King Azariah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 26.1-23)

15 Azariah son of Amaziah became king of Judah in Jeroboam's twenty-seventh year as king of Israel. ² He was only 16 years old when he became king, and he ruled 52 years from Jerusalem, which was also the hometown of his mother Jecoliah.

³ Azariah obeyed the Lord by doing right, as his father Amaziah had done. ⁴ But Azariah did not destroy the local shrines,^[a] and they were still used as places for offering sacrifices.

⁵ The Lord punished Azariah with leprosy^[b] for the rest of his life. He wasn't allowed to live in the royal palace, so his son Jotham lived there and ruled in his place.

⁶ Everything else Azariah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. ^7 (A) Azariah died and was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem. His son Jotham then became king.

King Zechariah of Israel

⁸ Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Azariah's rule in Judah, but he ruled only six months from Samaria. ⁹ Like his ancestors, Zechariah disobeyed the Lord by following the evil ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused the Israelites to sin.

¹⁰ Shallum son of Jabesh plotted against Zechariah and killed him in public.^[c] Shallum then became king. ^11-12 (B) So the Lord had kept his promise to Jehu that the next four kings of Israel would come from his family.^[d]

Everything else Zechariah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Israel.

King Shallum of Israel

¹³ Shallum became king of Israel in the thirty-ninth year of Azariah's^[e] rule in Judah. But only one month after Shallum became king, ^14-16 Menahem son of Gadi came to Samaria from Tirzah and killed him. Menahem then became king. The town of Tiphsah would not surrender to him, so he destroyed it and all the surrounding towns as far as Tirzah. He killed everyone living in Tiphsah, and with his sword he even ripped open pregnant women.

Everything else Shallum did while he was king, including his plot against Zechariah, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel.

King Menahem of Israel

¹⁷ Menahem became king of Israel in Azariah's thirty-ninth year as king of Judah, and he ruled Israel ten years from Samaria. ¹⁸ He constantly disobeyed the Lord by following the example of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused the Israelites to sin.

¹⁹ During Menahem's rule, King Tiglath Pileser^[f] of Assyria invaded Israel. He agreed to help Menahem keep control of his kingdom, if Menahem would pay him over 34 tons of silver. ²⁰ So Menahem ordered every rich person in Israel to give him at least 50 pieces of silver, and he gave it all to Tiglath Pileser, who stopped his attack and left Israel.

²¹ Everything else Menahem did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Israel. ²² Menahem died, and his son Pekahiah became king.

King Pekahiah of Israel

²³ Pekahiah became king of Israel in the fiftieth year of Azariah's rule in Judah, and he ruled two years from Samaria. ²⁴ He disobeyed the Lord and caused the Israelites to sin, just as Jeroboam son of Nebat had done.

²⁵ Pekah son of Remaliah was Pekahiah's chief officer, but he made plans to kill the king. So he and 50 men from Gilead broke into the strongest part of the palace in Samaria and murdered Pekahiah, together with Argob and Arieh.^[g] Pekah then became king.

²⁶ Everything else Pekahiah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Israel.

King Pekah of Israel

²⁷ Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel in Azariah's fifty-second year as king of Judah, and he ruled 20 years from Samaria. ²⁸ He disobeyed the Lord and followed the evil example of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused the Israelites to sin.

²⁹ During Pekah's rule, King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria marched into Israel. He captured the territories of Gilead and Galilee, including the towns of Ijon, Abel-Bethmaacah, Janoah, Kedesh, and Hazor, as well as the entire territory of Naphtali. Then he took Israelites from those regions to Assyria as prisoners.^[h]

³⁰ In the twentieth year of Jotham's rule in Judah, Hoshea son of Elah plotted against Pekah and murdered him. Hoshea then became king of Israel.

³¹ Everything else Pekah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Israel.

