Uzziah King of Judah

26 Then all the people of Judah chose Uzziah^[a] to be king. He became king in place of Amaziah, his father. Uzziah was 16 years old. ² He rebuilt the town of Elath and made it part of Judah again. He did this after Amaziah died.

³ Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king. And he ruled 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah, and she was from Jerusalem. ⁴ He did what the Lord said was right. He obeyed God just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ Uzziah obeyed God while Zechariah was alive. Zechariah taught Uzziah how to respect and obey God. As long as Uzziah obeyed the Lord, God gave him success.

⁶ Uzziah fought a war against the Philistine people. He tore down the walls around their towns of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. He built new towns near Ashdod and in other places among the Philistines. ⁷ God helped Uzziah fight the Philistines, the Arabs living in Gur Baal and the Meunites. ⁸ The Ammonites made payments Uzziah demanded. Uzziah was very powerful. So his name became famous all the way to the border of Egypt.

⁹ Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem and made them strong. He built them at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate and where the wall turned. ¹⁰ He also built towers in the desert and dug many wells. He had many cattle on the western mountain slopes and in the plains. He had people who worked his fields and vineyards. They worked in the hills and in the fertile lands. Uzziah loved the land.

¹¹ He had an army of trained soldiers. They were counted and put in groups by Jeiel the royal assistant and Maaseiah the officer. Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders, was their leader. ¹² There were 2,600 leaders over the soldiers. ¹³ They were in charge of an army of 307,500 men. The army fought with great power. And they helped the king against the enemy. ¹⁴ Uzziah gave his army shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows and stones for their slings. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem Uzziah made devices that were invented by clever men. These devices were put on the towers and corners of the city walls. They were used to shoot arrows and large rocks. So Uzziah became famous in faraway places. He had much help until he became powerful.

¹⁶ But when Uzziah became strong, his pride caused him to be destroyed. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God. He went into the Temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar for incense. ¹⁷ Azariah and 80 other brave priests who served the Lord followed Uzziah into the Temple. ¹⁸ They told Uzziah he was wrong. They said to him, “You don’t have the right to burn incense to the Lord. Only the priests, Aaron’s descendants, should burn the incense. They have been made holy for the Lord to do this special duty. Leave this holy place. You have been unfaithful to God. The Lord God will not honor you for this.”

¹⁹ Uzziah was standing beside the altar for incense in the Temple of the Lord. He had in his hand a pan for burning incense. He was very angry with the priests. As he was standing in front of the priests, a harmful skin disease broke out on his forehead. ²⁰ Azariah the leading priest and all the other priests looked at him. They could see the harmful skin disease on his forehead. So they hurried him out of the Temple. Uzziah rushed out, because the Lord had punished him. ²¹ So King Uzziah had the skin disease until the day he died. He had to live in a separate house. He could not enter the Temple of the Lord. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace. He governed the people of the land.

²² The other things Uzziah did as king were written down by the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah son of Amoz wrote about Uzziah’s rule from beginning to end. ²³ Uzziah died and was buried near his ancestors in a graveyard that belonged to the kings. This was because people said, “He had a harmful skin disease.” And his son Jotham became king in his place.