2 Kings 15; 2 Chronicles 26

1 In Jeroboam's twenty-seventh year as king of Israel, Amaziah's son Azariah began to rule as king of Judah.

2 He was 16 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem.

3 He did what the LORD considered right, as his father Amaziah had done.

4 But the illegal places of worship were still not torn down. The people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense at these worship sites.

5 The LORD inflicted the king with a skin disease that lasted until the day the king died. So the king lived in a separate house. The king's son Jotham was in charge of the palace and governed the country.

6 Isn't everything else about Azariah--everything he did--written in the official records of the kings of Judah?

7 Azariah lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. His son Jotham succeeded him as king.

8 In Azariah's thirty-eighth year as king of Judah, Jeroboam's son Zechariah was king of Israel in Samaria for six months.

9 He did what the LORD considered evil, as his ancestors had done. He didn't turn away from the sins that Jeroboam (Nebat's son) led Israel to commit.

10 Shallum, son of Jabesh, plotted against Zechariah, attacked him at Kabal Am, killed him, and succeeded him as king.

11 Everything else about Zechariah is written in the official records of the kings of Israel.

12 It happened exactly as the LORD had told Jehu: "Four generations of your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel."

13 Shallum, son of Jabesh, became king in Azariah's thirty-ninth year as king of Judah. Shallum ruled for an entire month in Samaria.

14 Then Menahem, son of Gadi, came from Tirzah to Samaria, attacked Shallum (son of Jabesh), killed him, and succeeded him as king.

15 Everything else about Shallum--all about his conspiracy--is written in the official records of the kings of Israel.

16 Then Menahem attacked Tiphsah, everyone there, and its territory. Because the city didn't open its gates for him, he attacked it and ripped open all its pregnant women.

17 In Azariah's thirty-ninth year as king of Judah, Menahem, son of Gadi, began to rule as king of Israel. He ruled for 10 years in Samaria.

18 He did what the LORD considered evil. During his entire life he never turned away from the sins that Jeroboam (Nebat's son) led Israel to commit.

19 King Pul of Assyria came to [attack] the country. So Menahem gave Pul 75,000 pounds of silver to gain his support and help strengthen his hold on the kingdom.

20 Menahem raised the money from all the wealthy men in Israel. Each gave 20 ounces of silver for the king of Assyria. Then the king of Assyria left the country.

21 Isn't everything else about Menahem--everything he did--written in the official records of the kings of Israel?

22 Menahem lay down in death with his ancestors, and his son Pekahiah succeeded him as king.

23 In Azariah's fiftieth year as king of Judah, Menahem's son Pekahiah began to rule. Pekahiah was king of Israel in Samaria for two years.

24 He did what the LORD considered evil. He didn't turn away from the sins that Jeroboam (Nebat's son) led Israel to commit.

25 His officer Pekah, son of Remaliah, plotted against him. With 50 men from Gilead, Pekah attacked Pekahiah, Argob, and Arieh in the fortress of the royal palace in Samaria. Pekah killed him and succeeded him as king.

26 Everything else about Pekahiah--everything he did--is written in the official records of the kings of Israel.

27 In Azariah's fifty-second year as king of Judah, Pekah, son of Remaliah, began to rule Israel in Samaria. He ruled for 20 years.

28 He did what the LORD considered evil. He did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam (Nebat's son) led Israel to commit.

29 In the days of King Pekah of Israel, King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria took Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee, and the entire territory of Naphtali. He also took the people away to Assyria as captives.

30 Hoshea, son of Elah, plotted against Pekah, son of Remaliah. Hoshea attacked him and killed him. Hoshea began to rule as king in his place in the twentieth year that Jotham, son of Azariah, was king of Judah.

31 Everything else about Pekah--everything he did--is written in the official records of the kings of Israel.

32 In the second year that King Pekah, son of Remaliah, ruled Israel, Jotham, son of Azariah, began to rule as king of Judah.

33 He was 25 years old when he began to rule. He ruled for 16 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jerusha, daughter of Zadok.

34 He did what the LORD considered right, as his father Azariah had done.

35 But the illegal places of worship were not torn down. The people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense at these worship sites. Jotham built the Upper Gate of the LORD's temple.

36 Isn't everything else about Jotham--everything he did--written in the official records of the kings of Judah?

37 In those days the LORD began to use King Rezin of Aram and Pekah, son of Remaliah, to attack Judah.

38 Jotham lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of his ancestor David. His son Ahaz succeeded him as king.

1 All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was 16 years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.

2 Uzziah rebuilt Elath and returned it to Judah after King Amaziah lay down in death with his ancestors.

3 Uzziah was 16 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem.

4 He did what the LORD considered right, as his father Amaziah had done.

5 He dedicated his life to serving God in the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. As long as he dedicated his life to serving the LORD, the LORD gave him success.

6 Uzziah went to wage war against the Philistines. He tore down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. He built cities near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines.

7 God helped him when he attacked the Philistines, the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal, and the Meunites.

8 The Ammonites paid taxes to Uzziah, and his fame spread to the border of Egypt because he became very powerful.

9 Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at Corner Wall, Valley Gate, and the Angle, and he reinforced them.

10 He built towers in the desert. He dug many cisterns because he had a lot of herds in the foothills and the plains. He had farmers and vineyard workers in the mountains and the fertile fields because he loved the soil.

11 Uzziah had an army of professional soldiers. They were ready to go to war in their companies based on the number organized by the scribe Jeiel and the officer Maaseiah. They were commanded by Hananiah, one of the king's officials.

12 The total number of family heads among these warriors was 2,600.

13 Under them was an army of 307,500 soldiers. They were a powerful force that could support the king against the enemy.

14 For the entire army Uzziah prepared shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and stones for slings.

15 In Jerusalem he made machines designed by inventive people. The machines were placed on the towers and corners to shoot arrows and hurl large stones. Uzziah's fame spread far and wide because he had strong support until he became powerful.

16 But when he became powerful, his pride destroyed him. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God. He went into the LORD's temple to burn incense on the incense altar.

17 The priest Azariah went in after him with 80 of the LORD's courageous priests.

18 They opposed King Uzziah. They said to him, "Uzziah, you have no right to burn incense as an offering to the LORD. That right belongs to the priests, Aaron's descendants, who have been given the holy task of burning incense. Get out of the holy place because you have been unfaithful. The LORD God will not honor you for this."

19 Uzziah, who held an incense burner in his hand, became angry. While he was angry with the priests, a skin disease broke out on his forehead. This happened in front of the priests in the LORD's temple as Uzziah was at the incense altar.

20 When the chief priest Azariah and all the priests turned toward him, a skin disease was on his forehead. They rushed him away. Uzziah was in a hurry to get out because the LORD had inflicted him [with the disease].

21 King Uzziah had a skin disease until the day he died. Since he had a skin disease, he lived in a separate house and was barred from the LORD's temple. His son Jotham was in charge of the royal palace and governed the country.

22 Everything else about Uzziah, from beginning to end, is recorded by the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz.

23 Uzziah lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried with them in a field containing tombs that belonged to the kings. People said, "He had a skin disease." His son Jotham succeeded him as king.