Jehoiada’s Reforms

¹⁶ Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, the king, and the people that they would be the Lord’s people. ¹⁷ So all the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed its altars and images and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, at the altars.^(A)

¹⁸ Then Jehoiada put the oversight of the Lord’s temple into the hands of the Levitical priests,^(B) whom David had appointed^(C) over the Lord’s temple, to offer burnt offerings to the Lord as it is written in the law of Moses,^(D) with rejoicing and song ordained by^[a] David. ¹⁹ He stationed gatekeepers^(E) at the gates of the Lord’s temple so that nothing unclean could enter for any reason. ²⁰ Then he took with him the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land and brought the king down from the Lord’s temple. They entered the king’s palace through the Upper Gate and seated the king on the throne of the kingdom. ²¹ All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet, for they had put Athaliah to death by the sword.