^26:1All the people of Judah took Uzziah,¹ who was sixteen years old, and made him king in his father Amaziah’s place. ^26:2Uzziah² built up Elat and restored it to Judah after King Amaziah³ had passed away.⁴

^26:3Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem.⁵ His mother’s name was Jecholiah, who was from Jerusalem. ^26:4He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Amaziah had done.⁶^26:5He followed⁷ God during the lifetime of⁸ Zechariah, who taught him how to honor God. As long as he followed⁹ the Lord, God caused him to succeed.¹⁰

^26:6Uzziah attacked¹¹ the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. He built cities in the region of Ashdod and throughout Philistine territory.¹²^26:7God helped him in his campaigns¹³ against the Philistines, the Arabs living in Gur Baal, and the Meunites. ^26:8The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah and his fame reached¹⁴ the border of Egypt, for he grew in power.

^26:9Uzziah built and fortified towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, Valley Gate, and at the Angle.¹⁵^26:10He built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns, for he owned many herds in the lowlands¹⁶ and on the plain. He had workers in the fields and vineyards in the hills and in Carmel,¹⁷ for he loved agriculture.¹⁸

^26:11Uzziah had an army of skilled warriors trained for battle. They were organized by divisions according to the muster rolls made by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer under the authority of Hananiah, a royal official. ^26:12The total number of family leaders who led warriors was 2,600. ^26:13They commanded an army of 307,500 skilled and able warriors who were ready to defend¹⁹ the king against his enemies. ^26:14Uzziah supplied shields, spears, helmets, breastplates, bows, and slingstones for the entire army. ^26:15In Jerusalem he made war machines carefully designed to shoot arrows and large stones from the towers and corners of the walls. He became very famous, for he received tremendous support and became powerful.²⁰

^26:16But once he became powerful, his pride destroyed him.²¹ He disobeyed²² the Lord his God. He entered the Lord’s temple to offer incense on the incense altar. ^26:17Azariah the priest and eighty other brave priests of the Lord followed him in. ^26:18They confronted²³ King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not proper for you, Uzziah, to offer incense to the Lord. That is the responsibility of the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to offer incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have disobeyed²⁴ and the Lord God will not honor you!” ^26:19Uzziah, who had an incense censer in his hand, became angry. While he was ranting and raving²⁵ at the priests, a skin disease²⁶ appeared on his forehead right there in front of the priests in the Lord’s temple near the incense altar. ^26:20When Azariah the high priest and the other priests looked at²⁷ him, there was a skin disease on his forehead. They hurried him out of there; even the king²⁸ himself wanted to leave quickly because the Lord had afflicted him. ^26:21King Uzziah suffered from a skin disease until the day he died. He lived in separate quarters,²⁹ afflicted by a skin disease and banned from the Lord’s temple. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land.

^26:22The rest of the events of Uzziah’s reign, from start to finish, were recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.³⁰^26:23Uzziah passed away³¹ and was buried near his ancestors³² in a cemetery³³ belonging to the kings. (This was because he had a skin disease.)³⁴ His son Jotham replaced him as king.

Jotham’s Reign

^27:1Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem.¹ His mother was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. ^27:2He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Uzziah had done.² (He did not, however, have the audacity to enter the temple.)³ Yet the people were still sinning.

^27:3He built the Upper Gate to the Lord’s temple and did a lot of work on the wall in the area known as Ophel.⁴^27:4He built cities in the hill country of Judah and fortresses and towers in the forests.

^27:5He launched a military campaign⁵ against the king of the Ammonites and defeated them. That year the Ammonites paid him 100 talents⁶ of silver, 10,000 kors⁷ of wheat, and 10,000 kors⁸ of barley. The Ammonites also paid this same amount of annual tribute the next two years.⁹

^27:6Jotham grew powerful because he was determined to please the Lord his God.¹⁰^27:7The rest of the events of Jotham’s reign, including all his military campaigns and his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah.¹¹^27:8He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. ^27:9Jotham passed away¹² and was buried in the City of David.¹³ His son Ahaz replaced him as king.

