2 Chronicles 26–32

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.

The Reign of Jotham

27Jotham was twenty-five years old^a when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. ²And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that his father Uzziah had done—only he did not go into the temple of Yahweh. But the people still acted corruptly. ³He built the upper gate of the house of Yahweh, and he did much restoration^b on the wall of Ophel. ⁴And he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and he built forts and towers in the wooded places. ⁵Now he fought with the king of the Ammonites^c and prevailed against them. And the Ammonites^d gave to him in that year one hundred talents of silver and ten thousand measures of wheat and ten thousand measures of barley. This is what the Ammonites^e rendered to him, as well as in the second and third year. ⁶And Jotham strengthened himself, for he established his ways before Yahweh his God.

⁷Now the remainder of the words of Jotham and all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written upon the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸He was twenty-five years old^f when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁹And Jotham slept with his ancestors,^g and they buried him in the city of David. And his son Ahaz became king in his place.

The Reign of Ahaz

28Ahaz was twenty years old^a when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what is right in the eyes of Yahweh like David his ancestor.^{b 2}But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and also made molten idols for the Baals. ³And he himself burned incense in the valley of Ben-Hinnom and burned his sons in the fire, according to the detestable practices of the nations whom Yahweh drove out before the Israelites. ⁴And he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops, and under every flourishing tree.

⁵Then Yahweh his God gave him into the hand of the king of Aram^c who defeated him and captured many captives from him and brought them to Damascus. Moreover, he was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, and he defeated him by a great attack. ⁶And Pekah, the son of Remaliah, killed in one day one hundred and twenty thousand in Judah, all men of strength, because they forsook Yahweh the God of their ancestors.^{d 7}And Zikri, a mighty warrior of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the son of the king, Azrikam the commander of the house, and Elkanah the second to the king. ⁸And the Israelites captured two hundred thousand of their brothers, women, sons, and daughters. And they also plundered much booty from them and brought the booty to Samaria.

⁹Now a prophet of Yahweh was there; Oded was his name. And he went out before the army that was coming to Samaria and said to them, “Look, it is on account of the anger of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,^e against Judah that he gave them into your hands, and you killed them in a rage reaching to the heavens. ¹⁰So now, you yourselves plan to subdue people of Judah and Jerusalem as slaves and female servants for yourselves. Is there not also guilt on your part^f against Yahweh your God? ¹¹So now, listen to me and return the captives of your brothers whom you have taken captive, for the fierce anger of Yahweh is against you.”

¹²Then men from the heads of Ephraim—Azariah the son of Jehohanan, Berekiah the son of Meshillemoth, Hezekiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai—stood against those returning from the fight. ¹³And they said to them, “You shall not bring the captives here, for it is as guilt against Yahweh upon us. You yourselves plan to add to our sins and to our guilt, but our guilt is very great, and there is great anger against Israel.” ¹⁴So the soldiers left the captives and the plunder before the commanders and all the assembly. ¹⁵Then the men designated by name arose and took the captives and from the plunder clothed all their nakedness. So they clothed them, gave them sandals, gave them food to eat, gave them water to drink, anointed them, and guided them with the donkeys provided for all those who stumbled, and brought them to Jericho, the city of the palm trees, next to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.

¹⁶At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria to help him, ¹⁷since again the Edomites came and struck against Judah and took captives. ¹⁸And the Philistines sent raids into the cities of the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah. And they captured Beth-Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Socoh with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. And they settled there. ¹⁹For Yahweh subdued Judah for the sake of Ahaz, king of Israel, for he created disorder in Judah and acted unfaithfully against Yahweh. ²⁰Then Tiglath-Pileser^g the king of Assyria came against him and brought trouble for him, instead of helping him,^{h 21}for Ahaz took a portion from the house of Yahweh and the house of the king and the princes, and he gave it to the king of Assyria, but it was no help to him.

²²And in the time of his distress, King Ahaz continued to act unfaithfully against Yahweh. ²³He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, “Because the gods of the king of Aramⁱ helped them, I will sacrifice to them so that they will help me.” But they were a disaster^j to him and to all Israel. ²⁴Then Ahaz gathered the objects of the house of God, and he cut the objects of the house of God to pieces. And he shut the doors of the house of Yahweh and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. ²⁵And in every city^k of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and he provoked Yahweh, the God of his ancestors,^l to anger.

²⁶Now the remainder of his words and all his ways, from the first to the last, behold, they are written upon the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷And Ahaz slept with his ancestors,^m and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him to the burial site of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son became king in his place.

The Reign of Hezekiah

29Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five…