CHAPTER 23
1 Forsooth in the seventh year Jehoiada was comforted, and took [the] centurions, that is, 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; and he made with them a counsel and a bond of peace. (But in the seventh year Jehoiada was strengthened, and called for the centurions, that is, 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; and he made a covenant with all of them.)
2 The which compassed Judah, and gathered together deacons (out) of all the cities of Judah, and the princes of the families of Israel, and they came into Jerusalem. (And then they went around Judah, and gathered together the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the leaders of the families of Israel, and they came into Jerusalem.)
3 And all the multitude made (a) covenant in the house of the Lord with the king. And Jehoiada said to them, Lo! Joash the son of the king shall reign, as the Lord spake on the sons of David. (And all the multitude made a covenant with the king in the House of the Lord. And Jehoiada said to them, Behold! (Joash), the king’s son, shall reign, as the Lord hath said of the sons of David.)
4 Therefore this is the word, that ye shall do. The third part of you that be come to the sabbath, of priests, and of deacons, and of porters, shall be in the gates; (And so this is the thing that ye shall do. A third of the priests and the Levites, who come to the Sabbath, shall be gatekeepers;)
5 and a third part shall be at the house of the king; and the other third part shall be at the gate, which is called of the foundament. And all the other common people be in the large places of the house of the Lord; (and a third shall be at the house of the king; and the other third shall be at the Foundation Gate. And all the other common people shall be in the courtyards of the House of the Lord;)
6 and none other man enter into the house of the Lord, no but [the] priests, and they that minister of the deacons; only enter they, that be hallowed, and all the other common people keep they the keepings of the Lord. (and no other person shall enter into the House of the Lord, but the priests, and those of the Levites who serve there; only they shall enter, for they be consecrated,or purified, but all the other common people shall keep the Lord’s watch.)
7 Forsooth the deacons (en)compass the king, and each man have his armours; and if any other man entereth into the temple, be he slain; and be they with the king entering and going out. (And the Levites shall stand about the king, and each man shall be armed or and each man shall have his weapon; and if any other man cometh into the Temple, let him he killed; and be they with the king coming in and going out.)
8 Therefore the deacons and all Judah did by all things which Jehoiada, the bishop, had commanded; and (they) all took the men, that were with them, and came by the order of [the] sabbath with them, that had [ful] filled now the sabbath, and should go out. For Jehoiada, the bishop, suffered not the companies to go away, that were wont to come one after the tother by each week. (And so the Levites, and all the men of Judah, did all that the High Priest Jehoiada had commanded; and they took the men who were with them, and had come in by the order of the Sabbath, with them who had fulfilled the Sabbath, and should now go out. For the High Priest Jehoiada, did not allow any of the companies, who were wont to come one after the other by each week, to go away.)
9 And Jehoiada, the priest, gave to the centurions spears, and shields, and bucklers, of king David, which he had hallowed in the house of the Lord. (And the High Priest Jehoiada gave the centurions the spears, and shields, and bucklers, of King David, which he had kept in the House of the Lord.)
10 And he ordained all the people, of them that held swords, at the right side of the temple unto the left side of the temple, before the altar and the temple, by compass of the king (or all around the king).
11 And they led out Joash the son of the king, and they set a diadem upon his head; and they gave to him in his hand the law to be holden, and they made him king. And Jehoiada, the bishop, and his sons, anointed him; and they prayed heartily, and said, The king live! (or And the High Priest Jehoiada, and his sons, anointed him; and they prayed, and heartily said, Long live the king!)
12 And when Athaliah had heard this thing, that is, the voice of men running and praising the king, (or that is, the sound of men running and praising the king), she entered in to the people, into the temple of the Lord.
13 And when she had seen the king, standing on the degrees in the entering (of the temple), and the princes and the companies of knights about him, and all the people of the land joying, and sounding with trumps, and singing together with organs of diverse kind, and the voice of men praising, she rent her clothes, and said, Treasons! treasons! (And when she had seen the king standing on the steps at the entrance (to the Temple), and the leaders and the companies of horsemen all about him, and all the people of the land rejoicing, and sounding with trumpets, and singers, and musicians with diverse kinds of instruments, and people praising him, she tore her clothes, and said, Treasons! treasons!)
14 And Jehoiada, the bishop, went out to the centurions, and to the princes of the host, and said to them, Lead ye her without the precincts, either enclosings, of the temple, and be she slain withoutforth by sword; and the priest commanded, that she should not be slain in the house of the Lord. (And the High Priest Jehoiada went out to the centurions, and to the leaders of the army, and said to them, Lead ye her without the precincts of the Temple, and let her be killed outside with the sword; and the High Priest commanded, that she should not be killed in the House of the Lord.)
15 And they setted hands on her noll (or And so they put their hands on her); and when she had entered into the gate of the horses, of the king’s house, they killed her there.
16 Forsooth Jehoiada covenanted a bond of peace betwixt himself and all the people and the king, that it should be the people of the Lord. (And then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king, that they should be the people of the Lord.)
17 Therefore all the people entered into the house of Baal, and they destroyed it, and they brake the altars and the simulacra thereof; but they killed before the altars Mattan, the priest of Baal, (or and they killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, before the altars).
18 And Jehoiada ordained sovereigns in the house of the Lord, that under the hands of priests, and of deacons, which David parted in the house of the Lord, they should offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses, in joy and in songs, by the ordinance of David. (And then Jehoiada ordained as the rulers of the House of the Lord, the priests, and the Levites, whom David had assigned to the House of the Lord, to offer the burnt sacrifices to the Lord, as it is written in The Book of Moses, with joy and with songs, by David’s ordinance.)
19 Also he ordained porters in the gates of the house of the Lord, that an unclean man in anything should not enter into it. (And he ordained the gatekeepers at the gates of the House of the Lord, so that no unclean person could enter into it.)
20 And he took the centurions, and the strongest men, and princes of the people, and all the common people of the land. And they made the king to go down from the house of the Lord, and to enter by the midst of the higher gate into the house of the king; and they set him in the king’s throne. (And he took the centurions, and the strongest men, and the people’s leaders, and all the common people of the land. And together they brought the king down from the House of the Lord, and they entered through the Upper Gate into the house of the king, and they put him on the king’s throne.)
21 And all the people of the land was glad, and the city rested; forsooth Athaliah was slain by (the) sword.