2 Chronicles 25–26

The Reign of Amaziah

25Amaziah was twenty-five years old^a when he became king. And he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was Jehoaddan from Jerusalem. ²And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, only not with a fully-devoted heart. ³And it happened that as his reign was strengthened, he killed his servants who had killed his father the king. ⁴But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the law, in the scroll of Moses, where Yahweh commanded, saying, “Fathers shall not be put to death on account of the sons, and the sons shall not be put to death on account of the fathers, but each shall be put to death for his own sin.”

⁵Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by families^b under commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. And he counted them from twenty years old^c and above, and found them to be three hundred thousand chosen for going out to battle, able with spear and shield. ⁶And he hired from Israel one hundred thousand strong, mighty warriors for one hundred talents of silver.

⁷But a man of God came to him, saying, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for Yahweh is not with Israel, all the Ephraimites. ⁸But even still, you yourself go, do! Be strong for the battle else God will make you stumble before the enemy! For there is power with God to help and to cause stumbling.” ⁹And Amaziah said to the man of God, “Now what should I do with the one hundred talents that I have given to the troops of Israel?” And the man of God said, “Yahweh is able to give^d to you more than this.” ¹⁰Then Amaziah dismissed the troops that came to him from Ephraim to go to their home.^e And they became very angry^f with Judah, and they returned to their home in great anger.^g

¹¹Then Amaziah strengthened himself, and leading his army, he went to the Valley of Salt. And he struck down ten thousand men^h of Seir. ¹²Now the menⁱ of Judah captured ten thousand others alive, and they brought them to the top of the rock and threw them from the top of the rock. So all of them were smashed to pieces.

¹³As for the troops^j Amaziah had sent back from going with him to war, they raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth-Horon. And they struck down three thousand of them and plundered much booty.

¹⁴And it happened that after Amaziah came back from killing the Edomites, he brought the gods of the sons of Seir, and he stood them up for himself as gods and bowed down before them and made smoke offerings for them. ¹⁵So Yahweh became very angry^k with Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, and he said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people who could not deliver their own people from your hand?” ¹⁶And it happened that while he was speaking to him, he said to him, “Have we appointed you as a counselor to the king? Stop—why should you be killed?”^l So the prophet stopped and said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my advice.”

¹⁷Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel, and he sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come,^m let us face one another.^{n 18}And Joash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thorn bush that is in Lebanon has sent to the cedar which is in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife.’ But a wild animal of the field that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn bush. ¹⁹Look, you say that you have struck Edom, and your heart has lifted you up to boast. Now remain at your home. Why stir up disaster that you fall, you and Judah with you?”

²⁰But Amaziah did not listen, for it was from God that he might give them into the hand of enemies, because they sought the gods of Edom. ²¹So Joash the king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah the king of Judah faced one another^o at Beth-Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. ²²And Judah was defeated before Israel, and each man fled to his tent. ²³And Joash the king of Israel captured Amaziah the king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-Shemesh. And they brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits. ²⁴Then with all the gold and silver, all the objects found in the house of God with Obed-Edom, the storehouses of the house of the king, and the hostages,^p he returned to Samaria.

²⁵And Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel, fifteen years. ²⁶Now the remainder of the words of Amaziah, from the first to the last, behold, are they not written in the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel? ²⁷And from the time that Amaziah turned away from Yahweh, they had plotted a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem. And he fled to Lachish, but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there. ²⁸And they carried him on the horses and buried him with his ancestors^q in the city of Judah.

The Reign of Uzziah

26Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah (now he was sixteen years old)^a and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah. ²He built Elath and returned it to Judah after the king slept with his ancestors.^{b 3}Uzziah was sixteen years old^c when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. And the name of his mother was Yecoliah of Jerusalem. ⁴And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that Amaziah his father had done. ⁵And he began to seek^d God in the days of Zechariah who was teaching in visions of God. And whenever^e he sought Yahweh God made him have success.

⁶And he went out and made war against the Philistines, and he broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in Ashdod and among the Philistines. ⁷And God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who were living in Gur-Baal and Meunim. ⁸And the Ammonites gave tribute to Uzziah, and his fame^f went out to the boundary^g of Egypt, for he became very strong.^{h 9}And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and he strengthened them. ¹⁰And he built towers in the desert and hewed many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the Shephelah and on the plain, along with farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. ¹¹And Uzziah had troops trained and ready for warⁱ in divisions according to the number of their enrollment at the hand of Jeuel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under the hand of Hananiah of the king’s commanders. ¹²The whole number of the heads of the families^j for mighty warriors of strength was two thousand six hundred. ¹³And under their hand were army troops numbering three hundred and seven thousand five hundred who could make war with power and strength to help the king against an enemy. ¹⁴And Uzziah prepared small shields, spears, helmets, breastplates, bows, and slingstones for the whole army. ¹⁵And he made siege machines in Jerusalem designed by skillful men to be set upon the towers and upon the corners to shoot arrows and large slingstones. And his fame^k went out far, for he was helped marvelously until he was strong.

¹⁶But on account of his strength his heart grew proud unto destruction. And he acted unfaithfully against Yahweh his God and went into the temple of Yahweh to offer an incense offering on the altar. ¹⁷And Azariah the priest, and eighty strong^l priests of Yahweh with him, went in after him. ¹⁸And they stood against King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yahweh, but it is for the priests, the descendants^m of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully. There will be no honor for you from Yahweh God.” ¹⁹Then Uzziah, his censer in hand to burn incense, became angry. And when he became angry with the priests, then leprosy appeared on his forehead in front of the priests in the house of Yahweh at the altar of incense. ²⁰When Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned to him, behold, he was leprous in the forehead. So they rushed him away from there, and he also hastened to go out, for Yahweh had smitten him. ²¹So King Uzziah was leprous until the day of his death, and he lived in a separate house as a leper, for he was cut off from the house of Yahweh. And Jotham his son was over the house of the king, judging the people of the land.

²²Now the remainder of the words of Uzziah, from the first to the last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, wrote them. ²³And Uzziah slept with his ancestors,ⁿ and they buried him with his ancestors^o in the burial field which belonged to the kings, because, they said, “He was leprous.” And Jotham his son reigned in his place.