2 Chronicles 25–26

25TH CHAPTER

King Amaziah of Judah—2 Kings 14:1–7

¹Amaziah was 25 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jehoaddan from Jerusalem. ²He did what the Lord considered right, but he did not do it wholeheartedly. ³As soon as he had firm control over the kingdom, he executed the officials who killed his father, the former king. ⁴But he didn’t execute their children. He obeyed the Lord’s command written in the Book of Moses’ Teachings: “Parents must never be put to death for the crimes of their children, and children must never be put to death for the crimes of their parents. Each person must be put to death for his own crime.” 

⁵Amaziah called the people of Judah together and assigned them by families to regiment and battalion commanders for all of Judah and Benjamin. He organized those who were at least 20 years old and found that he had 300,000 of the best men for the army, those who could handle a spear and a shield. ⁶He also hired 100,000 soldiers from Israel for 7,500 pounds of silver. 

⁷But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, Israel’s army must not go with you, because the Lord isn’t with Israel. He’s not with these men from Ephraim. ⁸If you go into battle with them, no matter how courageous you are, God will use the enemy to defeat you, because God has the power to help you or to defeat you.” 

⁹Amaziah asked the man of God, “What should I do about the 7,500 pounds of silver I gave the troops from Israel?” 

The man of God answered, “The Lord can give you much more than that.” 

¹⁰Then Amaziah dismissed the troops that had come to him from Ephraim. But they became furious with Judah and returned home. 

¹¹Amaziah courageously led his troops. When he came to the Dead Sea region, he killed 10,000 men from Seir.^a12The Judeans captured another 10,000 alive, took them to the top of a cliff, and threw them off the top of the cliff so that they were dismembered. 

¹³The troops that Amaziah sent back so that they couldn’t go with him into battle raided the towns in Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon. They killed 3,000 people and took a lot of goods. 

King Amaziah’s Sin Leads to His Defeat—2 Kings 14:8–20

¹⁴After Amaziah came back from defeating the Edomites, he brought the gods of the people of Seir, set them up as his gods, bowed down to them, and burned sacrifices to them. ¹⁵The Lord became angry with Amaziah. He sent him a prophet who asked him, “Why do you dedicate your life to serving the gods of those people? Those gods couldn’t save their own people from you.” 

¹⁶As he was talking, the king asked him, “Did we make you an adviser to the king? Stop! Do you want me to have you killed?” 

The prophet stopped. He said, “I know that God has decided to destroy you because you did this, but you refuse to listen to my advice.” 

¹⁷After getting advice ⸤from his advisers⸥, King Amaziah of Judah sent messengers to King Jehoash,^bson of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu of Israel, to declare war on Israel. 

¹⁸King Jehoash of Israel sent this message to King Amaziah of Judah: “A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon. It said, ‘Let your daughter marry my son,’ but a wild animal from Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle. ¹⁹You say you defeated Edom, and now you’ve become arrogant enough to look for more fame. Stay home! Why must you invite disaster and your own defeat and take Judah with you?” 

²⁰But Amaziah wouldn’t listen. (God made this happen because he wanted to hand over the Judeans to Jehoash because they had sought help from Edom’s gods.) ²¹So King Jehoash of Israel attacked, and King Amaziah of Judah met him in battle at Beth Shemesh in Judah. ²²Israel defeated the army of Judah, and the Judeans fled to their homes. ²³King Jehoash of Israel captured King Amaziah, son of Joash and grandson of Ahaziah of Judah, at Beth Shemesh and brought him to Jerusalem. He tore down a 600-foot section of the wall around Jerusalem from Ephraim Gate to Corner Gate. ²⁴⸤He took⸥ all the gold, silver, and all the utensils he found in God’s temple with Obed Edom and in the royal palace treasury. He also took hostages. Then he returned to Samaria. 

²⁵Joash’s son King Amaziah of Judah lived 15 years after the death of Jehoahaz’s son King Jehoash of Israel. ²⁶Isn’t everything else about Amaziah, from beginning to end, written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel? ²⁷After Amaziah turned away from the Lord, conspirators in Jerusalem plotted against him. Amaziah fled to Lachish, but they sent men to Lachish after him and killed him there. ²⁸They brought him back by horse and buried him in the city of Judah with his ancestors. 

26TH CHAPTER

King Uzziah of Judah—2 Kings 14:21–15:3

¹All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was 16 years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. ²Uzziah rebuilt Elath and returned it to Judah after King Amaziah lay down in death with his ancestors. ³Uzziah was 16 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. ⁴He did what the Lord considered right, as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵He dedicated his life to serving God in the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. As long as he dedicated his life to serving the Lord, the Lord gave him success. 

⁶Uzziah went to wage war against the Philistines. He tore down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. He built cities near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. ⁷God helped him when he attacked the Philistines, the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal, and the Meunites. ⁸The Ammonites paid taxes to Uzziah, and his fame spread to the border of Egypt because he became very powerful. ⁹Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at Corner Wall, Valley Gate, and the Angle, and he reinforced them. ¹⁰He built towers in the desert. He dug many cisterns because he had a lot of herds in the foothills and the plains. He had farmers and vineyard workers in the mountains and the fertile fields because he loved the soil. 

¹¹Uzziah had an army of professional soldiers. They were ready to go to war in their companies based on the number organized by the scribe Jeiel and the officer Maaseiah. They were commanded by Hananiah, one of the king’s officials. ¹²The total number of family heads among these warriors was 2,600. ¹³Under them was an army of 307,500 soldiers. They were a powerful force that could support the king against the enemy. ¹⁴For the entire army Uzziah prepared shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and stones for slings. ¹⁵In Jerusalem he made machines designed by inventive people. The machines were placed on the towers and corners to shoot arrows and hurl large stones. 

King Uzziah Is Cursed with a Skin Disease—2 Kings 15:5–7

Uzziah’s fame spread far and wide because he had strong support until he became powerful. ¹⁶But when he became powerful, his pride destroyed him. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God. He went into the Lord’s temple to burn incense on the incense altar. ¹⁷The priest Azariah went in after him with 80 of the Lord’s courageous priests. ¹⁸They opposed King Uzziah. They said to him, “Uzziah, you have no right to burn incense as an offering to the Lord. That right belongs to the priests, Aaron’s descendants, who have been given the holy task of burning incense. Get out of the holy place because you have been unfaithful. The Lord God will not honor you for this.” 

¹⁹Uzziah, who held an incense burner in his hand, became angry. While he was angry with the priests, a skin disease broke out on his forehead. This happened in front of the priests in the Lord’s temple as Uzziah was at the incense altar. ²⁰When the chief priest Azariah and all the priests turned toward him, a skin disease was on his forehead. They rushed him away. Uzziah was in a hurry to get out because the Lord had inflicted him ⸤with the disease⸥. 

²¹King Uzziah had a skin disease until the day he died. Since he had a skin disease, he lived in a separate house and was barred from the Lord’s temple. His son Jotham was in charge of the royal palace and governed the country. 

²²Everything else about Uzziah, from beginning to end, is recorded by the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz. ²³Uzziah lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried with them in a field containing tombs that belonged to the kings. People said, “He had a skin disease.” His son Jotham succeeded him as king.