2 Chronicles, Chapter 23

1. And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him.    2. And they went around in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the chief of the fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.    3. And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said to them, Behold, the king's son shall reign, as the LORD has said of the sons of David.    4. This is the thing that you shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be keepers of the doors;    5. And a third part shall be at 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 let none come into the house of the LORD, except the priests, and those of the Levites that minister; they shall go in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD.    7. And the Levites shall surround the king, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever else comes into the house, he shall be put to death: but you be with the king when he comes in, and when he goes out.    8. So the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with those who were to go out on the sabbath: for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss the divisions.    9. Moreover Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David's, which were in the house of God.    10. And he set all the people, every man having his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and the temple, by the king round about.    11. Then they brought out the king's son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the book of the law, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king.    12. Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the LORD:    13. And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entrance, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of music, and those who gave instruction in singing praise. Then Athaliah tore her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason.    14. Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said to them, Put her out of the temple grounds: and whoever follows her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Do not kill her in the house of the LORD.    15. So they laid hands on her; and when she had come to the entrance of the horse gate by the king's house, they killed her there.    16. And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king, that they should be the LORD'S people.    17. Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and broke it down, and broke his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.    18. Also Jehoiada restored the offices of the house of the LORD by the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the LORD, to offer the burnt offerings of the LORD, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David.    19. And he set the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the LORD, that none who was unclean in any thing should enter in.    20. And he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the king from the house of the LORD: and they came through the high gate into the king's house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.    21. And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet, after they had slain Athaliah with the sword.