1 In the seventh year Jehoiada {Yehoiada: Priestly Reformer} strengthened himself and took the commanders of the hundreds—Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zikri—with him in the covenant {berit: binding pledge}.
2 They moved through Judah and assembled the Levites from every city {arei: administrative districts} of Judah, along with the heads of the ancestral houses {avot: patriarchal households} of Israel; after that, they came to Jerusalem.
3 In the house of God {Elohim, Center of Worship} the whole assembly entered a covenant {berit, binding pledge} with the king, and Jehoiada said to them, “Look—this is the king’s son; he will reign, just as the LORD {YHWH, Promise Fulfiller} spoke concerning the sons of David.”
4 This is what you are to do: one third {ha-shelishit: rotational group} of you who come on the Sabbath—those from the priests and the Levites—shall serve as gatekeepers at the thresholds {sippim: entry points}.
5 Another third will take position in the king’s house, and another third at the Gate of the Foundation {yesod: foundational structure}; and the rest of the people are to remain in the courtyards of the house of the LORD {YHWH, Sanctuary Sovereign}.
6 Let no one enter the house of the LORD {YHWH, Sanctuary Dweller} except the priests and the ministers of the Levites; they alone may enter because they are holy {kodesh: set apart}. Yet all the people must keep the charge of the LORD.
7 The Levites are to form a ring {vehikipu: martial encirclement} around the king on every side, each man holding his weapons in his hand. Whoever comes into the house is to be put to death. Stay {vihyu: perpetual accompaniment} with the king both at his entrance and at his departure.
8 The Levites {haLeviim: hereditary temple ministers} and all Judah carried out everything Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each man took his men—those scheduled to come on the Sabbath together with those scheduled to go out on the Sabbath—because Jehoiada the priest had not dismissed the divisions {machlekot: organized rotations}.
9 Jehoiada the priest gave the commanders of the hundreds the spears, the shields, and the bucklers {shalatim: small shields} that belonged to King David and were kept in the house of God {haelohim: Sanctuary Presence}.
10 He positioned all the people as a guard, each man holding his weapon in his hand, stretching from the right side of the house {bayit: temple sanctuary} to the left side of the house, near the altar and near the house, enclosing the king {melech: anointed leader}.
11 Then they brought out the king’s son {ben: heir apparent}, placed the crown on him along with the testimony {edut: covenant document}, and proclaimed him king. Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and they said, “Let the king live!”
12 When Athaliah heard the sound of the people, the runners {ratsim: elite couriers}, and the praise being raised for the king, she went to the people at the house of the LORD {YHWH, Temple Sovereign}.
13 She looked and saw the king standing on his pillar {amudo: ceremonial platform} at the entrance, accompanied by the officials and the trumpets. All the people of the land were celebrating and sounding trumpets, and the singers with instruments of song were proclaiming the praise. Then Athaliah tore her garments {beged: outer garment} and exclaimed, “Conspiracy! Conspiracy!”
14 Jehoiada the priest brought out the commanders of the hundreds who were appointed over the force and said to them, “Take her out between the ranks {sederot: battle lines}; and whoever goes after her shall be put to death by the sword. For the priest had said, ‘Do not put her to death in the house of the LORD {YHWH, Holy Dwelling}.’”
15 So they placed their hands upon her, and she went to the entrance of the Horse Gate {shaʿar hasusim: stables’ gate} of the king’s house {beit hamelekh: palace complex}; and they put her to death there.
16 Then Jehoiada {yehoiada: Yahweh knows} established a covenant between himself, all the people, and the king, that they would be a people for the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Receiver}.
17 All the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down; they smashed his altars {mizbechot: sacrificial platforms} and his images {tzelamim: cult statues}, and they killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars.
18 Jehoiada set the oversight of the house of the LORD {YHWH, Temple Sovereign} in the hands of the Levitical priests and the Levites, whom David had assigned over the house of the LORD, to offer burnt offerings to the LORD as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing {simcha: sacred rejoicing} and with singing, according to the arrangement of David.
19 And he stationed the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the LORD {YHWH, Sacred Dwelling}, so that no unclean {ṭāmeʾ: ritually impure} person could enter for any purpose.
20 He gathered the commanders {sarei: military overseers} of the hundreds, the nobles, the rulers among the people, and all the inhabitants of the land, and he led the king down from the house of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Sanctuary}. They went in by the upper gate of 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 {shaqatah: settled, undisturbed}, for Athaliah had been put to death with the sword {cherev: sharp weapon}.