2 Chronicles 26

Judah’s King Uzziah

26All the people ^cof Judah took Uzziah, ^dwho was 16 years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. ²He rebuilt Eloth ^efand restored it to Judah after Amaziah the king rested with his fathers.

³Uzziah was 16 years old ^gwhen he became king and reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. ⁴He did what was right in the Lord’s sight as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵He sought God ^hthroughout the lifetime of Zechariah, the teacher of the fear ^ijof God. During the time that he sought the Lord, God gave him success. ^k

Uzziah’s Exploits

⁶Uzziah went out to wage war against the Philistines, ^land he tore down the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod. Then he built cities in the vicinity of Ashdod and among the Philistines. ⁷God helped him against the Philistines, the Arabs that live in Gur-baal, and the Meunites. ⁸The Ammonites ^mgave Uzziah tribute money, ⁿand his fame spread as far as the entrance of Egypt, for God made him very powerful. ⁹Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, ^othe Valley Gate, ^pand the corner buttress, and he fortified them. ¹⁰Since he had many cattle both in the Judean foothills ^qand the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many wells. ^rAnd since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands. ^s

¹¹Uzziah had an army equipped for combat that went out to war by division according to their assignments, as recorded by Jeiel the court secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the authority of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders. ¹²The total number of heads of families was 2,600 brave warriors. ¹³Under their authority was an army of 307,500 equipped for combat, a powerful force to help the king against the enemy. ^t14Uzziah provided the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows and slingstones. ¹⁵He made skillfully designed devices in Jerusalem to shoot arrows and catapult large stones for use on the towers and on the corners. So his fame spread even to distant places, for he was marvelously helped until he became strong.

Uzziah’s Disease

¹⁶But when he became strong, he grew arrogant ^uand it led to his own destruction. He acted unfaithfully against the Lord his God by going into the Lord’s sanctuary to burn incense on the incense altar. ^v17Azariah ^wthe priest, along with 80 brave priests of the Lord, went in after him. ¹⁸They took their stand ^xagainst King Uzziah and said, “Uzziah, you have no right to offer incense to the Lord ^y—only the consecrated priests, the descendants of Aaron, have the right to offer incense. ^zLeave the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully! You will not receive honor from the Lord God.”

¹⁹Uzziah, with a firepan in his hand to offer incense, was enraged. But when he became enraged with the priests, in the presence of the priests in the Lord’s temple beside the altar of incense, a skin disease ^abroke out on his forehead. ²⁰Then Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned to him and saw that he was diseased on his forehead. They rushed him out of there. He himself also hurried to get out because the Lord had afflicted him. ²¹So King Uzziah was diseased to the time of his death. ^bHe lived in quarantine ^cdwith a serious skin disease and was excluded from access to the Lord’s temple, while his son Jotham was over the king’s household governing the people of the land.

²²Now the prophet Isaiah ^eson of Amoz wrote about the rest of the events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end. ²³Uzziah rested with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the burial ground of the kings’ cemetery, ^ffor they said, “He has a skin disease.” His son Jotham became king in his place.