2 Chronicles 26

¹And all the people of Judah took Uzziʹah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziʹah. ²He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers. ³Uzziʹah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliʹah of Jerusalem. ⁴And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziʹah had done. ⁵He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariʹah, who instructed him in the fear of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.

⁶He went out and made war against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. ⁷God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabs that dwelt in Gurbaʹal, and against the Me-uʹnites. ⁸The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziʹah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. ⁹Moreover Uzziʹah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them. ¹⁰And he built towers in the wilderness, and hewed out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shepheʹlah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. ¹¹Moreover Uzziʹah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Je-iʹel the secretary and Ma-aseiʹah the officer, under the direction of Hananiʹah, one of the king’s commanders. ¹²The whole number of the heads of fathers’ houses of mighty men of valor was two thousand six hundred. ¹³Under their command was an army of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. ¹⁴And Uzziʹah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. ¹⁵In Jerusalem he made engines, invented by skilful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.

¹⁶But when he was strong he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was false to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷But Azariʹah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor; ¹⁸and they withstood King Uzziʹah, and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziʹah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary; for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.” ¹⁹Then Uzziʹah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with 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. ²⁰And Azariʹah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they thrust him out quickly, and he himself hastened to go out, because the Lord had smitten him. ²¹And King Uzziʹah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper dwelt in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king’s household, governing the people of the land.

²²Now the rest of the acts of Uzziʹah, from first to last, Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote. ²³And Uzziʹah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field which belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” And Jotham his son reigned in his stead.