Chronological

Azariah Rules Judah

15 In the twenty-seventh year of King Jeroboam of Israel, Azariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to rule. ² Azariah was sixteen years old when he became king. And he ruled for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. ³ Azariah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁴ But the high places were not taken away. The people still gave gifts and burned special perfume on the high places. ⁵ So the Lord sent trouble upon the king. Azariah had a bad skin disease to the day of his death, and he lived in a house alone. Jotham the king’s son ruled over the house, and judged the people of the land. ⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Azariah are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. ⁷ Azariah died and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. His son Jotham became king in his place.

Zechariah Rules Israel

⁸ In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam became the king of Israel in Samaria for six months. ⁹ Zechariah did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord, as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel sin. ¹⁰ Then Shallum the son of Jabesh made plans against him and killed him in front of the people. And Shallum ruled in his place. ¹¹ The rest of the acts of Zechariah are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹² This is the word of the Lord which He spoke to Jehu. He said, “Your sons, even your great great-grandson, will sit on the throne of Israel.” And so it was.

Shallum Rules Israel

¹³ Shallum the son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah. He ruled for one month in Samaria. ¹⁴ Then Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to Samaria, and killed Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and became king in his place. ¹⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Shallum and the plans he made are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁶ Then Menahem destroyed Tiphsah and all who were in it, and its land from Tirzah, because they did not open their gates to him. So he destroyed it, and tore open all its women who were going to have babies.

Menahem Rules Israel

¹⁷ In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi became the king of Israel. He ruled for ten years in Samaria. ¹⁸ Menahem did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. All his life he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel sin.

¹⁹ King Pul of Assyria came to fight against the land. And Menahem gave Pul silver weighing as much as 1,000 men, that he might help him to be a powerful king. ²⁰ Menahem took the money from all the rich men of Israel. He took fifty pieces of silver from each man to pay the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria returned and did not stay there in the land. ²¹ Now the rest of the acts of Menahem are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ²² Menahem died, and his son Pekahiah became king in his place.

Pekahiah Rules Israel

²³ In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem became the king of Israel in Samaria. He ruled for two years. ²⁴ Pekahiah did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel sin. ²⁵ Then his captain Pekah the son of Remaliah made plans against him. He killed Pekahiah in Samaria, in the house of the king with Argob and Arieh. Fifty men of the Gileadites were with Pekah. He became king in his place. ²⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Pekah Rules Israel

²⁷ In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah became the king of Israel in Samaria. He ruled for twenty years. ²⁸ Pekah did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel sin.

²⁹ In the days of King Pekah of Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came to fight. The king of Assyria took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali. And he made the people go with him to Assyria. ³⁰ Hoshea the son of Elah made plans against Pekah the son of Remaliah. He killed Pekah and became king in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. ³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Pekah are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Jotham Rules Judah

³² In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to rule. ³³ Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king. He ruled for sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. ³⁴ Jotham did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He did all that his father Uzziah had done. ³⁵ But the high places were not taken away. The people still gave gifts and burned special perfume on the high places. Jotham built the upper gate of the house of the Lord. ³⁶ The rest of the acts of Jotham are 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 Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah. ³⁸ Jotham died, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father. His son Ahaz became king in his place.

Uzziah Rules Judah

26 Then all the people took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah. ² He built Eloth and returned it to Judah after the king died. ³ Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king. And he ruled fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jechiliah of Jerusalem. ⁴ Uzziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He did all that his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ He kept on looking to God in the days of Zechariah, who had special wisdom from God and taught him in the things of God. And as long as he looked to the Lord, God made things go well for him.

⁶ Uzziah went out and made war against the Philistines. He broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod. And he built cities in the land of Ashdod and among the Philistines. ⁷ God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who lived in Gur-baal, and against the Meunites. ⁸ The Ammonites paid taxes to Uzziah. And his name was known as far as the land of Egypt, for he became very strong. ⁹ Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the place where the walls joined. And he made them strong. ¹⁰ He built towers in the desert and dug many wells. For he had many animals, both in the valley and in the plain. He also had farmers and vine-keepers in the hill country and in the good growing fields, for he loved farming. ¹¹ And Uzziah had an army ready for battle. It was divided by the number of names written down by Jeiel the writer and Maaseiah the captain, led by Hananiah, one of the king’s leaders. ¹² The whole number of the leaders of the family groups of powerful soldiers was 2,600. ¹³ Under their leading was an army of 307,500, who could fight with great power, to help the king against those who hated them. ¹⁴ Uzziah had battle-coverings, spears, head-coverings, strong battle-clothes, bows, and slings using arrows and large stones made for all the army. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem he made large objects of war, planned by able men, to be on the towers and the corners. They were for shooting arrows and big stones. So Uzziah’s name became known in far away places. For he was helped by God in a very special way until he was strong.

Uzziah Is Punished because of His Pride

¹⁶ But when he became strong, Uzziah’s heart was so proud that his actions were sinful. He was not faithful to the Lord his God, for he went into the Lord’s house to burn special perfume on the altar of special perfume. ¹⁷ Then Azariah the religious leader went in after him, with eighty religious leaders of the Lord who were men strong in heart. ¹⁸ They went against King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn special perfume to the Lord. It should be done by the religious leaders, the sons of Aaron, who are set apart to burn special perfume. Get out of the holy place, for you have not been faithful. You will have no honor from the Lord God.” ¹⁹ Then Uzziah was angry, and he had a dish in his hand for burning special perfume. While he was angry with the religious leaders, a bad skin disease broke out on his forehead in front of the religious leaders in the Lord’s house, beside the altar of special perfume. ²⁰ Azariah the head religious leader and all the religious leaders looked at him and saw that he had a bad skin disease on his forehead. So they were quick to get him out of there, and he himself left in a hurry because the Lord had punished him. ²¹ King Uzziah had the bad skin disease to the day of his death. He lived in a separate house, suffering with the skin disease, for he was cut off from the house of the Lord. And his son Jotham was over the king’s house, ruling the people of the land. ²² Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first to last, were written by the man of God Isaiah, the son of Amoz. ²³ Uzziah died, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the grave which belonged to the kings. For they said, “He has a bad skin disease.” And Jotham his son became king in his place.