Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

26 Meanwhile, all the people of Y’hudah had taken ‘Uziyahu at the age of sixteen and made him king in place of his father Amatzyahu. ² He recovered Eilot for Y’hudah and rebuilt it; it was after this that the king [Amatzyahu] slept with his ancestors.

³ ‘Uziyahu was sixteen years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for fifty-two years in Yerushalayim. His mother’s name was Y’kholyahu, from Yerushalayim. ⁴ He did what was right from Adonai’s perspective, following the example of everything his father Amatzyahu had done. ⁵ He consulted God during the lifetime of Z’kharyahu, who understood visions of God; and as long as he consulted Adonai, God gave him success.

⁶ He went out to fight the P’lishtim, breaking down the walls of Gat, Yavneh and Ashdod; and he built cities in the area of Ashdod and among the P’lishtim. ⁷ God helped him against the P’lishtim, against the Arabs living in Gur-Ba‘al, and against the Me‘unim. ⁸ The ‘Amonim brought tribute to ‘Uziyahu, and his fame spread abroad as far as the Egyptian frontier, since he kept growing stronger.

⁹ ‘Uziyahu built towers in Yerushalayim at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them. ¹⁰ He built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns, because he had much livestock, likewise in the Sh’felah and the coastal plain. He had farmers and vineyard-workers in the hills and in the fertile lands, because he loved the soil.

¹¹ ‘Uziyahu had a standing army of fit soldiers divided into units according to the census taken by the secretary Ye‘i’el and the officer Ma‘aseiyah, under the direction of Hananyah, one of the king’s officials. ¹² The total number of clan heads over these strong, brave men was 2,600. ¹³ They directed a trained army of 307,500 fighting men, a strong force supporting the king in war against the enemy. ¹⁴ ‘Uziyahu equipped them, the whole army, with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows and slingstones.

¹⁵ In Yerushalayim he built devices designed by experts for the towers and angles, from which to shoot arrows and lob large stones. His fame spread far and wide, for he was miraculously helped, until he became strong.

¹⁶ But when he was strong, he became arrogant, which caused him to become corrupt, so that he sinned against Adonai his God by going into the temple of Adonai to burn incense on the incense altar. ¹⁷ ‘Azaryahu the cohen went in after him, and with him were eighty of Adonai’s cohanim, brave men. ¹⁸ They stood up to ‘Uziyahu the king; they told him, “It isn’t your job, ‘Uziyahu, to burn incense to Adonai! The job of burning incense belongs to the cohanim, the descendants of Aharon, who have been consecrated. Get out of the sanctuary! You have trespassed, and Adonai, God, will not honor you for this.” ¹⁹ This made ‘Uziyahu angry as he stood there with a censer in his hand ready to burn incense; and in his anger at the cohanim, tzara‘at broke out on his forehead right in front of the cohanim in the house of Adonai beside the altar for incense. ²⁰ ‘Azaryahu the chief cohen and all the cohanim stared at him — there he was, with tzara‘at on his forehead! Quickly they threw him out of there; and indeed, he himself hurried to get out, because Adonai had struck him. ²¹ ‘Uziyahu the king had tzara‘at until his dying day; he lived in a separate house because he had tzara‘at, and was not allowed into the house of Adonai. Meanwhile, Yotam the king’s son ran the king’s household and was regent over the people of the land.

3 One afternoon at three o’clock, the hour of minchah prayers, as Kefa and Yochanan were going up to the Temple, ² a man crippled since birth was being carried in. Every day people used to put him at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, so that he could beg from those going into the Temple court. ³ When he saw Kefa and Yochanan about to enter, he asked them for some money. ⁴ But they stared straight at him; and Kefa said, “Look at us!” ⁵ The crippled man fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶ Kefa said, “I don’t have silver, and I don’t have gold, but what I do have I give to you: in the name of the Messiah, Yeshua of Natzeret, walk!” ⁷ And taking hold of him by his right hand, Kefa pulled him up. Instantly his feet and ankles became strong; ⁸ so that he sprang up, stood a moment, and began walking. Then he entered the Temple court with them, walking and leaping and praising God! ⁹ Everyone saw him walking and praising God. ¹⁰ They recognized him as the same man who had formerly sat begging at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and they were utterly amazed and confounded at what had happened to him.