King Jotham of Judah

(2 Chronicles 27.1-9)

³² Jotham son of Azariah^[i] became king of Judah in the second year of Pekah's rule in Israel. ³³ Jotham was 25 years old when he became king, and he ruled 16 years from Jerusalem. His mother Jerusha was the daughter of Zadok.

³⁴ Jotham followed the example of his father by obeying the Lord and doing right. ³⁵ It was Jotham who rebuilt the Upper Gate that led into the court around the Lord's temple. But the local shrines were not destroyed, and they were still used as places for offering sacrifices.

³⁶ Everything else Jotham did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. ³⁷ During his rule, the Lord let King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel start attacking Judah. ³⁸ Jotham died and was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem, and his son Ahaz became king.

King Uzziah of Judah

(2 Kings 14.21,22; 15.1-7)

26 ^1-3 After the death of King Amaziah, the people of Judah crowned his son Uzziah^[a] king, even though he was only 16 at the time. Uzziah ruled 52 years from Jerusalem, the hometown of his mother Jecoliah. During his rule, he recaptured and rebuilt the town of Elath.

⁴ He obeyed the Lord by doing right, as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ Zechariah was Uzziah's advisor and taught him to obey God. And so, as long as Zechariah was alive, Uzziah was faithful to God, and God made him successful.

⁶ While Uzziah was king, he started a war against the Philistines. He smashed the walls of the cities of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod, then rebuilt towns around Ashdod and in other parts of Philistia. ⁷ God helped him defeat the Philistines, the Arabs living in Gur-Baal, and the Meunites. ⁸ Even the Ammonites paid taxes to Uzziah. He became very powerful, and people who lived as far away as Egypt heard about him.

⁹ In Jerusalem, Uzziah built fortified towers at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and the place where the city wall turned inward.^{[b] 10} He also built defense towers out in the desert.

He owned such a large herd of livestock in the western foothills and in the flatlands, that he had cisterns dug there to catch the rainwater. He loved farming, so he had crops and vineyards planted in the hill country wherever there was fertile soil, and he hired farmers to take care of them.

¹¹ Uzziah's army was always ready for battle. Jeiel and Maaseiah were the officers who kept track of the number of soldiers, and these two men were under the command of Hananiah, one of Uzziah's officials. ^12-13 There were 307,500 trained soldiers, all under the command of 2,600 clan leaders. These powerful troops protected the king against any enemy. ¹⁴ Uzziah supplied his army with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and stones used for slinging. ¹⁵ Some of his skilled workers invented machines that could shoot arrows and sling large stones. Uzziah set these up in Jerusalem at his defense towers and at the corners of the city wall.

God helped Uzziah become more and more powerful, and he was famous all over the world.

Uzziah Becomes Too Proud

¹⁶ Uzziah became proud of his power, and this led to his downfall.

One day, Uzziah disobeyed the Lord his God by going into the temple and burning incense as an offering to him.^{[c] 17} Azariah the priest and 80 other brave priests followed Uzziah into the temple ^18 (A) and said, “Your Majesty, this isn't right! You are not allowed to burn incense to the Lord. That must be done only by priests who are descendants of Aaron. You will have to leave! You have sinned against the Lord, and so he will no longer bless you.”

¹⁹ Uzziah, who was standing next to the incense altar at the time, was holding the incense burner, ready to offer incense to the Lord. He became very angry when he heard Azariah's warning, and leprosy^[d] suddenly appeared on his forehead! ²⁰ Azariah and the other priests saw it and immediately told him to leave the temple. Uzziah realized that the Lord had punished him, so he hurried to get outside.

²¹ Uzziah had leprosy the rest of his life. He was no longer allowed in the temple or in his own palace. That's why his son Jotham lived there and ruled in his place.

²² Everything else Uzziah did while he was king is in the records written by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. ^23 (B) Since Uzziah had leprosy, he could not be buried in the royal tombs. Instead, he was buried in a nearby cemetery that the kings owned. His son Jotham then became king.