2 Chronicles 26:1-15

Evangelical Heritage Version

Uzziah (Azariah) King of Judah

26 All the people of Judah took Uzziah,^[a] who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.

² He was the one who built Elat and restored it to Judah after King Amaziah rested with his fathers.

³ Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah^[b] from Jerusalem.

⁴ He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, like everything that his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ He continued to seek God throughout the days of Zechariah, who trained him in the fear^[c] of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.

⁶ He went out and waged war against the Philistines. He broke down the wall of Gath, the wall of Javneh, and the wall of Ashdod. He built cities in the territory of Ashdod and among the Philistines. ⁷ God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal, and against the Meunites.

⁸ The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah. His reputation spread as far as the border of Egypt because he had become very strong. ⁹ Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and he fortified them.

¹⁰ He built towers in the wilderness. He dug many cisterns because he had large herds both in the Shephelah and on the plains. He also had farmers and vineyard workers in the highlands and in the fertile lands,^[d] because he loved the soil.

¹¹ Uzziah had an army, well trained and ready for war, organized in divisions based on the numbers from the census taken by Jeiel the secretary and Ma’aseiah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s officials.

¹² The total number of the leading fathers^[e] who led the powerful warriors was 2,600. ¹³ Under their command there was a strong army of 307,500 men, able to wage war as a very powerful force, to help the king against the enemy. ¹⁴ Uzziah supplied the whole army with shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slingshots. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem he made war machines produced by clever inventors to be mounted on the towers and at the corners, to shoot arrows and hurl large stones. His reputation spread far and wide because he received marvelous help until he was strong.