Study Desk

When morning came, he went out, stood before the people and said, "You are not responsible [for the deaths of these men]. Yes, I conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these?

Then he set out and went to Shomron. On the way he reached a shearing shed for shepherds,

He said, "Come with me, and see how zealous I am for Adonai ." So they had him ride in his chariot.

Yehu said, "Proclaim a solemn assembly for Ba‘al," and they did so.

To the man in charge of the wardrobe he said, "Bring out robes for all the worshippers of Ba‘al"; and he brought them clothes.

Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. But Yehu had chosen eighty men to remain outside. He said, "If any of the men I am about to put in your hands escapes, it will be your life for his."

Yehu ruled over Isra'el in Shomron for twenty-eight years.

He remained hidden with his nurse in the house of Adonai for six years; during this time ‘Atalyah ruled the land.

Y'hoyada the cohen ordered the captains of hundreds, the army officers, "Escort her out past the ranks [of guards]; but anyone who follows her, kill with the sword." For the cohen had said, "She must not be put to death in the house of Adonai ."

When ‘Atalyah the mother of Achazyah saw that her son was dead, she set about destroying the entire royal family. But Y'hosheva the daughter of King Yoram, sister of Achazyah, took Yo'ash the son of Achazyah and stole him away from among the princes who were being slaughtered. She took him and his nurse, sequestered them in a bedroom, and hid them from ‘Atalyah, so that he was not killed. He remained hidden with his nurse in the house of Adonai for six years; during this time ‘Atalyah ruled the land. In the seventh year Y'hoyada summoned the captains of hundred-man platoons, of both the Kari and the guard. He brought them into the house of Adonai , made an agreement with them and had them swear to it in the house of Adonai . Then he showed them the king's son and gave them this instruction: "Here is what you are to do: of you who come on duty on Shabbat, a third [normally] guards the royal palace, a third is at the Sur Gate and a third is at the gate behind the guards. [The first third] is to continue guarding the palace and serve as a barrier, while the other two groups of you who come on duty on Shabbat will guard the house of Adonai , where the king is. You are to surround the king, each man with his weapons in his hand. Anyone who penetrates the ranks is to be killed. Stay with the king whenever he leaves or enters." The captains over hundreds did exactly as Y'hoyada the cohen ordered. Each took his men, those coming on duty on Shabbat and those going off duty on Shabbat, and came to Y'hoyada the cohen. The cohen issued to the captains of hundreds the spears and shields that had been King David's and were kept in the house of Adonai . The guards then took positions, each man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, alongside the altar, alongside [the exterior of] the house and around the king. Then he brought out the king's son, crowned him, gave him [a copy of] the testimony and thus made him king; they anointed him, clapped their hands and shouted, "Long live the king!" When ‘Atalyah heard the shouting of the guard and the people, she entered the house of Adonai where the people were, looked and saw the king standing there on the platform, in keeping with the rule, with the leaders and trumpeters next to the king. All the people of the land were celebrating and blowing the trumpets. At this ‘Atalyah tore her clothes and cried, "Treason! Treason!" Y'hoyada the cohen ordered the captains of hundreds, the army officers, "Escort her out past the ranks [of guards]; but anyone who follows her, kill with the sword." For the cohen had said, "She must not be put to death in the house of Adonai ." So they took her by force and led her through the horses' entry to the royal palace, and there she was put to death. Y'hoyada made a covenant between Adonai , the king and the people, that they would be Adonai 's people, and [a covenant] between the king and the people. Then all the people of the land went to the house of Ba‘al and broke it down; they completely smashed its altars and images and killed Mattan the priest of Ba‘al in front of the altars. Next, the cohen appointed officers over the house of Adonai . He took the captains of hundreds, the Kari, the guards and all the people of the land; and they brought the king down from the house of Adonai , going by way of the gate of the guards to the royal palace. There he sat on the throne of the kings. All the people of the land celebrated, and at last the city was quiet. That is how they killed ‘Atalyah with the sword at the royal palace.

Y'ho'ash said to the cohanim, "All the funds for sacred purposes which are brought to the house of Adonai — the half-shekel tax, the taxes on persons in a man's household, and all the offerings anyone voluntarily brings to the house of Adonai —

So King Y'ho'ash summoned Y'hoyada the cohen and the other cohanim and said to them, "Why aren't you repairing the damaged places in the house? Therefore, you are no longer to take money from those who contribute it personally to you; you must hand it over to be used for repairing the damage in the house."

The cohanim agreed not to receive money from the people, and they would no longer be responsible for repairing the damage to the house.

on masons, stone-workers, timber, worked stone and everything else needed for repairing the damaged places in the house of Adonai .

But none of the money brought into the house of Adonai was used to make silver cups, snuffers, bowls, trumpets or other articles of gold or silver for the house of Adonai ;

It was in the twenty-third year of Yo'ash the son of Achazyah, king of Y'hudah, that Y'ho'achaz the son of Yehu began his reign over Isra'el in Shomron; he ruled for seventeen years.

The king of Aram destroyed Y'ho'achaz's army, making them like chaff when grain is threshed, except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots and 10,000 foot soldiers.

It was in the thirty-seventh year of Yo'ash king of Y'hudah that Yo'ash the son of Y'ho'achaz began his rule over Isra'el in Shomron; he ruled for sixteen years.

He was twenty-five years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was Y'ho‘adan, from Yerushalayim.

But he did not put the children of the murderers to death, because of what is written in the scroll of the Torah of Moshe, as Adonai ordered when he said, "Fathers are not to be executed for the children, nor are children to be executed for the fathers; every person will be executed for his own sin."