Beginning

Amaziah, King of Judah^(A)

25 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he was king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Jehoaddan from Jerusalem. ² He did what was correct in the eyes of the Lord, only not with a complete heart. ³ And it happened that when the kingdom was firmly his that he killed his servants, those who struck down his father King Joash. ⁴ But he did not put to death their children because, as it is written in the Law in the Book of Moses, as the Lord commanded, “You will not put to death the fathers for their children’s actions nor the children will you put to death for their fathers’ actions, for every man will be put to death for his own sin.”

Slaughter of the Edomites

⁵ Then Amaziah assembled Judah and set over them according to the house of the fathers commanders of thousands and hundreds in all Judah and Benjamin, and he appointed men who were twenty years old and above. And they found three hundred thousand choice men fit for war and able to use a long spear and large shield. ⁶ And he hired out from Israel one hundred thousand mighty men of war for one hundred talents^[a] of silver.

⁷ Then a man of God came to him saying, “O king, do not let the army of Israel come with you because the Lord is not with Israel or with any of the sons of Ephraim. ⁸ But if you go, do it. Be strong for the battle. Yet God shall make you fall before the enemy, for God has power to help and to bring down.”

⁹ Then Amaziah said to the man of God, “So what should I do about the one hundred talents of silver that I gave to the military party from Israel?”

And the man of God responded, “The Lord has more to give to you than this.”

¹⁰ So Amaziah dismissed the military party that came to him from Ephraim to return to their place. And they were very angry with Judah and returned to their place in a great rage.

¹¹ But Amaziah strengthened himself and led his people, and he journeyed to the Valley of Salt and struck down ten thousand of the people of Seir. ¹² And the people of Judah took captive another ten thousand alive and brought them to the top of a cliff and threw them from the top of the rock so that they were all dashed to pieces.

¹³ But the men of the military party that Amaziah turned back from going with him in battle raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon. They struck down three thousand Judeans and took a great amount of plunder.

¹⁴ And it happened after Amaziah came back from striking down the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people from Seir and set them up as gods for himself. He worshipped them and gave them sacrifices. ¹⁵ So the Lord was greatly angry with Amaziah, and He sent a prophet to the king. And he said, “Why do you seek from the gods of the people who were not even able to deliver the people from your hand?”

¹⁶ But while the prophet was speaking, the king said, “Have we made you a counselor to the king? Stop! Why should you be struck down?”

The prophet refrained, but he said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you because you have done this and not heeded my advice.”

Israel Defeats Judah

¹⁷ Then Amaziah king of Judah received advice and sent for Jehoash^[b] the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us meet together.”

¹⁸ So Jehoash king of Israel sent a message for Amaziah king of Judah saying, “A thistle in Lebanon sent for a cedar in Lebanon stating, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then an animal of the field in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle. ¹⁹ You say that you have struck down Edom, and your heart lifts you up in arrogance. Now remain in your palace. Why do you provoke disaster so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”

²⁰ But Amaziah would not listen because this was from God so that He might give them into the hand of Jehoash because Amaziah had sought after the gods of Edom. ²¹ So Jehoash king of Israel went up, and they faced each other, he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Beth Shemesh, which is in Judah. ²² And Judah was struck down by Israel, and each man fled to his home. ²³ So at Beth Shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel seized Amaziah king of Judah the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah. And they brought him to Jerusalem and broke through the walls of the city from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, a section of four hundred cubits.^{[c] 24} And Jehoash took all the gold and silver and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obed-Edom, even the treasures of the palace of the king and hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.

The Death of Amaziah

²⁵ And Amaziah, the son of Joash king of Judah, lived fifteen years more after the death of Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. ²⁶ Now 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 From the time when Amaziah turned aside from the Lord, they plotted a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. Then they sent for him and put him to death in Lachish. ²⁸ They brought him on horses and buried him with his fathers in the City of David in Judah.

Uzziah, King of Judah^(B)

26 And all the people of Judah took Uzziah^[d] and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah when he was sixteen years old. ² He built Eloth and restored it to Judah after Amaziah the king slept with his fathers.

³ Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he was king in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. The name of his mother was Jekoliah from Jerusalem. ⁴ And he did what was correct in the eyes of the Lord as everything his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ And he sought after God in the days of Zechariah, the one who instructed him in the fear of the Lord. And in the days that he sought after the Lord, God caused him to succeed.

⁶ He went out to make war with the Philistines, and he broke through the walls at Gath and Jabneh and Ashdod. Then he built cities in Ashdod and among the Philistines. ⁷ And God brought him aid against the Philistines and Arabians, those living in Gur Baal, and the Meunites. ⁸ And the Ammonites gave a gift to Uzziah, and his name spread even to the border of Egypt because he became quite powerful.

⁹ Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the corner buttress; and he fortified them. ¹⁰ And he built towers in the wilderness, and he dug out many cisterns because he had a large amount of livestock, both in the lowland Shephelah and in the plain. He also had workers in the fields and vineyards in the hills and fertile orchards, for he loved agriculture.

¹¹ And Uzziah had an army prepared for battle, those who went out for war as companies in the number of their divisions by the appointment of Jeiel the scribe, and Maaseiah the officer, and Hananiah a commander of the king. ¹² The total number of chief officers of the mighty men of valor was two thousand six hundred. ¹³ And under their hand was a mighty army of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred who were able to go to battle as a strong army and to help the king against his enemies. ¹⁴ And Uzziah prepared for the entire army shields, long spears, helmets, scale armor, bows, and slings for stones. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem he made war machines by skilled men to be placed on towers and corners to shoot arrows and large stones. And his name went out for a great distance. He received great help until he was even more powerful.

Uzziah’s Punishment for Pride

¹⁶ And as he grew strong, his heart grew more proud, leading to his destruction. Then he acted unfaithfully against the Lord his God, for he entered the temple main hall of the Lord to burn incense on the altar. ¹⁷ But Azariah the priest entered in after him, and with him were eighty priests of the Lord—men of valor. ¹⁸ And they stood against King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord for it is for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Leave from the sanctuary because you have been unfaithful, and there will be no honor for you from the Lord God.”

¹⁹ Then Uzziah was enraged, and in his hand was a censer for incense. And when he became angry with the priests, leprosy appeared on his forehead in front of the priests in the house of the Lord, near the altar of incense. ²⁰ Then Azariah the head priest and all the priests turned to him, and he had leprosy on his forehead; and they hastened to remove him from there, and he also hurried to leave because the Lord had struck him.

²¹ So King Uzziah had leprosy until the day of his death. He dwelt in a separate house with his unclean disease because he was cut off from the house of the Lord. Then Jotham his son was over the house of the king, and he governed the people of the land.

²² Now the remainder of the acts of Uzziah, from beginning to end, Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz, has written them. ²³ So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field belonging to the kings because they said, “He is a leper.” And Jotham his son ruled in his place.

Jotham, King of Judah^(C)

27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began as king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. ² And he did what was correct in the eyes of the Lord just as his father Uzziah had done. However, he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people continued acting corruptly. ³ And he built the Upper Gate of the house of the Lord, and he built much on the wall of Ophel. ⁴ And he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and on the wooded heights he built citadels and towers.

⁵ He made war with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. That year the Ammonites gave to him one hundred talents^[e] of silver, ten thousand kors^[f] of wheat, and ten thousand kors^[g] of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and third years as well.

⁶ So Jotham was strengthened because he established his ways before the Lord his God.

⁷ And the remainder of the acts of Jotham, all his wars and ways, 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 was king for 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 place.