2 Chronicles 26:1-15

Modern English Version

Uzziah, King of Judah^(A)

26 And all the people of Judah took Uzziah^[a] and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah when he was sixteen years old. ² He built Eloth and restored it to Judah after Amaziah the king slept with his fathers.

³ Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he was king in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. The name of his mother was Jekoliah from Jerusalem. ⁴ And he did what was correct in the eyes of the Lord as everything his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ And he sought after God in the days of Zechariah, the one who instructed him in the fear of the Lord. And in the days that he sought after the Lord, God caused him to succeed.

⁶ He went out to make war with the Philistines, and he broke through the walls at Gath and Jabneh and Ashdod. Then he built cities in Ashdod and among the Philistines. ⁷ And God brought him aid against the Philistines and Arabians, those living in Gur Baal, and the Meunites. ⁸ And the Ammonites gave a gift to Uzziah, and his name spread even to the border of Egypt because he became quite powerful.

⁹ Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the corner buttress; and he fortified them. ¹⁰ And he built towers in the wilderness, and he dug out many cisterns because he had a large amount of livestock, both in the lowland Shephelah and in the plain. He also had workers in the fields and vineyards in the hills and fertile orchards, for he loved agriculture.

¹¹ And Uzziah had an army prepared for battle, those who went out for war as companies in the number of their divisions by the appointment of Jeiel the scribe, and Maaseiah the officer, and Hananiah a commander of the king. ¹² The total number of chief officers of the mighty men of valor was two thousand six hundred. ¹³ And under their hand was a mighty army of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred who were able to go to battle as a strong army and to help the king against his enemies. ¹⁴ And Uzziah prepared for the entire army shields, long spears, helmets, scale armor, bows, and slings for stones. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem he made war machines by skilled men to be placed on towers and corners to shoot arrows and large stones. And his name went out for a great distance. He received great help until he was even more powerful.