2 Chronicles 26–27

King Uzziah of Judah

26All the people of Judah chose Amaziah’s sixteen-year-old son Uzziah to succeed his father as king. ²(It was after the death of Amaziah that Uzziah recaptured Elath and rebuilt the city.)

³Uzziah became king at the age of sixteen, and he ruled in Jerusalem for 52 years. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. ⁴Following the example of his father, he did what was pleasing to the Lord. ⁵As long as Zechariah, his religious adviser, was living, he served the Lord faithfully, and God blessed him.

⁶Uzziah went to war against the Philistines. He tore down the walls of the cities of Gath, Jamnia, and Ashdod, and built fortified cities near Ashdod and in the rest of Philistia. ⁷God helped him to defeat the Philistines, the Arabs living at Gurbaal, and the Meunites. ⁸The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and he became so powerful that his fame spread even to Egypt.

⁹Uzziah strengthened the fortifications of Jerusalem by building towers at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and where the wall turned. ¹⁰He also built fortified towers in the open country and dug many cisterns, because he had large herds of livestock in the western foothills and plains. Because he loved farming, he encouraged the people to plant vineyards in the hill country and to farm the fertile land.

¹¹He had a large army ready for battle. Its records were kept by his secretaries Jeiel and Maaseiah under the supervision of Hananiah, a member of the king’s staff. ¹²The army was commanded by 2,600 officers. ¹³Under them were 307,500 soldiers able to fight effectively for the king against his enemies. ¹⁴Uzziah supplied the army with shields, spears, helmets, coats of armour, bows and arrows, and stones for slinging. ¹⁵In Jerusalem his inventors made equipment for shooting arrows and for throwing large stones from the towers and corners of the city wall. His fame spread everywhere, and he became very powerful because of the help he received from God.

Uzziah Is Punished for His Pride

¹⁶But when King Uzziah became strong, he grew arrogant, and that led to his downfall. He defied the Lord his God by going into the Temple to burn incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷Azariah the priest, accompanied by 80 strong and courageous priests, followed the king ^18*to resist him. They said, “Uzziah! You have no right to burn incense to the Lord. Only the priests who are descended from Aaron have been consecrated to do this. Leave this holy place. You have offended the Lord God, and you no longer have his blessing.”

¹⁹Uzziah was standing there in the Temple beside the incense altar and was holding an incense burner. He became angry with the priests, and immediately a dreaded skin disease broke out on his forehead. ²⁰Azariah and the other priests stared at the king’s forehead in horror, and then forced him to leave the Temple. He hurried to get out, because the Lord had punished him.

²¹For the rest of his life King Uzziah was ritually unclean because of his disease. Unable to enter the Temple again, he lived in his own house, relieved of all duties, while his son Jotham governed the country.

²²The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz recorded all the other things that King Uzziah did during his reign. ^23*Uzziah died and was buried in the royal burial ground, but because of his disease he was not buried in the royal tombs. His son Jotham succeeded him as king.

King Jotham of Judah

27Jotham became king at the age of 25, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years. His mother was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok. ²He did what was pleasing to the Lord, just as his father had done; but unlike his father he did not sin by burning incense^p in the Temple. The people, however, went on sinning.

³It was Jotham who built the North Gate of the Temple and did extensive work on the city wall in the area of Jerusalem called Ophel. ⁴In the mountains of Judah he built cities, and in the forests he built forts and towers.

⁵He fought against the king of Ammon and his army and defeated them. Then he forced the Ammonites to pay him the following tribute each year for three years: 3,400 kilogrammes of silver, 1,000 tonnes of wheat, and 1,000 tonnes of barley. ⁶Jotham grew powerful because he faithfully obeyed the Lord his God. ⁷The other events of Jotham’s reign, his wars, and his policies, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸Jotham was 25 years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years.

⁹He died and was buried in David’s City and his son Ahaz succeeded him as king.