2 Chronicles 26–32

Chapter 26

Uzziah Succeeds Amaziah in 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.

⁴He did right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father Amaziah had done.

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

Uzziah Succeeds in War

⁶Now he went out and ^awarred 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.

^7aGod 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 fortified them.

¹⁰He built towers in the wilderness and ^ahewed many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the ¹lowland 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 an army ready for battle, which ¹entered combat by divisions according to the number of their muster, ²prepared by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the official, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s officers.

¹²The total number of the heads of the ¹households, of valiant warriors, was 2,600.

¹³Under their direction was an ¹elite army of ^a307,500, who could wage war with great power, to help the king against the enemy.

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

¹⁵In Jerusalem he made engines of war invented by skillful men 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.

Pride Is Uzziah’s Undoing

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

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

^18aThey opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, “^bIt is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, ^cbut for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the Lord 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 the Lord, beside the altar of incense.

²⁰Azariah 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 the Lord had smitten him.

^21aKing 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 the Lord. 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 Succeeds Uzziah in 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.

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

³He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord, 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 Ammonites and prevailed over them so that the Ammonites gave him during that year one hundred talents of silver, ten thousand ¹kors of wheat and ten thousand of barley. The Ammonites also paid him this amount in the second and in the third year.

^6aSo Jotham became mighty because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God.

^7aNow the rest of the acts of Jotham, even all his wars and his acts, 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 Succeeds Jotham in Judah

^1aAhaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and ^bhe did not do right in the sight of the Lord 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 burned incense in the valley of Ben-hinnom and ^bburned his sons in fire, ^caccording to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the sons of Israel.

⁴He sacrificed and ^aburned incense on the high places, on the hills and under every green tree.

Judah Is Invaded

⁵Wherefore, ^athe Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Aram; and they ¹defeated him and carried away from him a great number of captives and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who ²inflicted him with heavy casualties.

⁶For ^aPekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah 120,000 in one day, all valiant men, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers.

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

^8aThe sons of Israel carried away captive of ^btheir brethren 200,000 women, sons and daughters; and they ¹took also a great deal of spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.

⁹But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded; and ^ahe went out to meet the army which came to Samaria and said to them, “Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, ^bwas angry with Judah, He has delivered them into your hand, and you have slain them in a rage ^cwhich has even reached heaven.

¹⁰“Now you are proposing to ^asubjugate for yourselves the people of Judah and Jerusalem for male and female slaves. Surely, do you not have transgressions of your own against the Lord your God?

¹¹“Now therefore, listen to me and return the captives ^awhom you captured from your brothers, ^bfor the burning anger of the Lord 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 battle,

¹³and said to them, “You must not bring the captives in here, for you are proposing to bring upon us guilt against the Lord 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 spoil before the officers and all the assembly.

¹⁵Then ^athe men who were designated by name arose, took 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.

Compromise with Assyria

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

^17aFor again the Edomites had come and attacked Judah and carried away captives.

^18aThe Philistines also had invaded the cities of the ¹lowland and of the Negev of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, and Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages, and they settled there.

¹⁹For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of ^aIsrael, for he had brought about a lack of restraint in Judah and was very unfaithful to the Lord.

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

^21aAlthough Ahaz took a portion out of the house of the Lord and out of the palace 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 the Lord.

^23aFor he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had ¹defeated 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 ²downfall of him and all Israel.

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

²⁵In every city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked the Lord, 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 did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of ^bIsrael; and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

Chapter 29

Hezekiah Succeeds Ahaz in Judah

^1aHezekiah…