26:1 All the people of Judah took Uzziah, ¹  who was sixteen years old, and made him king in his father Amaziah’s place. 26:2 Uzziah ²  built up Elat and restored it to Judah after King Amaziah ³  had passed away. ⁴ 

26:3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. ⁵  His mother’s name was Jecholiah, who was from Jerusalem. 26:4 He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁶  26:5 He followed ⁷  God during the lifetime of ⁸  Zechariah, who taught him how to honor God. As long as he followed ⁹  the Lord, God caused him to succeed. ¹⁰ 

26:6 Uzziah attacked ¹¹  the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. He built cities in the region of Ashdod and throughout Philistine territory. ¹²  26:7 God helped him in his campaigns ¹³  against the Philistines, the Arabs living in Gur Baal, and the Meunites. 26:8 The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah and his fame reached ¹⁴  the border of Egypt, for he grew in power.

26:9 Uzziah built and fortified towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, Valley Gate, and at the Angle. ¹⁵  26:10 He built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns, for he owned many herds in the lowlands ¹⁶  and on the plain. He had workers in the fields and vineyards in the hills and in Carmel, ¹⁷  for he loved agriculture. ¹⁸ 

26:11 Uzziah had an army of skilled warriors trained for battle. They were organized by divisions according to the muster rolls made by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer under the authority of Hananiah, a royal official. 26:12 The total number of family leaders who led warriors was 2,600. 26:13 They commanded an army of 307,500 skilled and able warriors who were ready to defend ¹⁹  the king against his enemies. 26:14 Uzziah supplied shields, spears, helmets, breastplates, bows, and slingstones for the entire army. 26:15 In Jerusalem he made war machines carefully designed to shoot arrows and large stones from the towers and corners of the walls. He became very famous, for he received tremendous support and became powerful. ²⁰ 

26:16 But once he became powerful, his pride destroyed him. ²¹  He disobeyed ²²  the Lord his God. He entered the Lord’s temple to offer incense on the incense altar. 26:17 Azariah the priest and eighty other brave priests of the Lord followed him in. 26:18 They confronted ²³  King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not proper for you, Uzziah, to offer incense to the Lord. That is the responsibility of the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to offer incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have disobeyed ²⁴  and the Lord God will not honor you!” 26:19 Uzziah, who had an incense censer in his hand, became angry. While he was ranting and raving ²⁵  at the priests, a skin disease ²⁶  appeared on his forehead right there in front of the priests in the Lord’s temple near the incense altar. 26:20 When Azariah the high priest and the other priests looked at ²⁷  him, there was a skin disease on his forehead. They hurried him out of there; even the king ²⁸  himself wanted to leave quickly because the Lord had afflicted him. 26:21 King Uzziah suffered from a skin disease until the day he died. He lived in separate quarters, ²⁹  afflicted by a skin disease and banned from the Lord’s temple. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land.

26:22 The rest of the events of Uzziah’s reign, from start to finish, were recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. ³⁰  26:23 Uzziah passed away ³¹  and was buried near his ancestors ³²  in a cemetery ³³  belonging to the kings. (This was because he had a skin disease.) ³⁴  His son Jotham replaced him as king.

27:1 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. ³⁵  His mother was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. 27:2 He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Uzziah had done. ³⁶  (He did not, however, have the audacity to enter the temple.) ³⁷  Yet the people were still sinning.

27:3 He built the Upper Gate to the Lord’s temple and did a lot of work on the wall in the area known as Ophel. ³⁸  27:4 He built cities in the hill country of Judah and fortresses and towers in the forests.

27:5 He launched a military campaign ³⁹  against the king of the Ammonites and defeated them. That year the Ammonites paid him 100 talents ⁴⁰  of silver, 10,000 kors ⁴¹  of wheat, and 10,000 kors ⁴²  of barley. The Ammonites also paid this same amount of annual tribute the next two years. ⁴³ 

27:6 Jotham grew powerful because he was determined to please the Lord his God. ⁴⁴  27:7 The rest of the events of Jotham’s reign, including all his military campaigns and his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah. ⁴⁵  27:8 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. 27:9 Jotham passed away ⁴⁶  and was buried in the City of David. ⁴⁷  His son Ahaz replaced him as king.

