Jehoram Reigns over Israel

3 In the eighteenth year of Jehosh′aphat king of Judah, Jehor′am the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samar′ia, and he reigned twelve years. ² He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the pillar of Ba′al which his father had made. ³ Nevertheless he clung to the sin of Jerobo′am the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from it.

War with Moab

^4 [a]Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder; and he had to deliver annually^[b] to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and the wool of a hundred thousand rams. ⁵ But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. ⁶ So King Jehor′am marched out of Samar′ia at that time and mustered all Israel. ⁷ And he went and sent word to Jehosh′aphat king of Judah, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me; will you go with me to battle against Moab?” And he said, “I will go; I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” ⁸ Then he said, “By which way shall we march?” Jehor′am answered, “By the way of the wilderness of Edom.”

⁹ So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. And when they had made a circuitous march of seven days, there was no water for the army or for the beasts which followed them. ¹⁰ Then the king of Israel said, “Alas! The Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” ¹¹ And Jehosh′aphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?” Then one of the king of Israel’s servants answered, “Eli′sha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Eli′jah.” ¹² And Jehosh′aphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehosh′aphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

¹³ And Eli′sha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No; it is the Lord who has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” ¹⁴ And Eli′sha said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, whom I serve, were it not that I have regard for Jehosh′aphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you, nor see you. ¹⁵ But now bring me a minstrel.” And when the minstrel played, the power of the Lord came upon him. ¹⁶ And he said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘I will make this dry stream-bed full of pools.’ ¹⁷ For thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not see wind or rain, but that stream-bed shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, you, your cattle, and your beasts.’ ¹⁸ This is a light thing in the sight of the Lord; he will also give the Moabites into your hand, ¹⁹ and you shall conquer every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop up all springs of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.” ²⁰ The next morning, about the time of offering the sacrifice, behold, water came from the direction of Edom, till the country was filled with water.

²¹ When all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to put on armor, from the youngest to the oldest, were called out, and were drawn up at the frontier. ²² And when they rose early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. ²³ And they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely fought together, and slain one another. Now then, Moab, to the spoil!” ²⁴ But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose and attacked the Moabites, till they fled before them; and they went forward, slaughtering the Moabites as they went.^{[c] 25} And they overthrew the cities, and on every good piece of land every man threw a stone, until it was covered; they stopped every spring of water, and felled all the good trees; till only its stones were left in Kir-har′eseth, and the slingers surrounded and conquered it. ²⁶ When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through, opposite the king of Edom; but they could not. ²⁷ Then he took his eldest son who was to reign in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there came great wrath upon Israel; and they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.

Reign of Uzziah

26 And all the people of Judah took Uzzi′ah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amazi′ah. ² He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers. ³ Uzzi′ah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoli′ah of Jerusalem. ⁴ And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amazi′ah had done. ⁵ He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechari′ah, who instructed him in the fear of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.

⁶ He went out and made war against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. ⁷ God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabs that dwelt in Gurba′al, and against the Me-u′nites. ⁸ The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzzi′ah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. ⁹ Moreover Uzzi′ah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them. ¹⁰ And he built towers in the wilderness, and hewed out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephe′lah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. ¹¹ Moreover Uzzi′ah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Je-i′el the secretary and Ma-asei′ah the officer, under the direction of Hanani′ah, one of the king’s commanders. ¹² The whole number of the heads of fathers’ houses of mighty men of valor was two thousand six hundred. ¹³ Under their command was an army of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. ¹⁴ And Uzzi′ah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem he made engines, invented by skilful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.

Pride and Apostasy

¹⁶ But when he was strong he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was false to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷ But Azari′ah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor; ¹⁸ and they withstood King Uzzi′ah, and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzzi′ah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary; for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.” ¹⁹ Then Uzzi′ah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests leprosy broke out on his forehead, in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. ²⁰ And Azari′ah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they thrust him out quickly, and he himself hastened to go out, because the Lord had smitten him. ²¹ And King Uzzi′ah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper dwelt in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king’s household, governing the people of the land.

²² Now the rest of the acts of Uzzi′ah, from first to last, Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote. ²³ And Uzzi′ah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field which belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” And Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

Reign of Jotham

27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jeru′shah the daughter of Zadok. ² And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord according to all that his father Uzzi′ah had done—only he did not invade the temple of the Lord. But the people still followed corrupt practices. ³ He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord, and did much building on the wall of Ophel. ⁴ Moreover he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and forts and towers on the wooded hills. ⁵ He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. And the Ammonites gave him that year a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand cors of wheat and ten thousand of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and the third years. ⁶ So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God. ⁷ Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸ He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁹ And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

Prayer for Guidance and Support for the King

A Psalm of Solomon.