¹ And Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, seeing that her son was dead, arose and destroyed all the royal seed.

² But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons [which were] slain; and they hid him, [even] him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain.

³ And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years, and Athaliah was queen over the land.

⁴ But the seventh year Jehoiada sent and took rulers over hundreds, captains and people of the guard, and brought them to him into the house of the LORD and made a covenant with them, causing them to swear an oath in the house of the LORD, and he showed them the king's son.

⁵ And he commanded them, saying, This [is] the thing that ye shall do; a third part of you that shall enter in on the sabbath shall be the keepers of the watch of the king's house;

⁶ and a third part [shall be] at the gate of Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the guard; so ye shall have the watch of the house of Mesah.

⁷ And two parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of the LORD about the king.

⁸ And ye shall compass the king round about, each man with his weapons in his hand; and he that comes within these orders shall be slain. Ye must be with the king as he goes out and as he comes in.

⁹ And the captains over the hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada, the priest, commanded; and each man took his men that were to come in on the sabbath with those that should go out on the sabbath and came to Jehoiada, the priest.

¹⁰ And the priest gave the captains over hundreds King David's spears and shields that [were] in the house of the LORD.

¹¹ And the guard stood, each man with his weapons in his hand, round about the king, from the right corner of the house to the left corner of the house, next to the altar and the house.

¹² Then he brought forth the king's son and put the crown upon him and [gave him] the testimony, and they made him king by anointing him; and they clapped their hands and said, [Long] live the king.

¹³ And when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running, she came to the people into the house of the LORD;

¹⁴ and when she looked, behold, the king stood by the pillar, as was his right, and the princes and the trumpeters by the king, and all the people of the land rejoiced and blew with trumpets. Then Athaliah rent her clothes and cried, Treason, Treason.

¹⁵ Then Jehoiada, the priest, commanded the captains of the hundreds that governed the host and said unto them, Take her forth outside the order of the house and kill with the sword any that follow her. (For the priest had said, Let her not be slain in the house of the LORD.)

¹⁶ And they laid hands on her, and she went by the way by which the horsemen enter into the king's house, and there she was slain.

¹⁷ Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD'S people; and likewise between the king and the people.

¹⁸ And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal and broke it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces thoroughly and slew Mattan, the priest of Baal, before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD.

¹⁹ And he took the rulers over hundreds and the captains and the guard and all the people of the land, and they brought down the king from the house of the LORD and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king's house. And he sat on the throne of the kings.

²⁰ And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was at rest [after] they slew Athaliah with the sword [beside] the king's house.

²¹ Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign.: