⁶ When these things were all in place, the priests regularly entered the first room^[a] as they performed their religious duties.

³ “Say to the people: This is the special gift you must present to the Lord as your daily burnt offering. You must offer two one-year-old male lambs with no defects.

⁸ One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week. ⁹ As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying.

¹¹ While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar.

¹¹ It even challenged the Commander of heaven’s army by canceling the daily sacrifices offered to him and by destroying his Temple.

Uzziah’s Sin and Punishment

¹⁶ But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar. ¹⁷ Azariah the high priest went in after him with eighty other priests of the Lord, all brave men. ¹⁸ They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is the work of the priests alone, the descendants of Aaron who are set apart for this work. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have sinned. The Lord God will not honor you for this!”

¹⁹ Uzziah, who was holding an incense burner, became furious. But as he was standing there raging at the priests before the incense altar in the Lord’s Temple, leprosy^[a] suddenly broke out on his forehead.

⁷ “Every morning when Aaron maintains the lamps, he must burn fragrant incense on the altar. ⁸ And each evening when he lights the lamps, he must again burn incense in the Lord’s presence. This must be done from generation to generation.

²¹ The lampstand will stand in the Tabernacle, in front of the inner curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant.^[a] Aaron and his sons must keep the lamps burning in the Lord’s presence all night. This is a permanent law for the people of Israel, and it must be observed from generation to generation.