2 Chronicles 26:16-23

New International Reader's Version

¹⁶ But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride brought him down. He wasn’t faithful to the Lord his God. He entered the Lord’s temple to burn incense on the altar for burning incense. ¹⁷ Azariah the priest followed him in. So did 80 other brave priests of the Lord. ¹⁸ They stood up to Uzziah. They said, “Uzziah, it isn’t right for you to burn incense to the Lord. Only the priests are supposed to do that. They are members of the family line of Aaron. They have been set apart to burn incense. So get out of here. Leave the temple. You haven’t been faithful. The Lord God won’t honor you.”

¹⁹ Uzziah was holding a shallow cup. He was ready to burn incense in it. He became angry. He shouted at the priests in the Lord’s temple. He did it near the altar for burning incense. While he was shouting, a skin disease suddenly broke out on his forehead. ²⁰ Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him. They saw that Uzziah had a skin disease on his forehead. So they hurried him out of the temple. Actually, he himself really wanted to leave. He knew that the Lord was making him suffer.

²¹ King Uzziah had the skin disease until the day he died. He lived in a separate house because he had the disease. And he wasn’t allowed to enter the Lord’s temple. Uzziah’s son Jotham was in charge of the palace. Jotham ruled over the people of the land.

²² The other events of Uzziah’s rule from beginning to end were written down by Isaiah the prophet. Isaiah was the son of Amoz. ²³ Uzziah joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried near them in a royal burial ground. People said, “He had a skin disease.” Uzziah’s son Jotham became the next king after him.