2 Chronicles 23

⁴Then in the seventh year, Jehoiada sent for the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, and the guards, and had them brought into the house of the Lord. There he made a covenant with them and put them under oath. He showed them the king’s son

⁵and commanded them, “This is what you are to do: A third of you who come on duty on the Sabbath shall guard the royal palace,

³⁸In view of all this, we make a binding agreement, putting it in writing and sealing it with the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.”

¹²Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul.

³Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.

¹³Moreover, the priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel stood with Rehoboam.

¹⁴For the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the Lord.

¹⁵Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,

²Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; these were all sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.

¹⁶Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

¹²And he said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves so that you may bring the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it.

⁶The scribe, Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded their names in the presence of the king and of the officers: Zadok the priest, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the heads of families of the priests and the Levites—one family being taken from Eleazar, and then one from Ithamar.

¹²And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.

⁷Yet the Lord was unwilling to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant He had made with David, and since He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.

¹⁶Therefore now, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for Your servant, my father David, what You promised when You said: ‘You will never fail to have a man to sit before Me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants guard their way to walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’

¹⁸then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with your father David when I said, ‘You will never fail to have a man to rule over Israel.’

⁴and so that the Lord may fulfill His promise to me: ‘If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’

¹⁷Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people that they would be the Lord’s people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people.

⁸One day while Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,

⁹he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

²⁵Their relatives came from their villages at fixed times to serve with them for seven-day periods.

³With the help of Eleazar’s descendant Zadok and Ithamar’s descendant Ahimelech, David divided them according to the offices of their service.

⁴Since more leaders were found among Eleazar’s descendants than those of Ithamar, they were divided accordingly. There were sixteen heads of families from the descendants of Eleazar and eight from the descendants of Ithamar.

¹³They cast lots for each gate, according to their families, young and old alike.

¹⁴The lot for the East Gate fell to Shelemiah. Then lots were cast for his son Zechariah, a wise counselor, and the lot for the North Gate fell to him.

³The Levites thirty years of age or older were counted, and the total number of men was 38,000.

⁴“Of these,” said David, “24,000 are to oversee the work of the house of the Lord, 6,000 are to be officers and judges,

²And a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those entering the temple courts.

²The prince is to enter from the outside through the portico of the gateway and stand by the gatepost, while the priests sacrifice his burnt offerings and peace offerings. He is to bow in worship at the threshold of the gate and then depart, but the gate must not be shut until evening.

³On the Sabbaths and New Moons the people of the land are also to bow in worship before the Lord at the entrance to that gateway.

⁵and commanded them, “This is what you are to do: A third of you who come on duty on the Sabbath shall guard the royal palace,

⁶a third shall be at the gate of Sur, and a third at the gate behind the guards. You are to take turns guarding the temple—

²And the Lord said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It shall not be opened, and no man shall enter through it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it. Therefore it will remain shut.

³Only the prince himself may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the Lord. He must enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.”

²⁸but their duty was to assist the descendants of Aaron with the service of the house of the Lord, being responsible for the courts and chambers, the purification of all the holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God,

²⁹as well as for the rows of the showbread, the fine flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baking, the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size.

⁶a third shall be at the gate of Sur, and a third at the gate behind the guards. You are to take turns guarding the temple—

⁷the two divisions that would go off duty on the Sabbath are to guard the house of the Lord for the king.

⁸You must surround the king with weapons in hand, and anyone who approaches the ranks must be put to death. You must stay close to the king wherever he goes.”

⁹So the commanders of hundreds did everything that Jehoiada the priest had ordered. Each of them took his men—those coming on duty on the Sabbath and those going off duty—and came to Jehoiada the priest.

¹⁴But if a man schemes and acts willfully against his neighbor to kill him, you must take him away from My altar to be put to death.

³⁸Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons were to camp to the east of the tabernacle, toward the sunrise, before the Tent of Meeting. They were to perform the duties of the sanctuary as a service on behalf of the Israelites; but any outsider who approached the sanctuary was to be put to death.

¹²And you are to set up a boundary for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful not to go up on the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.

¹³No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows—whether man or beast, he must not live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.”

¹⁰So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; but any outsider who approaches the tabernacle must be put to death.”

⁹So the commanders of hundreds did everything that Jehoiada the priest had ordered. Each of them took his men—those coming on duty on the Sabbath and those going off duty—and came to Jehoiada the priest.

¹These were the divisions of the descendants of Aaron. The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

²But Nadab and Abihu died before their father did, and they had no sons; so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests.

⁹The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want, you may take it. For there is no other but this one here.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

⁷And David took the gold shields that belonged to the officers of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.

⁶Place the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting.

¹¹And the guards stood with weapons in hand surrounding the king by the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple.

¹²Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.

²⁴Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

¹⁶And place inside the ark the Testimony, which I will give you.

¹⁸When he is seated on his royal throne, he must write for himself a copy of this instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.

¹⁹It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by carefully observing all the words of this instruction and these statutes.

³⁹You have renounced the covenant with Your servant and sullied his crown in the dust.

¹²Then Jehoiada brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, presented him with the Testimony, and proclaimed him king. They anointed him, and the people clapped their hands and declared, “Long live the king!”

