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16 But once he became powerful, his pride destroyed him.[a] He disobeyed[b] the Lord his God. He entered the Lord’s temple to offer incense on the incense altar. 17 Azariah the priest and eighty other brave priests of the Lord followed him in. 18 They confronted[c] 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 disobeyed[d] and the Lord God will not honor you!” 19 Uzziah, who had an incense censer in his hand, became angry. While he was ranting and raving[e] at the priests, a skin disease[f] appeared on his forehead right there in front of the priests in the Lord’s temple near the incense altar. 20 When Azariah the high priest and the other priests looked at him, there was a skin disease on his forehead. They hurried him out of there; even the king[g] himself wanted to leave quickly because the Lord had afflicted him. 21 King Uzziah suffered from a skin disease until the day he died. He lived in separate quarters,[h] 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.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 26:16 tn Heb “his heart was high [i.e., proud] until to destroy.”
  2. 2 Chronicles 26:16 tn Or “was unfaithful to.”
  3. 2 Chronicles 26:18 tn Heb “stood against.”
  4. 2 Chronicles 26:18 tn Or “been unfaithful.”
  5. 2 Chronicles 26:19 tn Heb “angry.”
  6. 2 Chronicles 26:19 tn 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.
  7. 2 Chronicles 26:20 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  8. 2 Chronicles 26:21 tn The precise meaning of בֵּית הַחָפְשִׁית (bet hakhofshit, “house of [?]”) is uncertain. NASB, NIV, NRSV all have “in a separate house”; NEB has “in his own house…relieved of all duties.” For a discussion of various proposals, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 166-67.