2 Chronicles 22

Living Bible

22 Then the people of Jerusalem chose Ahaziah,^[a] his youngest son, as their new king (for the marauding bands of Arabs had killed his older sons). ² Ahaziah was twenty-two years old^[b] when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, granddaughter of Omri. ³ He, too, walked in the evil ways of Ahab, for his mother encouraged him in doing wrong. ⁴ Yes, he was as evil as Ahab, for Ahab’s family became his advisors after his father’s death, and they led him on to ruin.

⁵ Following their evil advice, Ahaziah made an alliance with King Joram of Israel (the son of Ahab), who was at war with King Hazael of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. Ahaziah led his army there to join the battle. King Joram of Israel was wounded ⁶ and returned to Jezreel to recover. Ahaziah went to visit him, ⁷ but this turned out to be a fatal mistake; for God had decided to punish Ahaziah for his alliance with Joram. It was during this visit that Ahaziah went out with Joram to challenge Jehu (son of Nimshi), whom the Lord had appointed to end the dynasty of Ahab.

⁸ While Jehu was hunting down and killing the family and friends of Ahab, he met King Ahaziah’s nephews, the princes of Judah, and killed them. ⁹ As he and his men were searching for Ahaziah, they found him hiding in the city of Samaria and brought him to Jehu, who killed him. Even so, Ahaziah was given a royal burial because he was the grandson of King Jehoshaphat—a man who enthusiastically served the Lord. None of his sons, however, except for Joash, lived to succeed him as king, ¹⁰ for their grandmother Athaliah killed them when she heard the news of her son Ahaziah’s death.

¹¹ Joash was rescued by his Aunt Jehoshabeath, who was King Ahaziah’s sister,^[c] and was hidden away in a storage room in the Temple. She was a daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of Jehoiada the priest. ¹² Joash remained hidden in the Temple for six years while Athaliah reigned as queen. He was cared for by his nurse and by his aunt and uncle.