Moff 2 CHR Chapter 26

◄ 2 CHR 26 ► ║ ═ ©

26 The people of Judah all took Uzziah, who was sixteen, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. 2 (It was he who rebuilt Eloth and restored it to Judah, after king Amaziah slept with his fathers.) 3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah of Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the eyes of the Eternal, exactly as his father Amaziah had done; 5 he steadily worshipped God during the lifetime of Zechariah, who gave instruction in religion, and as long as he worshipped the Eternal, God gave him success. 6 He sallied out to fight the Philistines, demolishing the walls of Gath and Jabneh and Ashdod, and building towns in the land of the Philistines; 7 God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabians who lived at Gurbaal, and against the Meunim; 8 the Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread far, as far as to Egypt, so powerful did he become.

9 Uzziah also built towers in Jerusalem over the Comer gate and the Gai gate and at the angles of the walls, making them strong posts, 10 He built peel-towers in the open country and dug many a reservoir, for he had large herds, both in the lowlands and on the tableland; he had also farmers and vinedressers on the hills and in the fruitful fields, for he was a lover of agriculture. 11 And Uzziah had an army of fighting men who served in detachments, according to the number of their levies as drawn up by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the comptroller, under Hananiah, one of the royal generals. 12 The total number of headmen, of the gallant leaders, was two thousand six hundred, 13 who were in command of a trained army of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred men, sturdy fighters on the side of the king against his enemies. 14 For these men, for the whole army, Uzziah provided shields, lances, helmets, cuirasses, and bows, with stones for the slingers. 15 On the towers and at the angles of the walls in Jerusalem he had machines placed, which a clever engineer had invented, for shooting arrows and for hurling large stones. His fame spread far, for he was wonderfully helped in attaining power.

16 But when he attained power, he became haughty, and that ruined him. He broke faith with the Eternal his God, by entering the temple of the Eternal in order to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 Azariah the priest followed him in, along with eighty brave priests of the Eternal, 18 who opposed king Uzziah, telling him, “It is not your business, Uzziah, to bum incense to the Eternal; it is the business of the priests, the sons of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary; you have committed a sin; this will only discredit you, before God the Eternal.” 19 Uzziah was furious. He was holding a censer to burn incense, and there, beside the altar of incense, as he raged at the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the temple of the Eternal! 20 Azariah the high-priest and all the priests were looking at him, and there he was with leprosy on his forehead! They pushed him quickly outside; indeed he hurried out, of his own accord, since the Eternal had struck him. 21 To the day of his death king Uzziah remained a leper, and as a leper he lived apart, excluded from the temple of the Eternal. His son Jotham managed the royal household, and ruled the nation. 22 The rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, were written by the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. 23 Uzziah slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers--but only in the burial-field belonging to the kings, for men said to themselves, “He was a leper.”

2 CHR C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36

Moff 2 CHR Chapter 26

Moff 2 CHR Chapter 26