Chapter 26

¹ Then all the people of the land took Uzziah, and he was sixteen years old, and they made him king in the room of his father Amaziah. ² He built Eloth, he recovered it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers.

2Chr 26:1-2

³ Uzziah began to reign at the age of sixteen years, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. ⁴ And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Amaziah his father did. ⁵ And he sought the Lord in the days of Zechariah, who understood the fear of the Lord; and in his days he sought the Lord, and the Lord prospered him.

2Chr 26:3-5

⁶ And he went out and fought against the Philistines, and pulled down the walls of Gath, and the walls of Jabneh, and the walls of Ashdod, and he built cities [near] Ashdod, and among the Philistines. ⁷ And the Lord strengthened him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt on the rock, and against the Meunites. ⁸ And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah; and his fame spread as far as the entering in of Egypt, for he strengthened [himself] exceedingly.

2Chr 26:6-8

⁹ And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem, both at the gate of the corner and at the valley gate, and at the corners, and he fortified them. ¹⁰ And he built towers in the wilderness, and dug many wells, for he had many cattle in the low country and in the plain; and vinedressers in the mountain country and in Carmel: for he was a husbandman. ¹¹ And Uzziah had a host of warriors, and that went out orderly to war, and returned orderly in number; and their number was [made] by the hand of Jeiel the scribe, and Maaseiah the judge, by the hand of Ananias the king’s deputy. ¹² The whole number of the chiefs of families of the mighty men of war [was] two thousand six hundred; ¹³ and with them was a warrior force, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred: these waged war mightily to help the king against [his] enemies. ¹⁴ And Uzziah prepared for them, [even] for all the host, shields, and spears, and helmets, and breastplates, and bows, and slings for stones. ¹⁵ And he made in Jerusalem machines invented by a wise contriver, to be upon the towers and upon the corners, to cast darts and great stones: and [the fame] of their preparation was heard at a distance; for he was wonderfully helped, till he was strong.

2Chr 26:9-15

¹⁶ And when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction; and he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷ And there went in after him Azariah the priest, and with him eighty priests of the Lord, mighty men. ¹⁸ And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said to him, [It is] not for thee, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but only for the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to sacrifice: go forth of the sanctuary, for thou hast departed from the Lord; and this shall not be for glory to thee from the Lord God.

2Chr 26:16-18

¹⁹ And Uzziah was angry, and in his hand [was] the censer to burn incense in the temple: and when he was angry with the priests, then the leprosy rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, over the altar of incense. ²⁰ And Azariah the chief priest, and the [other] priests, turned [to look] at him, and, behold, he [was] leprous in his forehead; and they got him hastily out thence, for he also hastened to go out, because the Lord had rebuked him. ²¹ And Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death, and he dwelt [as] a leper in a separate house; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord: and Jotham his son [was set] over his kingdom, judging the people of the land.

2Chr 26:19-21

²² And the rest of the acts of Uzziah, the first and the last, [are] written by Isaiah the prophet. 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 is a leper; and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

2Chr 26:22-23