⁹The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed were shouting: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”

³²He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” And two or three eunuchs looked down at him.

³³“Throw her down!” yelled Jehu. So they threw her down, and her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses as they trampled her underfoot.

¹³When Athaliah heard the noise from the guards and the people, she went out to the people in the house of the Lord.

¹⁴And she looked out and saw the king standing by the pillar, according to the custom. The officers and trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and screamed, “Treason! Treason!”

²When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.

¹⁷When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”

¹⁸“I have not troubled Israel,” Elijah replied, “but you and your father’s house have, for you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals.

³So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to follow the Lord and to keep His commandments, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and all his soul, and to carry out the words of the covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.

¹⁸When I and all who are with me blow our horns, then you are also to blow your horns from all around the camp and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”

¹⁹Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the changing of the guard. They blew their horns and broke the jars that were in their hands.

³¹So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to follow the Lord and to keep His commandments, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and all his soul, and to carry out the words of the covenant that were written in this book.

⁵There they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is in the company of the righteous.

⁷Then He told them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth!” So they went out and began killing throughout the city.

²⁵When he had finished making the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guards and officers, “Go in and kill them. Do not let anyone out.” So the guards and officers put them to the sword, threw the bodies out, and went into the inner room of the temple of Baal.

⁸You must surround the king with weapons in hand, and anyone who approaches the ranks must be put to death. You must stay close to the king wherever he goes.”

¹⁵And Jehoiada the priest ordered the commanders of hundreds in charge of the army, “Bring her out between the ranks, and put to the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest had said, “She must not be put to death in the house of the Lord.”

¹⁴But if a man schemes and acts willfully against his neighbor to kill him, you must take him away from My altar to be put to death.

²⁸Above the Horse Gate, each of the priests made repairs in front of his own house.

¹⁰When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs of the house of Judah.

⁴⁰The whole valley of the dead bodies and ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to the Lord. It will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

⁶You destroy those who tell lies; the Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

¹³For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

²For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

¹⁰Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that His fierce anger will turn away from us.

³⁸In view of all this, we make a binding agreement, putting it in writing and sealing it with the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.”

¹⁷Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people that they would be the Lord’s people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people.

²The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.

³He did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with all of us who are alive here today.

²⁹hereby join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the Law of God given through His servant Moses and to obey carefully all the commandments, ordinances, and statutes of the Lord our Lord.

³⁰We will not give our daughters in marriage to the people of the land, and we will not take their daughters for our sons.

¹²Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul.

⁴⁰Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let a single one escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered them there.

¹⁸and the idols will vanish completely.

¹⁸So all the people of the land went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols to pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars. And Jehoiada the priest posted guards for the house of the Lord.

¹⁹He took with him the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord and entered the royal palace by way of the Gate of the Guards. Then Joash took his seat on the royal throne,

⁷He tore down the altars and Asherah poles, crushed the idols to powder, and cut to pieces all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

⁴Then in his presence the altars of the Baals were torn down, and he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them. He shattered the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images, crushed them to dust, and scattered them over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.

³Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.

⁵and they brought up the ark and the Tent of Meeting with all its sacred furnishings. The Levitical priests carried them up.

¹Then the Lord said to Moses,

²“Command the Israelites and say to them: See that you present to Me at its appointed time the food for My food offerings, as a pleasing aroma to Me.

²⁵Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres according to the command of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet. For the command had come from the Lord through His prophets.

¹Additionally, David and the commanders of the army set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to prophesy with the accompaniment of lyres, harps, and cymbals. The following is the list of the men who performed this service:

²From the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah. These sons of Asaph were under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king.

¹When David was old and full of years, he installed his son Solomon as king over Israel.

²Then he gathered all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites.

²⁸but their duty was to assist the descendants of Aaron with the service of the house of the Lord, being responsible for the courts and chambers, the purification of all the holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God,

²⁹as well as for the rows of the showbread, the fine flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baking, the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size.

²²The number of those chosen to be gatekeepers at the thresholds was 212. They were registered by genealogy in their villages. David and Samuel the seer had appointed them to their positions of trust.

²³So they and their descendants were assigned to guard the gates of the house of the Lord—the house called the Tent.

¹These were the divisions of the gatekeepers: From the Korahites: Meshelemiah son of Kore, one of the sons of Asaph.

²Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth,

¹⁹He took with him the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord and entered the royal palace by way of the Gate of the Guards. Then Joash took his seat on the royal throne,

³⁵Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there. Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the house of the Lord.

⁹So the commanders of hundreds did everything that Jehoiada the priest had ordered. Each of them took his men—those coming on duty on the Sabbath and those going off duty—and came to Jehoiada the priest.

¹⁰Then the priest gave to the commanders of hundreds the spears and shields of King David from the house of the Lord.

²⁰and all the people of the land rejoiced. And the city was quiet, because Athaliah had been put to the sword at the royal palace.

²⁰Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced for you His judgment against her.

¹⁰The righteous will rejoice when they see they are avenged; they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.

¹¹Then men will say, “There is surely a reward for the righteous! There is surely a God who judges the earth!”

¹After this I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude in heaven, shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God!

²For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her hand.”

¹⁰When the righteous thrive, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.