioners and of the runners, and brings them to him, into the house of YHWH, and makes a covenant with them, and causes them to swear in the house of YHWH, and shows them the son of the king,

5 He gave them these instructions: “There are three groups of you guards. When one group finishes their work on the Sabbath day, [divide yourselves into] three smaller groups. One group must guard the palace.

and commands them, saying, “This [is] the thing that you do; the third of you [are] going in on the Sabbath, and keepers of the charge of the house of the king,

6 Another group must guard at the Sur Gate. The other group must guard at the gate behind the other groups.

and the third [is] at the Gate of Sur, and the third at the gate behind the runners, and you have kept the charge of the house pulled down;

7 The two groups that are not working on the Sabbath day must guard the temple [to protect little King Joash].

and two parts of you, all going out on the Sabbath—they have kept the charge of the house of YHWH about the king,

8 You must stand around the king wherever he goes, with your weapons in your hands. You must kill anyone who comes near you.”

and you have surrounded the king all around, each with his weapons in his hand, and he who is coming to the ranges is put to death; and be with the king in his going out and in his coming in.”

9 The officers [who supervised the guards] did what Jehoiada told them to do. Each one brought to Jehoiada the guards that he supervised—the guards who were just finishing their work and those who were about to start their work on the Sabbath day.

And the heads of the hundreds do according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and take—each [one]—his men going in on the Sabbath, with those going out on the Sabbath, and come to Jehoiada the priest,

10 The priest distributed to the commanders of the guards the spears and shields that had belonged to King David, that were kept/stored in the temple.

and the priest gives to the heads of the hundreds the spears and the shields that King David had, that [are] in the house of YHWH.

11 Then he commanded all the guards to stand in their positions, each one with his sword in his hand, all around the young king.

And the runners stand, each with his weapons in his hand, from the right shoulder of the house to the left shoulder of the house, by the altar and by the house, by the king all around;

12 Then he brought Joash out. He put the crown on his head and gave him a scroll on which were written the rules [that the kings needed to obey]. Then he poured some olive oil on Joash’s head and proclaimed that he was now the king. The people all clapped their hands and shouted, “We desire/hope that the king will live for many years!”

and he brings out the son of the king, and puts the crown on him, and the Testimony, and they make him king, and anoint him, and strike the hand, and say, “Let the king live.”

13 When Athaliah heard the noise that was being made by the guards and the other people, she ran to the temple, where the people were gathered.

And Athaliah hears the voice of the runners [and] of the people, and she comes to the people [in] the house of YHWH,

14 She saw the new king standing there alongside one of the big pillars, which was the place at the temple where the kings usually stood. She saw that he was surrounded by the temple officers and men blowing trumpets, and that the people were shouting joyfully, and [some of] them were also blowing trumpets. She tore her clothes [to show her distress] and shouted, “You are traitors! You have tricked/deceived me!”

and looks, and behold, the king is standing by the pillar, according to the ordinance, and the heads and the trumpets [are] by the king, and all the people of the land are rejoicing and blowing with trumpets, and Athaliah tears her garments, and calls, “Conspiracy! Conspiracy!”

15 Jehoiada [immediately] said, “Kill her, but do not kill her here at the temple of Yahweh! Take her away between two rows of guards. And kill anyone who tries to rescue her!”

And Jehoiada the priest commands the heads of the hundreds, inspectors of the force, and says to them, “Bring her out to the outside of the ranges, and him who is going after her, put to death by the sword”: for the priest had said, “Do not let her be put to death in the house of YHWH.”

16 [She tried to flee, but] the guards seized her and took her to the palace, to the place where horses enter the courtyard. They killed her there.

And they make sides for her, and she enters the way of the entering in of the horses to the house of the king, and is put to death there.

17 Then Jehoiada made a solemn agreement between the king and the people, that they would always (obey/be faithful to) Yahweh. He also made an agreement requiring the people to be loyal to Joash their king.

And Jehoiada makes the covenant between YHWH and the king and the people, to be for a people to YHWH, and between the king and the people.

18 Then all the people of Israel who were there went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and the statues of Baal. They also killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars. Jehoiada stationed/put guards at the temple of Yahweh.

And all the people of the land go to the house of Ba‘al, and break it down; they have thoroughly broken its altars and its images, and they have slain Mattan priest of Ba‘al before the altars; and the priest sets inspectors over the house of YHWH,

19 Then he and the officers of the temple, the officers who supervised the royal bodyguards, and the king’s bodyguards brought the king from the temple to the palace. All the people [followed them]. Joash entered the palace at the Guard Gate and sat down on the throne, [which showed that he was the new king].

and takes the heads of the hundreds, and the executioners, and the runners, and all the people of the land, and they bring down the king from the house of YHWH, and come by the way of the gate of the runners, to the house of the king, and he sits on the throne of the kings.

20 All the people of Judah rejoiced. And because Athaliah had been killed, the city was quiet/calm.

And all the people of the land rejoice, and the city [is] quiet, and they have put Athaliah to death by the sword in the house of the king;

21 Joash was seven years old when he became the king [of Judah].

Jehoash is a son of seven years in his reigning.