II Chronicles 23
Jehoiada the Priest Anoints Joash King of Judah
1 But in the seventh year Jehoiada took courage, and took with him into a covenant the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Joram, and Ishmael the son of Johanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adalah, and Elishaphat the son of Shikri.
2 They went around Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah and the heads of the fathers' houses of Israel, and came to Jerusalem.
3 And the whole assembly made a covenant with the king of the house of God. And Jehoiada said to them, "Behold, the king's son shall reign, as the Lord said concerning the sons of David.
4 This is the thing that ye shall do: A third part of you, the priests and the Levites, who come in on the sabbath, shall be doorkeepers at the gates;
5 And a third part shall be in 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.
6 But no man shall enter into the house of the LORD, save the priests and the Levites that minister; they shall enter, because they are holy: but the people shall keep the charge of the LORD.
7 And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever entereth into the house shall die: but ye shall be with the king when he cometh in, and when he goeth out.
8 And the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest had commanded: and they took every man his men, both those that came in on the sabbath, and those that went out on the sabbath: for Jehoiada the priest had not dismissed the divisions.
9 And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears, and the shields, and the shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of God.
10 Then he arranged all the people, each with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, from the altar and the house, around the king.
11 Then they brought out the king's son and put the crown on him, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. Then Jehoiada and his sons anointed him king. Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, "Long live the king!"
12 When Athaliah heard the voice of the people running to praise the king, she came to the people to the house of the Lord.
13 And she looked, and behold, the king stood by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king. And all the people of the land rejoiced and blew the trumpets, and the singers also played musical instruments, and gave the signal to sing praises. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out, "Treason, treason!"
14 But Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were in charge of the army and said to them, “Take her out of the ranks, and whoever follows her shall die by the sword, for the priest had said, ‘You shall not kill her in the house of the Lord.’ ”
15 So they seized her, and she went to the entrance of the horse gate of the king’s palace, and they killed her there.