Ahaz’s Reign

^28:1Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem.¹ He did not do what pleased the Lord, in contrast to his ancestor David.²^28:2He followed in the footsteps of³ the kings of Israel; he also made images of the Baals. ^28:3He offered sacrifices in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and passed his sons through the fire,⁴ a horrible sin practiced by the nations⁵ whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. ^28:4He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

^28:5The Lord his God handed him over to the king of Syria. The Syrians⁶ defeated him and deported many captives to Damascus.⁷ He was also handed over to the king of Israel, who thoroughly defeated him.⁸^28:6In one day King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel killed 120,000 warriors in Judah, because they had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors.⁹^28:7Zikri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed the king’s son Maaseiah, Azrikam, the supervisor of the palace, and Elkanah, the king’s second-in-command. ^28:8The Israelites seized from their brothers 200,000 wives, sons, and daughters. They also carried off a huge amount of plunder and took it¹⁰ back to Samaria.¹¹

^28:9Oded, a prophet of the Lord, was there. He went to meet the army as they arrived in Samaria and said to them: “Look, because the Lord God of your ancestors was angry with Judah he handed them over to you. You have killed them so mercilessly that God has taken notice.¹²^28:10And now you are planning¹³ to enslave¹⁴ the people¹⁵ of Judah and Jerusalem. Yet are you not also guilty before the Lord your God? ^28:11Now listen to me! Send back those you have seized from your brothers, for the Lord is very angry at you!”¹⁶^28:12So some of¹⁷ the Ephraimite family leaders, Azariah son of Jehochanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jechizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai confronted¹⁸ those returning from the battle. ^28:13They said to them, “Don’t bring those captives here! Are you planning on making us even more sinful and guilty before the Lord?¹⁹ Our guilt is already great and the Lord is very angry at Israel.”²⁰^28:14So the soldiers released the captives and the plunder before the officials and the entire assembly. ^28:15Men were assigned to take the prisoners and find clothes among the plunder for those who were naked.²¹ So they clothed them, supplied them with sandals, gave them food and drink, and provided them with oil to rub on their skin.²² They put the ones who couldn’t walk on donkeys.²³ They brought them back to their brothers at Jericho,²⁴ the city of the date palm trees, and then returned to Samaria.

^28:16At that time King Ahaz asked the king²⁵ of Assyria for help. ^28:17The Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried off captives. ^28:18The Philistines had raided the cities of Judah in the lowlands²⁶ and the Negev. They captured and settled in Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco and its surrounding villages, Timnah and its surrounding villages, and Gimzo and its surrounding villages. ^28:19The Lord humiliated²⁷ Judah because of King Ahaz of Israel,²⁸ for he encouraged Judah to sin and was very²⁹ unfaithful to the Lord. ^28:20King Tiglath-pileser³⁰ of Assyria came, but he gave him more trouble than support.³¹^28:21Ahaz gathered riches³² from the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and the officials and gave them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help.

^28:22During his time of trouble King Ahaz was even more unfaithful to the Lord. ^28:23He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus whom he thought had defeated him.³³ He reasoned,³⁴ “Since the gods of the kings of Damascus helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they caused him and all Israel to stumble. ^28:24Ahaz gathered the items in God’s temple and removed them. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple and erected altars on every street corner in Jerusalem. ^28:25In every city throughout Judah he set up high places to offer sacrifices to other gods. He angered the Lord God of his ancestors.

^28:26The rest of the events of Ahaz’s reign, including his accomplishments from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel.³⁵^28:27Ahaz passed away³⁶ and was buried in the City of David;³⁷ they did not bring him to the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah replaced him as king.

Hezekiah Consecrates the Temple

^29:1Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem.¹ His mother was Abijah,² the daughter of Zechariah. ^29:2He did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done.³

^29:3In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the Lord’s temple and repaired them. ^29:4He brought in the priests and Levites and assembled them in the square on the east side. ^29:5He said to them: “Listen to me, you Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, so you can consecrate the temple of the Lord God of your ancestors!⁴ Remove from the sanctuary what is…

