Chronological

Chapter 15

Azariah of Judah.^{[a] 1} Azariah, the son of Amaziah, the king of Judah, began to reign during the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Jeroboam, the king of Israel. ² He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecholiah who was from Jerusalem.

³ He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, doing everything as Amaziah, his father, had done. ⁴ However, he did not eliminate the high places, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.

⁵ The Lord struck down the king so that he was a leper until the day of his death. He lived in a separate house while Jotham, the king’s son, took charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.

⁶ As for the other deeds of Azariah, what he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

⁷ Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. Jotham, his son, then reigned in his stead.

Zechariah of Israel. ⁸ Zechariah, the son of Jeroboam, became the king of Israel in Samaria during the thirty-eighth year of the reign of Azariah, the king of Judah. He reigned for six months.

⁹ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.

¹⁰ Shallum, the son of Jabesh, plotted against him. He attacked him in front of the people and killed him, reigning in his stead.

¹¹ The other deeds of Zechariah are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ¹² This fulfilled the word of the Lord that had been spoken to Jehu: “Your sons to the fourth generation will sit upon the throne of Israel.”

¹³ Shallum of Israel. Shallum, son of Jabesh, began to reign during the thirty-ninth year of the reign of Uzziah, the king of Judah, and he reigned for a full month in Samaria. ¹⁴ Then Menahem, the son of Gadi, from Tirzah, went up to Samaria. He attacked Shallum, the son of Jabesh, in Samaria and he killed him. He then reigned in his stead.

¹⁵ As for the rest of the deeds of Shallum, and his plot, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

¹⁶ Menahem then started out from Tirzah and he attacked Tappuah and everyone in it and its environs because they would not open up its gates. He killed everyone in it, even ripping open the bellies of the pregnant women.

¹⁷ Menahem of Israel. Menahem, son of Gadi, began to reign over Israel during the thirty-ninth year of the reign of Azariah, the king of Judah. He reigned in Samaria for ten years.

¹⁸ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. During his entire reign he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.

¹⁹ Then Pul, the king of Assyria, attacked Israel, and Menahem gave Pul one thousand talents of silver so that he might have his support and strengthen his hold upon the kingdom. ²⁰ Menahem took the money from Israel. Every wealthy man had to give fifty shekels of silver to be given to the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria therefore withdrew and did not remain in the land any longer.

²¹ As for the other deeds of Menahem and what he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

²² Menahem slept with his fathers, and Pekahiah, his son, reigned in his stead.

²³ Pekahiah of Israel. Pekahiah, the son of Menahem, began to reign over Israel in Samaria during the fiftieth year of the reign of Azariah, the king of Judah. He reigned for two years.

²⁴ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.

²⁵ Pekah, the son of Remaliah, one of his captains, plotted against him. He attacked him in Samaria, in the citadel of the royal palace. Taking fifty Gileadites with him, he killed him, Argob, and Arieh. He then reigned in his stead.

²⁶ The other deeds of Pekahiah and what he did are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

²⁷ Pekah of Israel. Pekah, the son of Remaliah, began to reign over Israel in Samaria during the fifty-second year of the reign of Azariah, the king of Judah. He reigned for twenty years.^[b]

²⁸ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.

²⁹ During the reign of Pekah, the king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, and Hazor. He captured Gilead and Galilee, including all of the land of Naphtali, and he took them captive into Assyria.

³⁰ Then Hoshea, the son of Elah, plotted against Pekah, the son of Remaliah. He attacked him and killed him and reigned in his stead during the twentieth year of the reign of Jotham, the son of Uzziah.

³¹ As for the rest of the deeds of Pekah and what he did, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

³² Jotham of Judah. Jotham, the son of Uzziah, the king of Judah, began to reign during the second year of the reign of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel. ³³ He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.

³⁴ He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, everything just as his father Uzziah had done. ³⁵ The high places were not eliminated, though, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places. He rebuilt the upper gate to the temple of the Lord.

³⁶ As for the other deeds of Jotham, what he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

³⁷ In those days, the Lord began to send Rezin, the king of Aram, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, against Judah.

³⁸ Jotham slept with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the City of David, his father. Ahaz, his son, reigned in his stead.

Chapter 26

The Works of Uzziah.^{[a] 1} Then all the people of Judah chose Uzziah, even though he was only sixteen years old, and they made him king as the successor to his father Amaziah. ² It was he who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after the king had fallen asleep with his ancestors.

³ Uzziah was sixteen years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. ⁴ He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ Furthermore, he consulted God throughout the lifetime of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the guidance of the Lord, God allowed him to prosper.^[b]

⁶ Uzziah went forth and fought the Philistines. He demolished the walls of Gath, the walls of Jabneh, and the walls of Ashdod; and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod, and elsewhere among the Philistines. ⁷ God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabs who lived in Gur-baal, and against the Meunites.

⁸ The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the borders of Egypt, for he became ever more powerful. ⁹ Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and he fortified them. ¹⁰ He also erected towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, for he had large herds of cattle both in the Shephelah and in the plain; and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.

¹¹ Uzziah had a well-trained army ready to engage in battles and divided into divisions according to their numbers as specified by the scribe Jeiel and the staff officer Maaseiah, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders. ¹² The total number of the heads of ancestral houses of mighty warriors was two thousand six hundred. ¹³ Under their command was an army of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred, a powerful force to help the king against his enemies.

¹⁴ Uzziah provided for the entire army the shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows, and slingstones. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem he also had requisitioned machines, invented by skilled workers, to be placed on the towers and battlements for shooting arrows and large stones. His fame spread far and wide, for he was so miraculously gifted that he became very powerful.

¹⁶ Pride and Punishment. However, when Uzziah continued to grow ever stronger, he also was afflicted with pride, and that led to his destruction. For he proved unfaithful to the Lord his God by entering the temple of the Lord to make an offering on the altar of incense. ¹⁷ Then the priest Azariah and eighty priests of the Lord who were courageous men followed him.

¹⁸ The priests confronted King Uzziah and said to him: “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to make offerings. Leave the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and you will no longer share in the glory that comes from the Lord God.” ¹⁹ Uzziah had a censer in his hand to burn the incense, but while he showed his intense anger to 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 When the chief priest, Azariah, and all the other priests looked at Uzziah carefully and saw that his forehead was leprous, they quickly removed him from the temple; and he himself was equally anxious to leave because the Lord had afflicted him. ²¹ King Uzziah remained a leper until the day of his death, and because he was thus afflicted, he dwelt while confined in a separate house, since he was excluded from the house of the Lord. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace of the king, and he governed the people of the land.

²² The rest of the history of Uzziah, from first to last, was written by the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz. ²³ Uzziah rested with his ancestors and was buried with them, but in the field adjoining the royal tombs, for they said: “He is a leper.” His son Jotham succeeded him as king.