1All the people of Judah made Uzziah king. He was 16 years old. They made him king in place of his father Amaziah.2Uzziah rebuilt Elath. He brought it under Judah’s control again. He did it after Amaziah joined the members of his family who had already died.3Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 52 years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah. She was from Jerusalem.4Uzziah did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done.5He tried to obey God during the days of Zechariah. Zechariah taught him to have respect for God. As long as Uzziah obeyed the LORD, God gave him success.6Uzziah went to war against the Philistines. He broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. Then he rebuilt some towns that were near Ashdod. He also rebuilt some other towns where Philistines lived.7God helped him fight against the Philistines. He also helped him fight against the Meunites and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal.8The Ammonites brought to Uzziah the gifts he required of them. He became famous all the way to the border of Egypt. That’s because he had become very powerful.9Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem. They were at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate and the angle of the wall. He made the towers very strong.10He also built towers in the desert. He dug many wells, because he had a lot of livestock. The livestock were in the western hills and on the plains. Uzziah had people working in his fields and vineyards in the hills and in the rich lands. That’s because he loved the soil.11Uzziah’s army was well trained. It was ready to march out by military groups according to their numbers. Jeiel and Maaseiah brought them together. Jeiel was the secretary. Maaseiah was the officer. They were under the direction of Hananiah. He was one of the royal officials.12The total number of family leaders who were over the fighting men was 2,600.13An army of 307,500 men was under their command. The men were trained for war. They were a powerful force. They helped the king against his enemies.14Uzziah provided the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, coats of armour, bows, and stones for their slings.15In Jerusalem he invented machines to be used on the towers and on the corners of city walls. These machines were used by men who shot arrows from the walls. The machines were also used by men to throw large stones from the walls. Uzziah became famous everywhere. God greatly helped him until he became powerful.16But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride brought him down. He wasn’t faithful to the LORD his God. He entered the LORD’s temple to burn incense on the altar for burning incense.17Azariah the priest followed him in. So did 80 other brave priests of the LORD.18They stood up to Uzziah. They said, ‘Uzziah, it isn’t right for you to burn incense to the LORD. Only the priests are supposed to do that. They are members of the family line of Aaron. They have been set apart to burn incense. So get out of here. Leave the temple. You haven’t been faithful. The LORD God won’t honour you.’19Uzziah was holding a shallow cup. He was ready to burn incense in it. He became angry. He shouted at the priests in the LORD’s temple. He did it near the altar for burning incense. While he was shouting, a skin disease suddenly broke out on his forehead.20Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him. They saw that Uzziah had a skin disease on his forehead. So they hurried him out of the temple. Actually, he himself really wanted to leave. He knew that the LORD was making him suffer.21King Uzziah had the skin disease until the day he died. He lived in a separate house because he had the disease. And he wasn’t allowed to enter the LORD’s temple. Uzziah’s son Jotham was in charge of the palace. Jotham ruled over the people of the land.22The other events of Uzziah’s rule from beginning to end were written down by Isaiah the prophet. Isaiah was the son of Amoz.23Uzziah joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried near them in a royal burial ground. People said, ‘He had a skin disease.’ Uzziah’s son Jotham became the next king after him.
2 Chronicles 26
English Standard Version
Uzziah Reigns in Judah
1And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.2He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers.3Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. (2Ki 15:2)4And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.5He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. (2Ch 24:2; Da 1:17; Da 10:1)6He went out and made war against the Philistines and broke through the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. (Isa 14:29)7God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gurbaal and against the Meunites. (2Ch 20:1; 2Ch 21:16)8The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. (2Sa 8:2; 2Ch 17:11)9Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them. (2Ki 14:13; Ne 2:13; Ne 2:15; Ne 3:13; Ne 3:19)10And he built towers in the wilderness and cut out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. (De 6:11; Ne 9:25)11Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders.12The whole number of the heads of fathers’ houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600.13Under their command was an army of 307,500, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. (2Ch 25:5)14And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. (Ne 4:16)15In Jerusalem he made machines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.
Uzziah’s Pride and Punishment
16But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. (De 8:14; De 32:15; 2Ki 14:10; 2Ch 12:1; 2Ch 25:19; 2Ch 32:25; Eze 28:2; Eze 28:5; Eze 28:17)17But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor, (1Ch 6:10)18and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.” (Ex 30:7; Nu 16:40; Nu 18:7)19Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy[1] broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. (Ex 4:6; Nu 12:10; 2Ki 5:27)20And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him.21And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king’s household, governing the people of the land. (Le 13:46; Nu 5:2; 2Ki 15:5)22Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote. (Isa 1:1; Isa 6:1)23And Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” And Jotham his son reigned in his place.