2 Chronicles 26

1 And all the people of the land took Uzziah — he was sixteen years old — and they made him king in place of his father Amaziah. [a] 2 He was the one who built Elath and brought it back to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers. [b] 3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Chalia, from Jerusalem. [c]

4 And he did what was right before the Lord, according to all that Amaziah his father did. 5 And he sought the Lord in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the fear of the Lord; and in his days he sought the Lord, and the Lord prospered him. [d]

6 And he went out and made war on the Philistines, and pulled down the walls of Gath, and the walls of Jabneh, and the walls of Ashdod; and he built cities of Ashdod and among the Philistines. [e] 7 And the Lord made him strong against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who live on the rock, and against the Minaeans. [f] 8 And the Minaeans gave gifts to Uzziah, and his name went as far as the entrance to Egypt, for he grew strong to the utmost. [g]

9 And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem — at the gate of the corner, and at the gate of the valley, and at the corners — and he grew strong. 10 And he built towers in the wilderness and cut out many cisterns, for he had many cattle in the lowland and in the plain, and vinedressers in the hill country and in Carmel; for he loved working the land. [h]

11 And Uzziah had an army that made war, going out to the battle line by number; and their number was taken by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maasiah the judge, by the hand of Hananiah, the king’s deputy. [i] 12 The whole number of the heads of families among the mighty men of war was 2,600, 13 and with them was a fighting force of 307,500. These made war with mighty strength, to help the king against his enemies.

14 And Uzziah made ready for them, for the whole army, shields and spears and helmets and breastplates and bows and slings for stones. 15 And he made machines in Jerusalem, designed by a skilled planner, to stand on the towers and on the corners and to shoot arrows and great stones. And the making of them was heard of far away, for he was helped in a wonderful way, until he grew strong. [j]

16 And when he grew strong, his heart was lifted up, to his own ruin; and he did wrong against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him eighty priests of the Lord, mighty men.

18 And they stood against Uzziah the king and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who have been made holy to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have turned away from the Lord, and this will not be for glory to you from the Lord God.” 19 And Uzziah was angry — and in his hand was the censer, to burn incense in the temple — and while he was angry at the priests, the leprosy rose up on his forehead, in front of the priests, in the house of the Lord, above the altar of incense. [k]

20 And the first priest and the priests turned toward him, and there he was, leprous on his forehead. And they hurried him out of there, and he himself hurried to get out, because the Lord had rebuked him. [l] 21 And Uzziah the king had leprosy until the day of his death, and he lived in a house set apart, a man with leprosy, because he was separated from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over his kingdom, judging the people of the land. [m]

22 And the rest of the acts of Uzziah, the first and the last, were written by Jessias the prophet. [n] 23 And Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the burial place of the kings, for they said, “He has leprosy.” And Jotham his son reigned in his place. [o]