16 But cwhen he was strong, dhis heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into ethe temple of the Lord fto burn incense upon ethe altar of incense. 17 *And gAzariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord, that were hvaliant men: 18 And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, iIt appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the kpriests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord God. 19 Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, lthe leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, from beside the incense altar. 20 And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they mthrust him out from thence; yea, himself nhasted also to go out, because othe Lord had smitten him. 21 And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a †several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord: and Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land. 22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, pfirst and last, did qIsaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write. 23 So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers rin the field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

27 *Jotham awas twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok. 2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah did: howbeit bhe entered not into the temple of the Lord. And the people did yet corruptly. 3 He built the chigh gate of the house of the Lord, and on the wall of d||Ophel he built much. 4 Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the forests he built ecastles and towers. 5 He fought also with the king of the fAmmonites, and prevailed against them. And the children of Ammon gave him the same year an hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand gmeasures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. †So much did the children of Ammon pay unto him, both the second year, and the third. 6 So Jotham became mighty, hbecause he ||prepared his ways before the Lord his God. 7 iNow the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. 8 kHe was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. 9 *lAnd Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

28 *Ahaz awas twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father: 2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also bmolten images for cBaalim. 3 Moreover he ||burnt incense in dthe valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt ehis children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 4 He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. 5 *Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they esmote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to †Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter. 6 For fPekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all †valiant men; because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. 7 And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah gthe king’s son, and Azrikam gthe governor of the house, and Elkanah that was †next to the king. 8 And the children of Israel carried away captive of their hbrethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. 9 But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, ibecause the Lord God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that jreacheth up unto heaven. 10 And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God? 11 Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you. 12 Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and kJehizkiah the son of lShallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war, 13 And said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for whereas we have offended against the Lord already, ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel. 14 So mthe armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation. 15 And the men nwhich were expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and ogave them to eat and to drink, and panointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, qthe city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.

16 *rAt that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him. 17 For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away †captives. 18 The sPhilistines also had tinvaded the cities of uthe low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken wBeth-shemesh, and xAjalon, and yGederoth, and zShocho with the avillages thereof, and bTimnah with the avillages thereof, Gimzo also and the avillages thereof: and they dwelt there. 19 For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of cIsrael; for he dmade Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord. 20 *And eTilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not. 21 fFor Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the Lord, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not.

22 And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord: this is that king Ahaz. 23 For ghe sacrificed unto the gods of †Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, hthat they may help me. But they iwere the ruin of him, and of all cIsrael. 24 And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and jcut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and kshut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and lhe made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem. 25 And in every several city of Judah he made high places ||to burn incense unto other gods, and mprovoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers. 26 nNow the rest of his acts and of all his ways, ofirst and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 27 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem: pbut they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of cIsrael: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

29 *Hezekiah abegan to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of bZechariah. 2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. 3 He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, copened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. 4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, 5 And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, dsanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. 6 For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have eturned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and †turned their backs. 7 Also they have fshut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel. 8 Wherefore the gwrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to †trouble, to astonishment, and to hhissing, as ye see with your eyes. 9 For, lo, iour fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. 10 Now it is jin mine heart to make ka covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. 11 My sons, ||be not now negligent: for the Lord hath lchosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and ||burn incense.

12 Then the Levites arose, mMahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the nKohathites: and of the sons of nMerari, oKish the son of Abdi, and mAzariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the nGershonites; pJoah the son of Zimmah, and mEden the son of Joah: 13 And of the sons of qElizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of rAsaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah: 14 And of the sons of sHeman; mJehiel, and mShimei: and of the sons of sJeduthun; mShemaiah, and Uzziel. 15 And they gathered their brethren, and tsanctified …