22:1 The residents of Jerusalem made his youngest son Ahaziah king in his place, for the raiding party that invaded the city with the Arabs had killed all the older sons.¹ So Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah. 22:2 Ahaziah was 22² years old when he became king and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, the granddaughter³ of Omri. 22:3 He followed in the footsteps of Ahab’s dynasty,⁴ for his mother gave him evil advice.⁵ 22:4 He did evil before the LORD, like Ahab’s dynasty, because, after his father’s death, they⁶ gave him advice that led to his destruction. 22:5 He followed their advice and joined Ahab’s son Jehoram, king of Israel, in a battle against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead in which the Syrians defeated Joram.⁷ 22:6 Joram⁸ returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians⁹ in Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. Ahaziah¹⁰ son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to visit Jehoram son of Ahab in Jezreel, for he was ill.

22:7 God brought about Ahaziah’s downfall through his visit to Joram.¹¹ When Ahaziah¹² arrived, he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had commissioned¹³ to wipe out Ahab’s family.¹⁴ 22:8 While Jehu was dishing out punishment to Ahab’s family, he discovered the officials of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s relatives who were serving Ahaziah and killed them. 22:9 He looked for Ahaziah, who was captured while hiding in Samaria. They brought him to Jehu and then executed him. They did give him a burial, for they reasoned,¹⁵ “He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with his whole heart.” There was no one in Ahaziah’s family strong enough to rule in his place.¹⁶

22:10 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she was determined to destroy the entire royal line¹⁷ of Judah.¹⁸ 22:11 So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram,¹⁹ took Ahaziah’s son Joash and snuck him away²⁰ from the rest of the royal descendents who were to be executed. She hid him and his nurse in the room where the bed covers were stored. So Jehoshabeath the daughter of King Jehoram, wife of Jehoiada the priest, and sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah so she could not execute him. 22:12 He hid out in God’s temple²¹ for six years, while Athaliah was ruling over the land.