151 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah became king in Judah. 2 He was sixteen years old when he began his rule and he was king for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah. She was from Jerusalem. 3 He did well in the eyes of God, following in the footsteps of his father Amaziah. 4 But he also failed to get rid of the local sex-and-religion shrines; they continued to be popular with the people. 5 God afflicted the king with a bad skin disease until the day of his death. He lived in the palace but no longer acted as king; his son Jotham ran the government and ruled the country. 6 The rest of the life and times of Azariah, everything he accomplished, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. 7 Azariah died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Jotham his son was king after him.
8 In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in Samaria. He lasted only six months. 9 He lived a bad life before God, no different from his ancestors. He continued in the line of Jeroboam son of Nebat who led Israel into a life of sin. 10 Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against him, assassinated him in public view, and took over as king. 11 The rest of the life and times of Zechariah is written plainly in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 12 That completed the word of God that was given to Jehu, namely, "For four generations your sons will sit on the throne of Israel." Zechariah was the fourth.
13 Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah. He was king in Samaria for only a month. 14 Menahem son of Gadi came up from Tirzah to Samaria. He attacked Shallum son of Jabesh and killed him. He then became king. 15 The rest of the life and times of Shallum and the account of the conspiracy are written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 16 Using Tirzah as his base, Menahem opened his reign by smashing Tiphsah, devastating both the town and its suburbs because they didn't welcome him with open arms. He savagely ripped open all the pregnant women.
17 In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king over Israel. He ruled from Samaria for ten years. 18 As far as God was concerned he lived an evil life. Sin for sin, he repeated the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into a life of sin. 19 Then Tiglath-Pileser III king of Assyria showed up and attacked the country. But Menahem made a deal with him: He bought his support by handing over about thirty-seven tons of silver. 20 He raised the money by making every landowner in Israel pay fifty shekels to the king of Assyria. That satisfied the king of Assyria, and he left the country. 21 The rest of the life and times of Menahem, everything he did, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 22 Menahem died and joined his ancestors. His son Pekahiah became the next king.
23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel. He ruled in Samaria for two years. 24 In God's eyes he lived an evil life. He stuck to the old sin tracks of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into a life of sin. 25 And then his military aide Pekah son of Remaliah conspired against him - killed him in cold blood while he was in his private quarters in the royal palace in Samaria. He also killed Argob and Arieh. Fifty Gadites were in on the conspiracy with him. After the murder he became the next king. 26 The rest of the life and times of Pekahiah, everything he did, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
27 In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel in Samaria. He ruled for twenty years. 28 In God's view he lived an evil life; he didn't deviate so much as a hair's breadth from the path laid down by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into a life of sin. 29 During the reign of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser III king of Assyria invaded the country. He captured Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee - the whole country of Naphtali - and took everyone captive to Assyria. 30 But then Hoshea son of Elah mounted a conspiracy against Pekah son of Remaliah. He assassinated him and took over as king. This was in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah. 31 The rest of the life and times of Pekah, everything he did, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
32 In the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah became king in Judah. 33 He was twenty-five years old when he became king and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. 34 He acted well in God's eyes, following in the steps of his father Uzziah. 35 But he didn't interfere with the traffic to the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines; they continued, as popular as ever. The construction of the High Gate to The Temple of God was his work. 36 The rest of the life and times of Jotham, the record of his work, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. 37 It was during these years that God began sending Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah to attack Judah. 38 Jotham died and joined his ancestors. They buried him in the family cemetery in the City of David. His son Ahaz was the next king.
261 The people of Judah then took Uzziah, who was only sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 2 The first thing he did after his father was dead and buried was to recover Elath for Judah and rebuild it. 3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king and reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. 4 He behaved well in the eyes of God, following in the footsteps of his father Amaziah. 5 He was a loyal seeker of God. He was well trained by his pastor and teacher Zechariah to live in reverent obedience before God, and for as long as Zechariah lived, Uzziah lived a godly life. And God prospered him. 6 He ventured out and fought the Philistines, breaking into the fortress cities of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. He also built settlements around Ashdod and other Philistine areas. 7 God helped him in his wars with the Philistines, the Arabs in Gur Baal, and the Meunites. 8 The Ammonites also paid tribute. Uzziah became famous, his reputation extending all the way to Egypt. He became quite powerful. 9 Uzziah constructed defense towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and at the corner of the wall. 10 He also built towers and dug cisterns out in the country. He had herds of cattle down in the foothills and out on the plains, had farmers and vinedressers at work in the hills and fields - he loved growing things. 11 On the military side, Uzziah had a well-prepared army ready to fight. They were organized by companies under the direction of Jeiel the secretary, Maaseiah the field captain, and Hananiah of the general staff. 12 The roster of family leaders over the fighting men accounted for 2,600. 13 Under them were reinforcement troops numbering 307,000, with 500 of them on constant alert - a strong royal defense against any attack. 14 Uzziah had them well-armed with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and slingshots. 15 He also installed the latest in military technology on the towers and corners of Jerusalem for shooting arrows and hurling stones. He became well known for all this - a famous king. Everything seemed to go his way.
16 But then the strength and success went to his head. Arrogant and proud, he fell. One day, contemptuous of God, he walked into The Temple of God like he owned it and took over, burning incense on the Incense Altar. 17 The priest Azariah, backed up by eighty brave priests of God, tried to prevent him. 18 They confronted Uzziah: "You must not, you cannot do this, Uzziah - only the Aaronite priests, especially consecrated for the work, are permitted to burn incense. Get out of God's Temple; you are unfaithful and a disgrace!" 19 But Uzziah, censer in hand, was already in the middle of doing it and angrily rebuffed the priests. He lost his temper; angry words were exchanged - and then, even as they quarreled, a skin disease appeared on his forehead. 20 As soon as they saw it, the chief priest Azariah and the other priests got him out of there as fast as they could. He hurried out - he knew that God then and there had given him the disease. 21 Uzziah had his skin disease for the rest of his life and had to live in quarantine; he was not permitted to set foot in The Temple of God. His son Jotham, who managed the royal palace, took over the government of the country. 22 The rest of the history of Uzziah, from start to finish, was written by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 23 When Uzziah died, they buried him with his ancestors in a field next to the royal cemetery. His skin disease disqualified him from burial in the royal cemetery. His son Jotham became the next king.