28:1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁴⁸  He did not do what pleased the Lord, in contrast to his ancestor David. ⁴⁹  28:2 He followed in the footsteps of ⁵⁰  the kings of Israel; he also made images of the Baals. 28:3 He offered sacrifices in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and passed his sons through the fire, ⁵¹  a horrible sin practiced by the nations ⁵²  whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. 28:4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

28:5 The Lord his God handed him over to the king of Syria. The Syrians ⁵³  defeated him and deported many captives to Damascus. ⁵⁴  He was also handed over to the king of Israel, who thoroughly defeated him. ⁵⁵  28:6 In one day King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel killed 120,000 warriors in Judah, because they had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors. ⁵⁶  28:7 Zikri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed the king’s son Maaseiah, Azrikam, the supervisor of the palace, and Elkanah, the king’s second-in-command. 28:8 The Israelites seized from their brothers 200,000 wives, sons, and daughters. They also carried off a huge amount of plunder and took it ⁵⁷  back to Samaria. ⁵⁸ 

28:9 Oded, a prophet of the Lord, was there. He went to meet the army as they arrived in Samaria and said to them: “Look, because the Lord God of your ancestors was angry with Judah he handed them over to you. You have killed them so mercilessly that God has taken notice. ⁵⁹  28:10 And now you are planning ⁶⁰  to enslave ⁶¹  the people ⁶²  of Judah and Jerusalem. Yet are you not also guilty before the Lord your God? 28:11 Now listen to me! Send back those you have seized from your brothers, for the Lord is very angry at you!” ⁶³  28:12 So some of ⁶⁴  the Ephraimite family leaders, Azariah son of Jehochanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jechizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai confronted ⁶⁵  those returning from the battle. 28:13 They said to them, “Don’t bring those captives here! Are you planning on making us even more sinful and guilty before the Lord? ⁶⁶  Our guilt is already great and the Lord is very angry at Israel.” ⁶⁷  28:14 So the soldiers released the captives and the plunder before the officials and the entire assembly. 28:15 Men were assigned to take the prisoners and find clothes among the plunder for those who were naked. ⁶⁸  So they clothed them, supplied them with sandals, gave them food and drink, and provided them with oil to rub on their skin. ⁶⁹  They put the ones who couldn’t walk on donkeys. ⁷⁰  They brought them back to their brothers at Jericho, ⁷¹  the city of the date palm trees, and then returned to Samaria.

28:16 At that time King Ahaz asked the king ⁷²  of Assyria for help. 28:17 The Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried off captives. 28:18 The Philistines had raided the cities of Judah in the lowlands ⁷³  and the Negev. They captured and settled in Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco and its surrounding villages, Timnah and its surrounding villages, and Gimzo and its surrounding villages. 28:19 The Lord humiliated ⁷⁴  Judah because of King Ahaz of Israel, ⁷⁵  for he encouraged Judah to sin and was very ⁷⁶  unfaithful to the Lord. 28:20 King Tiglath-pileser ⁷⁷  of Assyria came, but he gave him more trouble than support. ⁷⁸  28:21 Ahaz gathered riches ⁷⁹  from the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and the officials and gave them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help.

28:22 During his time of trouble King Ahaz was even more unfaithful to the Lord. 28:23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus whom he thought had defeated him. ⁸⁰  He reasoned, ⁸¹  “Since the gods of the kings of Damascus helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they caused him and all Israel to stumble. 28:24 Ahaz gathered the items in God’s temple and removed them. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple and erected altars on every street corner in Jerusalem. 28:25 In every city throughout Judah he set up high places to offer sacrifices to other gods. He angered the Lord God of his ancestors.

28:26 The rest of the events of Ahaz’s reign, including his accomplishments from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ⁸²  28:27 Ahaz passed away ⁸³  and was buried in the City of David; ⁸⁴  they did not bring him to the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah replaced him as king.

