2 Chronicles 26

1Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.

2He was the one who rebuilt Eloth and restored it to Judah after the king rested with his ancestors.

3Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.

4He did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, just as his father Amaziah had done.

5He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God, and as long as he sought Yahweh, God made him prosper.

6He went out and made war against the Philistines and broke down the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod. He built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines.

7God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabs who lived in Gur-baal, and against the Meunites.

8The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, for he became very strong.

9Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and he fortified them.

10He built towers in the wilderness and cut out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the lowland and on the plain. He had farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and in the fertile fields, for he loved the soil.

11Uzziah had an army ready for battle, which went out to war in divisions according to the count made by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders.

12The total number of the heads of ancestral houses, mighty warriors, was 2,600.

13Under their command was an army of 307,500 who could make war with great power, to help the king against the enemy.

14Uzziah provided the whole army with shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows, and stones for slings.

15In Jerusalem he made machines designed by skilled men, to be set on the towers and the corners to shoot arrows and large stones. His fame spread far and wide, for he was marvelously helped until he became strong.

16But when he had become strong, his heart grew proud, to his own ruin. He was unfaithful to Yahweh his God and entered the temple of Yahweh to burn incense on the altar of incense.

17Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him eighty priests of Yahweh, men of courage.

18They confronted King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yahweh, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful, and it will bring you no honor from Yahweh God.”

19Uzziah became furious. He had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and while he was raging at the priests, a serious skin disease broke out on his forehead in front of the priests in the house of Yahweh, beside the altar of incense.

20When Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, there he was with a serious skin disease on his forehead! They rushed him out of there, and he himself hurried to get out, because Yahweh had struck him.

21King Uzziah had a serious skin disease until the day he died. He lived in a separate house, diseased, for he was cut off from the house of Yahweh. His son Jotham was in charge of the king’s house, governing the people of the land.

22The rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, were written by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.

23Uzziah rested with his ancestors, and they buried him with his ancestors in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said, “He has a serious skin disease.” And his son Jotham became king in his place.