22 Forsooth the dwellers of Jerusalem ordained Ahaziah, the youngest son of Jehoram[a], to be king for him; for the thieves of Arabia, that felled into the castles of Judah, had slain all his greater, or elder brethren, which were begotten before him. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, reigned. (And the inhabitants of Jerusalem ordained Ahaziah, the youngest son of Jehoram, to be king for him; for the Arab thieves, who fell upon the tents, or the camps, of Judah, had killed all his elder brothers, who were born before him. And so Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah, reigned.)
2 Ahaziah was of two and forty years (Ahaziah was twenty-two years old), when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem; the name of his mother was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri.
3 But he entered by the way of the house of Ahab (But he went in the ways of the house of Ahab); for his mother compelled him to do evil.
4 Therefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab; for they were counsellors to him into his perishing, after the death of his father; (And so he did evil before the Lord, like the house of Ahab; for they were his counsellors after his father’s death, yea, unto his perishing;)
5 and he went in the counsel of them. And he went with Joram[b], the son of Ahab, king of Israel, into battle against Hazael, king of Syria, into Ramoth of Gilead (at Ramoth of Gilead). And men of Syria wounded Joram;
6 which turned again for to be healed in Jezreel; for he had taken many wounds in the foresaid battle. Therefore Ahaziah[c], king of Judah, the son of Jehoram, went down to visit Joram, the son of Ahab, that was sick in Jezreel; (who returned home to Jezreel to recover; for he had received many wounds in the foresaid battle. And so Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah, went down to visit Joram, the son of Ahab, the king of Israel, who was sick in Jezreel;)
7 for it was God’s will against Ahaziah, that he came to Joram. And when he was come, he went out with him against Jehu, the son of Nimshi, whom God (had) anointed, that he should do away the house of Ahab.
8 Therefore when Jehu destroyed the house of Ahab, he found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, that ministered to him; and he killed them. (And so when Jehu destroyed the house of Ahab, he found the leaders of Judah, and the sons of the kinsmen of Ahaziah, who served him; and he killed them.)
9 And he sought that Ahaziah, and caught him hid in Samaria, and after that he was brought to Jehu, Jehu killed him; and they buried him, for he was the son of Jehoshaphat, that had sought God in all his heart. And none hope was more, that any of the generation of Ahaziah should reign. (And he sought out Ahaziah, and they caught him hiding in Samaria, and after that he was brought to Jehu, Jehu killed him; and they buried him, for he was the son of Jehoshaphat, who had sought God with all his heart. And then there was no more hope, that any of Ahaziah’s family would ever reign again.)
10 And Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, and she rose up, and killed all the king’s generation of the house of Jehoram. (And Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, saw that her son was dead, and she rose up, and killed all the king’s family of the house of Judah.)
11 Forsooth Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from the midst of the sons of the king, when they were slain; and she hid him with his nurse in a closet of beds. For Jehoshabeath, that hid him, was the daughter of king Jehoram, and (the) wife of Jehoiada, the bishop, and the sister of Ahaziah; and therefore Athaliah killed not her. (But Jehoshabeath, the king’s daughter, took Joash, Ahaziah’s son, and stole him away from the midst of the king’s sons, when they were being killed; and she hid him with his nurse in a bed-closet. For Jehoshabeath, who hid him, was King Jehoram’s daughter, and the wife of the High Priest Jehoiada, and Ahaziah’s sister; and so Athaliah did not kill Joash.)
12 Therefore he was hid with them in the house of God (for) six years, in which Athaliah reigned on the land.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 22:1 Also known as Joram.
- 2 Chronicles 22:5 Also known as Jehoram(!).
- 2 Chronicles 22:6 Here the KJV erroneously has “Azariah”.