2 Chronicles 25–26

Amaziah Reigns in Judah

25ⁱAmaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. ²And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, ^jyet not with a whole heart. ³And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father. ⁴But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, ^k“Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.”

Amaziah’s Victories

⁵Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by fathers’ houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those ^ltwenty years old and upward, and found that they were ^m300,000 choice men, fit for war, ⁿable to handle spear and shield. ⁶He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents¹ of silver. ⁷But ^oa man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, with all these Ephraimites. ⁸But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? ^pFor God has power to help or to cast down.” ⁹And Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” ¹⁰Then Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger. ¹¹But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the ^qValley of Salt and struck down ^r10,000 men of Seir. ¹²The men of Judah captured another 10,000 alive and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock, and they were all dashed to pieces. ¹³But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, ^sfrom Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 people in them and took much spoil.

Amaziah’s Idolatry

¹⁴After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, ^the brought the gods ^rof the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them. ¹⁵Therefore the Lord was angry with Amaziah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of a people ^uwho did not deliver their own people from your hand?” ¹⁶But as he was speaking, the king said to him, “Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but said, “I know that ^vGod has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”

Israel Defeats Amaziah

^17wThen Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” ¹⁸And Joash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, ^x“A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. ¹⁹You say, ‘See, I² have struck down Edom,’ and ^yyour heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. But now stay at home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”

²⁰But Amaziah would not listen, for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, ^zbecause they had sought the gods of Edom. ²¹So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. ²²And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. ²³And Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, son of ^aAhaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for 400 cubits,³ from ^bthe Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. ²⁴And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, in the care of ^cObed-edom. He seized also the treasuries of the king’s house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria.

^25dAmaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. ²⁶Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, from first to last, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel? ²⁷From the time when he turned away from the Lord they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. ²⁸And they brought him upon horses, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David.⁴

Uzziah Reigns in Judah

26And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. ²He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers. ³Uzziah was ^esixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. ⁴And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. ⁵He set himself to seek God ^fin the days of Zechariah, ^gwho instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.

⁶He went out and ^hmade war against the Philistines and broke through the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. ⁷God helped him ⁱagainst the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gurbaal and against the ^jMeunites. ⁸The Ammonites ^kpaid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. ⁹Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at ^lthe Corner Gate and at ^mthe Valley Gate and at ⁿthe Angle, and fortified them. ¹⁰And he built towers in the wilderness and ^ocut out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. ¹¹Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders. ¹²The whole number of the heads of fathers’ houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600. ¹³Under their command was an army of ^p307,500, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. ¹⁴And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, ^qcoats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. ¹⁵In Jerusalem he made machines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.

Uzziah’s Pride and Punishment

¹⁶But when ^rhe was strong, ^she grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷But ^tAzariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor, ¹⁸and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, ^u“It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, ^vbut for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.” ¹⁹Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, ^wleprosy¹ broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. ²⁰And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him. ^21xAnd King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived ^yin a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king’s household, governing the people of the land.

²²Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, ^zIsaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote. ²³And Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” And Jotham his son reigned in his place.