22:1  Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men who came with the Arabs to the camp had slain all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.

22:2  Ahaziah reached twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother had the name of Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri.

22:3  He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother served as his counselor to do wickedly.

22:4  He did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab, for they served as his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction.

22:5  He also walked according to their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to wage war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. But the Arameans wounded Joram.

22:6  So he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which they had inflicted on him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he had become sick.

22:7  Now the destruction of Ahaziah had come from God, in that he went to Joram For when he came, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.

22:8  It came about when Jehu executed judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers ministering to Ahaziah, and slew them.

22:9  He also sought Ahaziah, and they caught him while he hid in Samaria; they brought him to Jehu, put him to death and buried him. For they said, "We identify him as the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart." So there remained no one of the house of Ahaziah to retain the power of the kingdom.

22:10  Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son had died, she rose and destroyed all the royal offspring of the house of Judah.

22:11  But Jehoshabeath the king's daughter took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons who had received the death penalty, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for they identified her as the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she would not put him to death.

22:12  He remained hidden with them in the house of God six years while Athaliah reigned over the land.