Reign of Amaziah

25 Amazi′ah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jeho-ad′dan of Jerusalem. ² And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a blameless heart. ³ And as soon as the royal power was firmly in his hand he killed his servants who had slain the king his father. ⁴ But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the law, in the book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, or the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin.”

Slaughter of the Edomites

⁵ Then Amazi′ah assembled the men of Judah, and set them by fathers’ houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those twenty years old and upward, and found that they were three hundred thousand picked men, fit for war, able to handle spear and shield. ⁶ He hired also a hundred thousand mighty men of valor from Israel for a hundred talents of silver. ⁷ But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, with all these E′phraimites. ⁸ But if you suppose that in this way you will be strong for war,^[a] God will cast you down before the enemy; for God has power to help or to cast down.” ⁹ And Amazi′ah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” ¹⁰ Then Amazi′ah discharged the army that had come to him from E′phraim, to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah, and returned home in fierce anger. ¹¹ But Amazi′ah took courage, and led out his people, and went to the Valley of Salt and smote ten thousand men of Se′ir. ¹² The men of Judah captured another ten thousand alive, and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock; and they were all dashed to pieces. ¹³ But the men of the army whom Amazi′ah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samar′ia to Beth-hor′on, and killed three thousand people in them, and took much spoil.

¹⁴ After Amazi′ah came from the slaughter of the E′domites, he brought the gods of the men of Se′ir, and set them up as his gods, and worshiped them, making offerings to them. ¹⁵ Therefore the Lord was angry with Amazi′ah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you resorted to the gods of a people, which did not deliver their own people from your hand?” ¹⁶ But as he was speaking the king said to him, “Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be put to death?” So the prophet stopped, but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”

Israel Defeats Judah

¹⁷ Then Amazi′ah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Jo′ash the son of Jeho′ahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” ¹⁸ And Jo′ash the king of Israel sent word to Amazi′ah king of Judah, “A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife’; and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. ¹⁹ You say, ‘See, I have smitten Edom,’ and your heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. But now stay at home; why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”

²⁰ But Amazi′ah would not listen; for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought the gods of Edom. ²¹ So Jo′ash king of Israel went up; and he and Amazi′ah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-she′mesh, which belongs to Judah. ²² And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. ²³ And Jo′ash king of Israel captured Amazi′ah king of Judah, the son of Jo′ash, son of Ahazi′ah, at Beth-she′mesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for four hundred cubits, from the E′phraim Gate to the Corner Gate. ²⁴ And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, and O′bed-e′dom with them; he seized also the treasuries of the king’s house, and hostages, and he returned to Samar′ia.

Death of Amaziah

²⁵ Amazi′ah the son of Jo′ash king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Jo′ash the son of Jeho′ahaz, king of Israel. ²⁶ Now the rest of the deeds of Amazi′ah, from first to last, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel? ²⁷ From the time when he turned away from the Lord they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there. ²⁸ And they brought him upon horses; and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David.

Reign of Uzziah

26 And all the people of Judah took Uzzi′ah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amazi′ah. ² He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers. ³ Uzzi′ah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoli′ah of Jerusalem. ⁴ And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amazi′ah had done. ⁵ He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechari′ah, who instructed him in the fear of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.

⁶ He went out and made war against the Philistines, and broke down 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. ⁷ God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabs that dwelt in Gurba′al, and against the Me-u′nites. ⁸ The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzzi′ah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. ⁹ Moreover Uzzi′ah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them. ¹⁰ And he built towers in the wilderness, and hewed out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephe′lah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. ¹¹ Moreover Uzzi′ah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Je-i′el the secretary and Ma-asei′ah the officer, under the direction of Hanani′ah, one of the king’s commanders. ¹² The whole number of the heads of fathers’ houses of mighty men of valor was two thousand six hundred. ¹³ Under their command was an army of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. ¹⁴ And Uzzi′ah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem he made engines, invented by skilful 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.

Pride and Apostasy

¹⁶ But when he was strong he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was false to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷ But Azari′ah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor; ¹⁸ and they withstood King Uzzi′ah, and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzzi′ah, 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.” ¹⁹ Then Uzzi′ah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests leprosy broke out on his forehead, in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. ²⁰ And Azari′ah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they thrust him out quickly, and he himself hastened to go out, because the Lord had smitten him. ²¹ And King Uzzi′ah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper dwelt 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.

²² Now the rest of the acts of Uzzi′ah, from first to last, Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote. ²³ And Uzzi′ah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field which belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” And Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

Reign of Jotham

27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jeru′shah the daughter of Zadok. ² And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord according to all that his father Uzzi′ah had done—only he did not invade the temple of the Lord. But the people still followed corrupt practices. ³ He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord, and did much building on the wall of Ophel. ⁴ Moreover he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and forts and towers on the wooded hills. ⁵ He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. And the Ammonites gave him that year a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand cors of wheat and ten thousand of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and the third years. ⁶ So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God. ⁷ Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸ He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁹ And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

Being Subject to Authorities

13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. ² Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³ For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, ⁴ for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain; he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore one must be subject, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. ⁶ For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. ⁷ Pay all of them their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

Love for One Another

⁸ Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. ⁹ The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

An Urgent Appeal

¹¹ Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; ¹² the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; ¹³ let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. ¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.