2 Chronicles 26–32

CHAPTER 26

Uzziah Reigns over Judah

¹And all the people of Judah took ¹Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah.

²He built Eloth and restored it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers.

³Uzziah was ^asixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ¹Jechiliah of Jerusalem.

⁴And he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.

^5aAnd he continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, ^bwho had understanding ¹through the vision of God; and ^2cas long as he sought Yahweh, God made him succeed.

Uzziah’s Fame Spreads Afar

⁶Then he went out and ^afought against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in the area of Ashdod and among the Philistines.

^7aAnd God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who lived in Gur-baal, and the Meunites.

⁸The Ammonites also gave ^atribute to Uzziah, and his ¹fame extended to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong.

⁹Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at ^athe Corner Gate and at the ^bValley Gate and at the corner buttress and strengthened them.

¹⁰He also built towers in the wilderness and ^ahewed many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the ¹Shephelah and in the plain. He also had plowmen and vinedressers in the hill country and the fertile fields, for he loved the soil.

¹¹Moreover, Uzziah had a military force which could wage war, which went out for military duty by divisions according to the number of their muster, prepared by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king’s officials.

¹²The total number of the heads of the ¹households, of mighty men of valor, was 2,600.

¹³And under their hand was a ¹mighty army of ^a307,500, who could wage war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.

¹⁴Moreover, Uzziah prepared ¹for all the army shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows, and stones for slings.

¹⁵In Jerusalem he also made devices of war devised by skillful designers to be on the towers and on the corners for the purpose of shooting arrows and great stones. Hence his ¹fame spread afar, for he was marvelously helped until he was strong.

Uzziah’s Pride

¹⁶But ^awhen he became strong, his heart was so ¹proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to Yahweh his God. And ^bhe entered the temple of Yahweh to burn incense on the altar of incense.

¹⁷Then ^aAzariah the priest entered after him and with him eighty priests of Yahweh, men of valor.

^18aAnd they stood against Uzziah the king and said to him, “^bIt is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yahweh, ^cbut for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are set apart as holy to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from Yahweh God.”

¹⁹But Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, ^athe leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of Yahweh, beside the altar of incense.

²⁰And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they hurried him out of there, and he himself also hastened to get out because Yahweh had smitten him.

^21aSo King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in ^ba separate house, being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of Yahweh. And Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.

²²Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first to last, the prophet ^aIsaiah, the son of Amoz, has written.

²³So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers ^ain the field of the grave which belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” And Jotham his son became king in his place.

CHAPTER 27

Jotham Reigns over Judah

^1aJotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok.

²And he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that his father Uzziah had done; ^ahowever he did not enter the temple of Yahweh. But the people continued acting corruptly.

³He built the upper gate of the house of Yahweh, and he built extensively the wall of ^aOphel.

⁴Moreover, he built ^acities in the hill country of Judah, and he built fortresses and towers on the wooded hills.

⁵He fought also with the king of the sons of Ammon and prevailed over them. So the sons of Ammon gave him during that year ¹100 talents of silver, ²10,000 kors of wheat, and 10,000 of barley. The sons of Ammon also brought back to him this amount in the second and in the third year.

^6aSo Jotham became strong because he established his ways before Yahweh his God.

^7aNow the rest of the acts of Jotham, even all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

⁸He was ^atwenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.

⁹And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Ahaz his son became king in his place.

CHAPTER 28

Ahaz Reigns over Judah

^1aAhaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and ^bhe did not do what was right in the sight of Yahweh, as David his father had done.

^2aBut he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel; he also ^bmade molten images for the Baals.

³Moreover, ^ahe offered offerings in smoke in the valley of Ben-hinnom and ^bburned his sons in the fire, ^caccording to the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh had dispossessed from before the sons of Israel.

⁴He also sacrificed and ^aoffered offerings in smoke on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

Judah Carried Away by Aram

⁵So, ^aYahweh his God gave him into the hand of the king of Aram; and they struck him and carried away from him a great number of captives and brought them to Damascus. And he was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with a great slaughter.

⁶Indeed, ^aPekah the son of Remaliah killed in Judah 120,000 in one day, all men of valor, because they had forsaken Yahweh, the God of their fathers.

⁷And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son and Azrikam the ruler of the house and Elkanah the second to the king.

^8aThen the sons of Israel carried away captive of ^btheir brothers 200,000 women, sons, and daughters; and they plundered also a great deal of spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria.

⁹But a prophet of Yahweh was there, whose name was Oded; and ^ahe went out before the army which came to Samaria and said to them, “Behold, because of the ^bwrath of Yahweh, the God of your fathers, against Judah, He has given them into your hand, and you have killed them in a rage ^cwhich has even reached heaven.

¹⁰“So now you are ¹intending to ^asubdue for yourselves the people of Judah and Jerusalem for male and female slaves. Surely, do you not have your own matters of guilt against Yahweh your God?

¹¹“So now, listen to me and return the captives ^awhom you carried away from your brothers, ^bfor the burning anger of Yahweh is against you.”

¹²Then some of the heads of the sons of Ephraim—Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai—arose against those who were coming from the engagement of the army,

¹³and said to them, “You must not bring the captives in here, for you are ¹intending to bring upon us guilt against Yahweh adding to our sins and our guilt; for our guilt is great so that His burning anger is against Israel.”

¹⁴So the armed men left the captives and the plunder before the commanders and all the assembly.

¹⁵Then ^athe men who were designated by name arose, took hold of the captives, and they clothed all their naked ones from the spoil; and they gave them clothes and sandals, fed them and ^bgave them drink, anointed them with oil, led all their feeble ones on donkeys, and brought them to Jericho, ^cthe city of palm trees, to their brothers; then they returned to Samaria.

Ahaz Sends to Assyria for Help

^16aAt that time King Ahaz sent to the ¹kings of Assyria for help.

^17aIndeed, again the Edomites had come and struck Judah and carried away captives.

^18aAnd the Philistines also had raided the cities of the ¹Shephelah and of the ²Negev of Judah, and had captured Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, and Soco with its towns, Timnah with its towns, and Gimzo with its towns, and they settled there.

¹⁹For Yahweh humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of ^aIsrael, for he had caused it to be out of control in Judah and was very unfaithful to Yahweh.

²⁰So ^aTilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came against him and distressed him instead of strengthening him.

^21aAlthough Ahaz took a portion out of the house of Yahweh and out of the house of the king and of the princes, and gave it to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.

²²Now in the time of his distress this same King Ahaz ^abecame yet more unfaithful to Yahweh.

^23aIndeed, he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had struck him, and said, “^bBecause the gods of the kings of Aram helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they became the stumbling of him and all Israel.

²⁴Ahaz gathered together the utensils of the house of God. Then he ^acut the utensils of the house of God in pieces; and he ^bclosed the doors of the house of Yahweh and ^cmade altars for himself in every corner of Jerusalem.

²⁵Now in each and every city of Judah he made high places to offer offerings in smoke to other gods, and provoked Yahweh, the God of his fathers, to anger.

^26aNow the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

^27aSo Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they…