Uzziah’s Sinful Pride and Death

¹⁶ But when he had grown powerful, the pride in his heart led to his destruction. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God. He entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.

¹⁷ Azariah the priest went in after him. He was followed by eighty priests of the Lord, brave men. ¹⁸ They confronted King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, because you have been unfaithful. This action will not result in any praise for you from the Lord God.”

¹⁹ Uzziah became angry. He had a censer for burning incense in his hand. When he became angry with the priests, leprosy^[a] broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests, beside the altar of incense in the House of the Lord. ²⁰ When Azariah, the head priest, and all the other priests looked at him, they immediately realized he had leprosy on his forehead. They rushed him out of there. He himself also was in a hurry to leave because the Lord had struck him.

²¹ King Uzziah remained a leper until the day of his death. He lived in a quarantined house because he was a leper. He was excluded from the House of the Lord. Jotham his son was in charge of the palace of the king and administered justice for the people of the land.

²² The rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, were recorded by Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet.

²³ Uzziah rested with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the burial field that belonged to the kings, because they said, “He is a leper.” His son Jotham ruled as king in his place.