Beginning
25 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
2 He did right in the Lord’s sight, but not with a perfect or blameless heart.
3 When his kingdom was firmly established, he slew his servants who had killed the king his father.
4 But he did not slay their children; he did as it is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, The fathers shall not die for the children, or the children die for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin.
5 Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by fathers’ houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He numbered them from twenty years old and over and found them to be 300,000 choice men fit for war and able to handle spear and shield.
6 He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents of silver.
7 But a man of God came to him, saying, O king, do not let all this army of Ephraimites of Israel go with you [of Judah], for the Lord is not with you,
8 For if you go [in spite of warning], no matter how strong you are for battle, God will cast you down before the enemy, for God has power to help and to cast down.
9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do about the 100 talents which I have given to the army of Israel? The man of God answered, The Lord is able to give you much more than this.
10 So Amaziah discharged the army that came to him from Ephraim to go home. So their anger was greatly kindled against Judah; they returned home in fierce wrath.
11 And Amaziah took courage and led forth his people to the Valley of Salt and smote 10,000 of the men of Seir [Edom].
12 Another 10,000 the men of Judah captured alive and brought them to the top of a crag and cast them down from it, and they were all dashed to pieces.
13 But the soldiers of the band which Amaziah sent back, not allowing them to go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria even to Beth-horon, and smote 3,000 [men] and took much spoil.
14 After Amaziah came back from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought their gods and set them up to be his gods and bowed before them and burned incense to them.
15 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Amaziah, and He sent to him a prophet, who said, Why have you sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of your hand?
16 As he was talking, the king said to him, Have we made you the king’s counselor? Stop it! Why should you be put to death? The prophet stopped but said, I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and ignored my counsel.
17 Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to [a]Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come [to battle], let us look one another in the face.(A)
18 Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, A little thistle in Lebanon sent to a great cedar in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son as wife. And a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle.
19 You say, See, [I] have smitten Edom! Your heart lifts you up to boast. Stay at home; why should you meddle [and court disaster], so you will fall and Judah with you?
20 But Amaziah would not hear, for it came from God, that He might deliver Judah into the hands of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom.
21 So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another at Beth-shemesh of Judah.
22 And Judah was defeated before Israel, and they fled every man to his tent.
23 And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, 400 cubits.
24 And he took all the gold, the silver, and all the vessels found in God’s house with [the doorkeeper] Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king’s house and hostages also, and returned to Samaria.
25 And Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.
26 The rest of the acts of Amaziah, from first to last, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel?
27 Now after Amaziah turned away from the Lord, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent to Lachish and slew him there.
28 And they brought him upon horses and buried him with his fathers in the City of [David 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 Amaziah slept with his fathers.
3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began his fifty-two-year reign in Jerusalem. His mother was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.
4 He did right in the Lord’s sight, to the extent of all that his father Amaziah had done.
5 He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the things of God; and as long as he sought (inquired of, yearned for) the Lord, God made him prosper.
6 He went out against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, of Jabneh, and of Ashdod, and built cities near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines.
7 And God helped him against the Philistines, and the Arabs who dwelt in Gur-baal and the Meunim.
8 The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread abroad even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong.
9 Also Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and at the angle of the wall, and fortified them.
10 Also he built towers in the wilderness and hewed out many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the lowlands and in the tableland. And he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile fields [of Carmel], for he loved farming.
11 And Uzziah had a combat army for waging war by regiments according to the number as recorded by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders.
12 The whole number of the heads of fathers’ houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600.
13 Under their command was an army of 307,500 who could fight with mighty power to help the king against the enemy.
14 Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones to sling.
15 In Jerusalem he made machines invented by skillful men to be on the towers and the [corner] bulwarks, with which to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped till he was strong.
16 But when [King Uzziah] was strong, he became proud to his destruction; and he trespassed against the Lord his God, for he went [b]into the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.
17 And Azariah the priest went in after him and with him eighty priests of the Lord, men of courage.
18 They opposed King Uzziah and said to him, It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are set apart to burn incense. Withdraw from the sanctuary; you have trespassed, and that will not be to your credit and honor before the Lord God.
19 Then Uzziah was enraged, and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was enraged with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altar.
20 And as Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked upon him, behold, he was leprous on his forehead! So they forced him out of there; and he also made haste to get out, because the Lord had smitten him.
21 And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and, being a leper, he dwelt in a separate house, for he was excluded from the Lord’s house. And Jotham his son took charge of the king’s household, ruling the people of the land.
22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, wrote.(B)
23 So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the burial field of the kings [outside the royal tombs], for they said, He is a leper. Jotham his son reigned in his stead.
27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jerushah daughter of Zadok.
2 He did right in the sight of the Lord, to the extent of all that his father Uzziah had done. However, he did not invade the temple of the Lord. But the people still did corruptly.
3 He built the Upper Gate of the Lord’s house and did much building on the wall of Ophel.
4 Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and in the forests he built forts and towers.
5 He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. The Ammonites gave him that year 100 talents of silver and 10,000 measures each of wheat and of barley. That much the Ammonites paid to him also the second year and third year.
6 So Jotham grew mighty, for he ordered his ways in the sight of the Lord his God.
7 Now the rest of Jotham’s acts, 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. Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation