Jotham rules Judah as king

27 Jotham was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled Judah as king in Jerusalem for 16 years. His mother's name was Jerusha. She was Zadok's daughter. ² Jotham did things that the Lord said were good, as his father Uzziah had done. But he did not try to go into the Lord's temple and offer incense, as his father had done. But the people continued to do bad things.

³ Jotham built the Higher Gate of the Lord's temple. He also did a lot of work to repair the city wall near Ophel hill. ⁴ He built towns in the hill country of Judah. He also built strong buildings and towers in the forests.^[a]

⁵ Jotham took his army to attack the king of Ammon. He won the battle against them. That year, the Ammonites gave to him 3,400 kilograms of silver. They also gave him 2,200 kilolitres of wheat and 2,200 kilolitres of barley. The Ammonites paid Jotham the same amount for each of the next two years.

⁶ Jotham became a powerful king because he faithfully obeyed the Lord his God.

Jotham dies

⁷ The other things that happened while Jotham was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of the kings of Israel and Judah’. It tells about the wars that Jotham fought and the other things that he did. ⁸ He was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled Judah as king in Jerusalem for 16 years. ⁹ Jotham died and his people buried him in the City of David.

His son Ahaz became king after him.