Uzziah Reigns in Judah
1 And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.
2
He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers.
3
Uzziah was
1sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.
4
And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.
5
He set himself to seek God
2in the days of Zechariah,
3who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper.
6
He went out and
4made war against the Philistines and broke through the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines.
7
God helped him
5against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gurbaal and against the
6Meunites.
8
The Ammonites
7paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong.
9
Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at
8the Corner Gate and at
9the Valley Gate and at
10the Angle, and fortified them.
10
And he built towers in the wilderness and
11cut out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.
11
Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king's commanders.
12
The whole number of the heads of fathers' houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600.
13
Under their command was an army of
12 307,500, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.
14
And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets,
13coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging.
15
In Jerusalem he made engines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.