Uzziah Succeeds Amaziah in Judah

26 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. ² He built Eloth and restored it to Judah after the king [Amaziah] slept with his fathers [in death]. ³ Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jechiliah of Jerusalem. ⁴ He did right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ He continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding ^[a]through the vision of God; and as long as he sought (inquired of, longing for) the Lord, God caused him to prosper.

Uzziah Succeeds in War

⁶ He went out and made war against the Philistines, and broke through the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities near Ashdod and [elsewhere] among the Philistines. ⁷ God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabs who lived in Gur-baal, and the Meunites. ⁸ The Ammonites paid tribute (money) to Uzziah, and his fame spread abroad, even as far as the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. ⁹ Uzziah also built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and at the corner buttress [of the wall], and fortified them. ¹⁰ He also built towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, for he had a great deal of livestock, both in the lowlands and in the plain. He also had farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and in the fertile fields, for he loved the soil. ¹¹ Moreover, Uzziah had an army ready for battle, which went into combat by divisions according to the number of their muster as recorded by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the official, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders. ¹² The total number of the heads of the fathers’ households, of valiant men, was 2,600. ¹³ Under their command was an army of 307,500, who could wage war with great power, to help the king against the enemy. ¹⁴ Moreover, Uzziah prepared shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows, and sling stones for the entire army. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem he made machines of war invented by skillful men to be put on the towers and on the [corner] battlements for the purpose of shooting arrows and large stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped until he was strong.