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Footnotes

1 The parallel account in 2 Kgs 15:1–8 has the variant spelling “Azariah.”
2 Heb “he”; the referent (Uzziah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 Heb “after the king”; the referent (Amaziah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 “slept with his fathers.”
5 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
6 Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord, according to all which Amaziah his father had done.”
7 Heb “sought.”
8 Heb “in the days of.”
9 Heb “in the days of his seeking.”
10 Or “prosper.”
11 Heb “went out and fought.”
12 Heb “in Ashdod and among the Philistines.”
13 The words “in his campaigns” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons
14 Heb “and his name went to.”
15 On the meaning of the Hebrew word מִקְצוֹעַ (miqtsoa’), see עַ(וֹ)מִקְץֹ. The term probably refers to an “angle” or “corner” somewhere on the eastern wall of Jerusalem.
16 Heb “Shephelah.”
17 Heb “workers and vinedressers in the hills and in Carmel.” The words “he had” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
18 Heb “for a lover of the ground he [was].”
19 Heb “help.”
20 Heb “and his name went out to a distant place, for he did extraordinarily to be helped until he was strong.”
21 Heb “his heart was high [i.e., proud] to destroy.”
22 Or “was unfaithful to.”
23 Heb “stood against.”
24 Or “been unfaithful.”
25 Heb “angry.”
26 Traditionally “leprosy,” but this was probably a skin disorder of some type, not leprosy (technically known today as Hansen’s disease). See 2 Kgs 5:1.
27 Heb “turned toward.”
28 Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
29 The precise meaning of בֵּית הַחָפְשִׁית (bet hakhafshiyt, “house of [?]”) is uncertain. , , all have “in a separate house”; has “in his own house … relieved of all duties.” For a discussion of various proposals, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .
30 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Uzziah, the former and the latter, Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, recorded.”
31 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
32 Heb “fathers.”
33 Heb “a field of burial.”
34 Heb “for they said, ‘He had a skin disease.’ ”
1 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
2 Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord, according to all which Uzziah his father had done.”
3 Heb “except he did not enter the house of the Lord.”
4 Heb “wall of Ophel.” See II עֹפֶל.
5 Heb “he fought with.”
6 The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the silver was 6,730 lbs. (3,060 kg).
7 As a unit of dry measure a kor was roughly equivalent to six bushels (about 220 liters).
8 Heb “10,000 kors of wheat and 10,000 of barley.” The unit of measure of the barley is omitted in the Hebrew text, but is understood to be “kors,” the same as the measures of wheat.
9 Heb “This the sons of Ammon brought to him, and in the second year and the third.”
10 Heb “because he established his ways before the Lord his God.”
11 Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jotham, and his battles and his ways, look, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah.”
12 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
13 The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
1 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
2 Heb “and he did not do what was proper in the eyes of the Lord, like David his father.”
3 Heb “he walked in the ways of.”
4 This may refer to child sacrifice, though some interpret it as a less drastic cultic practice ( “burnt his sons in the fire”; “burned his sons in the fire”; “sacrificed his sons in the fire”; “made his sons pass through fire”). For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .
5 Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”
6 Heb “they”; the referent (the Syrians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 Heb “and took captive from him a great captivity and brought [them] to Damascus.”
8 Heb “who struck him down with a great striking.”
9 Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 9, 25).
10 Heb “the loot.” The pronoun (“it”) has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
11 For location see ; ; ; ; .
12 Heb “and you killed them with anger [that] reaches as far as heaven.”
13 Heb “saying.”
14 Heb “to enslave as male servants and female servants.”
15 Heb “sons.”
16 Heb “for the rage of the anger of the Lord is upon you.”
17 Heb “men from.”
18 Heb “arose against.”
19 Heb “for to the guilt of the Lord upon us you are saying to add to our sins and our guilty deeds.”
20 Heb “for great is [the] guilt to us and rage of anger is upon Israel.”
21 Heb “and the men who were designated by names arose and took the captives and all their naked ones they clothed from the loot.”
22 Heb “and poured oil on them.”
23 Heb “and they led them on donkeys, with respect to everyone stumbling.”
24 For location see ; ; ; ; ; .
25 Most Hebrew read the plural, “kings,” but one Hebrew , the and read the singular “king.” Note the singular in v. 20.
26 Heb “Shephelah.”
27 Or “subdued.”
28 That is, “of Judah.” Frequently in 2 Chronicles “Israel” is substituted for “Judah.”
29 The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form to emphasize the degree of Ahaz’s unfaithfulness.
30 Heb “Tilgath-pilneser,” a variant spelling of Tiglath-pileser.
31 Heb “and he caused him distress and did not strengthen him.”
32 Heb “divided up,” but some read חִלֵּץ (khillets, “despoiled”).
33 Heb “the gods of Damascus, the ones who had defeated him.” The words “he thought” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The perspective is that of Ahaz, not the narrator! Another option is that “the kings” has been accidentally omitted after “gods of.” See v. 23b.
34 Heb “said.”
35 Heb “As for the rest of his events, and all his ways, the former and the latter, look, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel.”
36 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
37 The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
1 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
2 The parallel passage in 2 Kgs 18:2 has “Abi.”
3 Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord, according to all which David his father had done.”
4 Heb “fathers.”