The Reign of Amaziah

251 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years; his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but his heart was not completely true to the Lord. 3 Now when he became strong in the kingdom, he put to death those men who had taken the life of the king his father. 4 But he did not put their children to death, for he kept the orders of the Lord recorded in the book of the law of Moses, saying, The fathers are not to be put to death for their children or the children for their fathers, but a man is to be put to death for the sin which he himself has done. 5 Then Amaziah got all Judah together and put them in order by their families, even all Judah and Benjamin, under captains of thousands and captains of hundreds: and he had those of twenty years old and over numbered, and they came to three hundred thousand of the best fighting-men, trained for war and in the use of the spear and the body-cover. 6 And for a hundred talents of silver, he got a hundred thousand fighting-men from Israel. 7 But a man of God came to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with you; for the Lord is not with Israel, that is, the children of Ephraim. 8 But go yourself, and be strong in war; God will not let you go down before those who are fighting against you; for God has power to give help or to send you down before your attackers. 9 Then Amaziah said to the man of God, But what is to be done about the hundred talents which I have given for the armed band of Israel? And the man of God in answer said, God is able to give you much more than this. 10 So Amaziah, separating the armed band which had come to him from Ephraim, sent them back again; which made them very angry with Judah, and they went back burning with wrath. 11 Then Amaziah took heart, and went out at the head of his people and came to the Valley of Salt, where he put to death ten thousand of the children of Seir; 12 And ten thousand more the children of Israel took living, and made them go up to the top of the rock, pushing them down from the top of the rock so that their bodies were broken by the fall. 13 But the men of the band which Amaziah sent back and did not take with him to the fight, made attacks on the towns of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon, putting to death three thousand of their people and taking away a great store of their goods.

14 Now when Amaziah came back from the destruction of the Edomites, he took the gods of the children of Seir and made them his gods, worshipping them and burning offerings before them. 15 And so the wrath of the Lord was moved against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, Why have you gone after the gods of the people who have not given their people salvation from your hands? 16 But while he was talking to him the king said to him, Have we made you one of the king's government? say no more, or it will be the cause of your death. Then the prophet gave up protesting, and said, It is clear to me that God's purpose is your destruction, because you have done this and have not given ear to my words.

17 Then Amaziah, king of Judah, acting on the suggestion of his servants, sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us have a meeting face to face. 18 And Joash, king of Israel, sent to Amaziah, king of Judah, saying, The thorn-tree in Lebanon sent to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son for a wife: and a beast from the woodland in Lebanon went by, crushing the thorn under his feet. 19 You say, See, I have overcome Edom; and your heart is lifted up with pride: now keep in your country; why do you make causes of trouble, putting yourself, and Judah with you, in danger of downfall? 20 But Amaziah gave no attention; and this was the purpose of God, so that he might give them up into the hands of Joash, because they had gone after the gods of Edom. 21 And so Joash, king of Israel, went up; and he and Amaziah, king of Judah, came face to face at Beth-shemesh in Judah. 22 And Judah was overcome before Israel, and they went in flight, every man to his tent. 23 And Joash, king of Israel, made Amaziah, king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, prisoner at Beth-shemesh, and took him to Jerusalem; and he had the wall of Jerusalem pulled down from the doorway of Ephraim to the doorway in the angle, four hundred cubits. 24 And he took all the gold and silver and all the vessels which were in the house of the Lord, under the care of Obed-edom, and all the wealth from the king's house, as well as those whose lives would be the price of broken faith, and went back to Samaria. 25 Amaziah, son of Joash, king of Judah, went on living for fifteen years after the death of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 26 Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, are they not recorded in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel? 27 Now from the time when Amaziah gave up worshipping the Lord, they made secret designs against him in Jerusalem; and he went in flight to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish after him and put him to death there. 28 And they took his body on horseback and put it into the earth with his fathers in the town of David.

The Reign of Uzziah

261 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 2 He was the builder of Eloth, which he got back for Judah after the death of the king. 3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for fifty-two years; his mother's name was Jechiliah of Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He gave himself to searching after God in the days of Zechariah, who made men wise in the fear of God; and as long as he was true to the Lord, God made things go well for him. 6 He went out and made war against the Philistines, pulling down the walls of Gath and Jabneh and Ashdod, and building towns in the country round Ashdod and among the Philistines. 7 And God gave him help against the Philistines, and against the Arabians living in Gur-baal, and against the Meunim. 8 The Ammonites gave offerings to Uzziah: and news of him went out as far as the limit of Egypt; for he became very great in power. 9 Uzziah made towers in Jerusalem, at the doorway in the angle and at the doorway in the valley and at the turn of the wall, arming them. 10 And he put up towers in the waste land and made places for storing water, for he had much cattle, in the low hills and in the table land; and he had farmers and vine-keepers in the mountains and in the fertile land, for he was a lover of farming. 11 In addition, Uzziah had an army of fighting-men who went out to war in bands, as they had been listed by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the authority of Hananiah, one of the king's captains. 12 The heads of families, the strong men of war, were two thousand, six hundred. 13 And under their orders was a trained army of three hundred and seven thousand, five hundred, of great strength in war, helping the king against any who came against him. 14 And Uzziah had all these forces armed with body-covers and spears and head-covers and coats of metal and bows and stones for sending from leather bands. 15 And in Jerusalem he made machines, the invention of expert men, to be placed on the towers and angles of the walls for sending arrows and great stones. And his name was honoured far and wide; for he was greatly helped till he was strong.

16 But when he had become strong, his heart was lifted up in pride, causing his destruction; and he did evil against the Lord his God; for he went into the Temple of the Lord for the purpose of burning perfumes on the altar of perfumes. 17 And Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty of the Lord's priests, who were strong men; 18 And they made protests to Uzziah the king, and said to him, The burning of perfumes, Uzziah, is not your business but that of the priests, the sons of Aaron, who have been made holy for this work: go out of the holy place, for you have done wrong, and it will not be to your honour before God. 19 Then Uzziah was angry; and he had in his hand a vessel for burning perfume; and while his wrath was bitter against the priests, the mark of the leper's disease came out on his brow, before the eyes of the priests in the house of the Lord by the altar of perfumes. 20 And Azariah, the chief priest, and all the priests, looking at him, saw the mark of the leper on his brow, and they sent him out quickly and he himself went out straight away, for the Lord's punishment had come on him. 21 So King Uzziah was a leper till the day of his death, living separately in his private house; for he was cut off from the house of God; and Jotham his son was ruling over his house, judging the people of the land. 22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, were recorded by Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 23 So Uzziah went to rest with his fathers; and they put his body into the earth in the field used for the resting-place of the kings, for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son became king in his place.

The Reign of Jotham

271 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king; and he was ruling in Jerusalem for sixteen years; and his mother's name was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Uzziah had done; but he did not go into the Temple of the Lord. And the people still went on in their evil ways. 3 He put up the higher doorway of the house of the Lord, and did much building on the wall of the Ophel. 4 In addition, he made towns in the hill-country of Judah, and strong buildings and towers in the woodlands. 5 He went to war with the king of the children of Ammon and overcame them. That year, the children of Ammon gave him a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of grain and ten thousand measures of barley. And the children of Ammon gave him the same amount the second year and the third. 6 So Jotham became strong, because in all his ways he made the Lord his guide. 7 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. 8 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for sixteen years. 9 And Jotham went to rest with his fathers, and they put his body into the earth in the town of David; and Ahaz his son became king in his place.