26:1 Now all the people of Judah took ①Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.
▷ ①In 2 Kin 14:21, Azariah
26:2 He built Eloth and restored it to Judah after the king ①lay down with his fathers.
▷ ①I.e., died
26:3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ①Jechiliah of Jerusalem.
▷ ①In 2 Kin 15:2, Jecoliah
26:4 He did what was right in the sight of the LORD, in accordance with everything that his father Amaziah had done.
26:5 He continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding ①through the vision of God; and ②as long as he sought the LORD, God made him successful.
▷ ①Many mss in the fear of God ②Lit in the days of his seeking
26:6 Now he went out and fought against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in the area of Ashdod and among the Philistines.
26:7 God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who lived in Gur-baal, and the Meunites.
26:8 The Ammonites gave tribute to Uzziah, and his ①fame extended to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong.
▷ ①Lit name went to the entering of Egypt
26:9 Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and at the corner buttress, and he fortified them.
26:10 He also built towers in the wilderness and carved out many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the ①lowland and in the plain. He also had plowmen and vinedressers in the hill country and the fertile fields, for he loved the soil.
▷ ①Heb shephelah
26:11 Moreover, Uzziah had an army ready for battle, which ①entered combat by divisions according to the number of their muster, ②recorded by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the official, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s officers.
▷ ①Lit was going out to ②Lit by the hand of
26:12 The total number of the heads of the ①households, of valiant warriors, was 2,600.
▷ ①Lit fathers
26:13 Under their direction was an army of 307,500, who could wage war with great power, to help the king against the enemy.
26:14 Moreover, Uzziah prepared ①for all the army shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows, and slingstones.
▷ ①Lit for them, for all
26:15 In Jerusalem he made machines of war invented by skillful workmen to be on the towers and the corners, for the purpose of shooting arrows and great stones. So his ①fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped until he was strong.
▷ ①Lit name
26:16 But when he became strong, his heart was so ①proud that he acted corruptly, and he was untrue to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.
▷ ①Lit high
26:17 Then Azariah the priest entered after him, and with him eighty priests of the LORD, valiant men.
26:18 They opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been untrue and will have no honor from the LORD God.”
26:19 But Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the altar of incense.
26:20 Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they quickly removed him from there, and he himself also hurried to get out because the LORD had stricken him.
26:21 King Uzziah had leprosy to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house, afflicted as he was with leprosy, for he was cut off from the house of the LORD. And his son Jotham was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.
26:22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, the first to the last, the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, has written.
26:23 So Uzziah ①lay down with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the grave which belonged to the kings, for they said, “He had leprosy.” And his son Jotham became king in his place.
▷ ①I.e., died