1 Some Arabs had led a raid and killed all King Jehoram's sons except Ahaziah, the youngest. So now the people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah king as his father's successor.
2-3 Ahaziah became king at the age of 22, and he ruled in Jerusalem for one year. Ahaziah also followed the example of King Ahab's family, since his mother Athaliah — the daughter of King Ahab and granddaughter of King Omri of Israel — gave him advice that led him into evil.
4 He sinned against the Lord, because after his father's death other members of King Ahab's family became his advisers, and they led to his downfall.
5 Following their advice, he joined King Joram of Israel in a war against King Hazael of Syria. The armies clashed at Ramoth in Gilead, and Joram was wounded in battle.
6 He returned to the city of Jezreel to recover from his wounds, and Ahaziah went there to visit him.
7 God used this visit to Joram to bring about Ahaziah's downfall. While Ahaziah was there, he and Joram were confronted by a man named Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had chosen to destroy the dynasty of Ahab.
8 As Jehu was carrying out God's sentence on the dynasty, he came across a group made up of Judean leaders and of Ahaziah's nephews that had accompanied Ahaziah on his visit. Jehu killed them all.