The Divided Kingdom

Y'hoyada the cohen brought out the captains of hundreds who were in charge of the army and said to them, "Escort her out past the ranks [of guards]; but anyone who follows her, let him be put to the sword." For the cohen had said, "Do not put her to death in the house of ADONAI.

So they took her by force and led her by the horses' entry to the king's palace, and there they put her to death.

Y'hoyada made a covenant between himself, all the people and the king, that they would be ADONAI's people.

Then all the people went to the house of Ba'al and broke it down; they smashed his altars and images and killed Mattan the priest of Ba'al in front of the altars.

Y'hoyada appointed officers for the house of ADONAI under the supervision of the cohanim and L'vi'im, whom David had assigned turns of duty in the house of ADONAI, to offer the burnt offerings of ADONAI, as written in the Torah of Moshe, with rejoicing and singing in keeping with David's orders.

He stationed guards at the gates of the house of ADONAI, so that no one who was unclean in any respect could enter

He took the captains of hundreds, the men of rank, the rulers of the people and all the people of the land; and they brought the king down from the house of ADONAI, going through the Upper Gate to the royal palace, and seated the king on the royal throne.

All the people of the land celebrated, and at last the city was quiet. That is how they killed 'Atalyah with the sword

Yo'ash was seven years old when he began his reign, and he reigned forty years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was Tzivyah, from Be'er-Sheva.

Yo'ash did what was right from ADONAI's perspective throughout the lifetime of Y'hoyada the cohen.

Y'hoyada chose two wives for him, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

Some time later, Yo'ash decided to restore the house of ADONAI.

He gathered the cohanim and L'vi'im and said to them, "Go out to the cities of Y'hudah, and collect money each year from all Isra'el to repair the house of your God. See that you do this promptly." But when the L'vi'im procrastinated,

the king summoned Y'hoyada the chief and said to him, "Why haven't you demanded that the L'vi'im bring in from Y'hudah and Yerushalayim the tax prescribed by Moshe the servant of ADONAI and by the community of Isra'el, for the tent of the testimony?"

For the sons of that wicked 'Atalyahu had broken up the house of God, and they had given all the consecrated things belonging to the house of ADONAI to the ba'alim.

Then, at the king's order, they made a box and placed it outside the entrance to the house of ADONAI.

They proclaimed throughout Y'hudah and Yerushalayim that the tax Moshe the servant of God had imposed on Isra'el in the desert should be brought in for ADONAI.

All the leaders and all the people were glad to bring in their contributions and put them in the box, until it was full.

When the box was brought to the king's officials by the L'vi'im, and when they saw how much money there was, the king's secretary and the chief cohen's official came and emptied the box; then they took it and returned it to its place. They did this daily, and they collected money in abundance.

The king and Y'hoyada gave it to those in charge of taking care of the house of ADONAI. They, in turn, hired stone-workers and carpenters to restore the house of ADONAI, also iron- and bronze-workers to repair the house of ADONAI.

The workers got on with their tasks, so that the restoration progressed well, until they had returned the house of God to its earlier condition and strengthened it.

When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Y'hoyada, and it was used to make equipment for the house of ADONAI - articles for ministry, buckets, fire pans, and utensils of gold and silver. So they offered burnt offerings in the house of ADONAI regularly throughout the time of Y'hoyada.

But Y'hoyada grew old; and when he was full of days, he died. He was 130 years old when he died.

They buried him in the City of David among the kings, because he had served Isra'el, God and his house well.

After Y'hoyada died, the leaders of Y'hudah came and prostrated themselves before the king. Then the king listened to them;