King Uzziah of Judah^(A)

15 In the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel, Uzziah son of Amaziah became king of Judah ² at the age of sixteen, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. ³ Following the example of his father, he did what was pleasing to the Lord. ⁴ But the pagan places of worship were not destroyed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. ⁵ The Lord struck Uzziah with a dreaded skin disease that stayed with him the rest of his life. He lived in a separate house, relieved of all duties, while his son Jotham governed the country.

⁶ Everything else that Uzziah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. ^7 (B)Uzziah died and was buried in the royal burial ground in David's City, and his son Jotham succeeded him as king.

King Uzziah of Judah^(A)

26 All the people of Judah chose Amaziah's sixteen-year-old son Uzziah to succeed his father as king. (² It was after the death of Amaziah that Uzziah recaptured Elath and rebuilt the city.)

³ Uzziah became king at the age of sixteen, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. ⁴ Following the example of his father, he did what was pleasing to the Lord. ⁵ As long as Zechariah, his religious adviser, was living, he served the Lord faithfully, and God blessed him.

⁶ Uzziah went to war against the Philistines. He tore down the walls of the cities of Gath, Jamnia, and Ashdod, and built fortified cities near Ashdod and in the rest of Philistia. ⁷ God helped him defeat the Philistines, the Arabs living at Gurbaal, and the Meunites. ⁸ The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and he became so powerful that his fame spread even to Egypt.

⁹ Uzziah strengthened the fortifications of Jerusalem by building towers at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and where the wall turned. ¹⁰ He also built fortified towers in the open country and dug many cisterns, because he had large herds of livestock in the western foothills and plains. Because he loved farming, he encouraged the people to plant vineyards in the hill country and to farm the fertile land.

¹¹ He had a large army ready for battle. Its records were kept by his secretaries Jeiel and Maaseiah under the supervision of Hananiah, a member of the king's staff. ¹² The army was commanded by 2,600 officers. ¹³ Under them were 307,500 soldiers able to fight effectively for the king against his enemies. ¹⁴ Uzziah supplied the army with shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows and arrows, and stones for slinging. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem his inventors made equipment for shooting arrows and for throwing large stones from the towers and corners of the city wall. His fame spread everywhere, and he became very powerful because of the help he received from God.

Uzziah Is Punished for His Pride

¹⁶ But when King Uzziah became strong, he grew arrogant, and that led to his downfall. He defied the Lord his God by going into the Temple to burn incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷ Azariah the priest, accompanied by eighty strong and courageous priests, followed the king ^18 (B)to resist him. They said, “Uzziah! You have no right to burn incense to the Lord. Only the priests who are descended from Aaron have been consecrated to do this. Leave this holy place. You have offended the Lord God, and you no longer have his blessing.”

¹⁹ Uzziah was standing there in the Temple beside the incense altar and was holding an incense burner. He became angry with the priests, and immediately a dreaded skin disease broke out on his forehead. ²⁰ Azariah and the other priests stared at the king's forehead in horror and then forced him to leave the Temple. He hurried to get out, because the Lord had punished him.

²¹ For the rest of his life King Uzziah was ritually unclean because of his disease. Unable to enter the Temple again, he lived in his own house, relieved of all duties, while his son Jotham governed the country.

²² The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz recorded all the other things that King Uzziah did during his reign. ^23 (C)Uzziah died and was buried in the royal burial ground, but because of his disease he was not buried in the royal tombs. His son Jotham succeeded him as king.

1 ^(A)These are the words of Amos, a shepherd from the town of Tekoa. Two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel, God revealed to Amos all these things about Israel.

King Jeroboam II of Israel

²³ In the fifteenth year of the reign of Amaziah son of Joash as king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for forty-one years. ²⁴ He sinned against the Lord, following the wicked example of his predecessor King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin. ^25 (A)He reconquered all the territory that had belonged to Israel, from Hamath Pass in the north to the Dead Sea in the south. This was what the Lord, the God of Israel, had promised through his servant the prophet Jonah son of Amittai from Gath Hepher.

²⁶ The Lord saw the terrible^[a] suffering of the Israelites; there was no one at all to help them. ²⁷ But it was not the Lord's purpose to destroy Israel completely and forever, so he rescued them through King Jeroboam II.

²⁸ Everything else that Jeroboam II did, his brave battles, and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Israel,^[b] are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. ²⁹ Jeroboam died and was buried in the royal tombs, and his son Zechariah succeeded him as king.