¹² And when the king came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar. ^(A)Then the king drew near to the altar and went up on it

Uzziah's Pride and Punishment

¹⁶ But when ^(A)he was strong, ^(B)he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷ But ^(C)Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor, ¹⁸ and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, ^(D)“It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, ^(E)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 Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, ^(F)leprosy^[a] broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense.

²⁵ In every city of Judah he made high places to ^(A)make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his fathers.

²³ For ^(A)he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, ^(B)“Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel.

A Man of God Confronts Jeroboam

13 And behold, ^(A)a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar ^(B)to make offerings.

⁴ They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent, ^(A)and no outsider shall come near you. ⁵ And you shall ^(B)keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, ^(C)that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel. ^6 (D)And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. ^(E)They are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting. ⁷ And ^(F)you and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and ^(G)that is within the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift,^[a] and ^(H)any outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”