2 Crónicas 26

Uzziah king of Judah

¹Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, then sixteen years old, and made him king to succeed his father Amaziah.^{a 2}It was he who rebuilt Eloth and won it back for Judah, after King Amaziah had 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; she was from Jerusalem. ⁴He did what was right in the sight of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵He set himself to seek God during the lifetime of Zechariah, who taught him the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.^b

⁶He went out and made war on the Philistines, and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. Then he built towns in the region 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 brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame reached all the way to the border of Egypt, because he had grown very strong.^{c 9}In Jerusalem Uzziah built towers at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate and the Angle, and he fortified them. ¹⁰He built towers in the wilderness and cut out many cisterns, for he had large herds in the Shephelah and on the plain. He had farmers and vinedressers working in the hill country and the fertile fields, for he loved the soil.

Uzziah’s army and his pride

¹¹Uzziah had an army ready for battle, which went out to war in divisions, according to the numbers in the muster made by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the official, who worked under Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders. ¹²The total number of family heads over the mighty warriors was 2,600. ¹³Under their command was an army of 307,500 men, a powerful fighting force ready to help the king against his enemies. ¹⁴Uzziah provided the whole army with shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows and stones for slinging. ¹⁵In Jerusalem he made devices designed by skilled inventors, to be set on the towers and the corners of the walls for shooting arrows and large stones. His fame spread far and wide, for he was wonderfully helped until he became strong.^{d 16}But when he had become strong, his heart grew proud, to his own ruin. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and he went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the incense altar. ¹⁷Azariah the priest went in after him, along with eighty priests of the LORD, men of courage. ¹⁸They confronted King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not your place, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That belongs to the priests, the sons of Aaron, who have been set apart to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful, and this will bring you no honor from the LORD God.” ¹⁹Uzziah became furious. He had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, and while he raged at the priests, a serious skin disease broke out on his forehead, there in front of the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the altar of incense. ²⁰When Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, there on his forehead was the skin disease! They rushed him out of there, and he himself hurried to leave, because the LORD had struck him. ²¹King Uzziah had a serious skin disease until the day he died. He lived in a separate house because of the disease, for he was shut out of the house of the LORD, while his son Jotham was in charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.^{e 22}The rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, were written down by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. ²³Then Uzziah rested with his ancestors, and they buried him near his ancestors in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said, “He has a serious skin disease.” His son Jotham became king in his place.