29:1 Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. ⁸⁵  His mother was Abijah, ⁸⁶  the daughter of Zechariah. 29:2 He did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done. ⁸⁷ 

29:3 In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the Lord’s temple and repaired them. 29:4 He brought in the priests and Levites and assembled them in the square on the east side. 29:5 He said to them: “Listen to me, you Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, so you can consecrate the temple of the Lord God of your ancestors! ⁸⁸  Remove from the sanctuary what is ceremonially unclean! 29:6 For our fathers were unfaithful; they did what is evil in the sight of ⁸⁹  the Lord our God and abandoned him! They turned ⁹⁰  away from the Lord’s dwelling place and rejected him. ⁹¹  29:7 They closed the doors of the temple porch and put out the lamps; they did not offer incense or burnt sacrifices in the sanctuary of the God of Israel. 29:8 The Lord was angry at Judah and Jerusalem and made them an appalling object of horror at which people hiss out their scorn, ⁹²  as you can see with your own eyes. 29:9 Look, our fathers died violently ⁹³  and our sons, daughters, and wives were carried off ⁹⁴  because of this. 29:10 Now I intend ⁹⁵  to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, so that he may relent from his raging anger. ⁹⁶  29:11 My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to serve in his presence and offer sacrifices.” ⁹⁷ 

29:12 The following Levites prepared to carry out the king’s orders: ⁹⁸ 

From the Kohathites: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah;

from the Merarites: Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel;

from the Gershonites: Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah;

29:13 from the descendants of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel;

from the descendants of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah;

29:14 from the descendants of Heman: Jehiel and Shimei;

from the descendants of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel.

29:15 They assembled their brothers and consecrated themselves. Then they went in to purify the Lord’s temple, just as the king had ordered, in accordance with the word ⁹⁹  of the Lord. 29:16 The priests then entered the Lord’s temple to purify it; they brought out to the courtyard of the Lord’s temple every ceremonially unclean thing they discovered inside. ¹⁰⁰  The Levites took them out to the Kidron Valley. 29:17 On the first day of the first month they began consecrating; by the eighth day of the month they reached the porch of the Lord’s temple. ¹⁰¹  For eight more days they consecrated the Lord’s temple. On the sixteenth day of the first month they were finished. 29:18 They went to King Hezekiah and said: “We have purified the entire temple of the Lord, including the altar of burnt sacrifice and all its equipment, and the table for the Bread of the Presence and all its equipment. 29:19 We have prepared and consecrated all the items that King Ahaz removed during his reign when he acted unfaithfully. They are in front of the altar of the Lord.”

29:20 Early the next morning King Hezekiah assembled the city officials and went up to the Lord’s temple. 29:21 They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. ¹⁰²  The king ¹⁰³  told the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer burnt sacrifices on the altar of the Lord. 29:22 They slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it on the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and splashed the blood on the altar; next they slaughtered the lambs and splashed the blood on the altar. 29:23 Finally they brought the goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they placed their hands on them. 29:24 Then the priests slaughtered them. They offered their blood as a sin offering on the altar to make atonement for all Israel, because the king had decreed ¹⁰⁴  that the burnt sacrifice and sin offering were for all Israel.

29:25 King Hezekiah ¹⁰⁵  stationed the Levites in the Lord’s temple with cymbals and stringed instruments, just as David, Gad the king’s prophet, ¹⁰⁶  and Nathan the prophet had ordered. (The Lord had actually given these orders through his prophets.) 29:26 The Levites had ¹⁰⁷  David’s musical instruments and the priests had trumpets. 29:27 Hezekiah ordered the burnt sacrifice to be offered on the altar. As they began to offer the sacrifice, they also began to sing to the Lord, accompanied by the trumpets and the musical instruments of King David of Israel. 29:28 The entire assembly worshiped, as the singers sang and the trumpeters played. They continued until the burnt sacrifice was completed.

29:29 When the sacrifices were completed, the king and all who were with him bowed down and worshiped. 29:30 King Hezekiah and the officials told the Levites to praise the Lord, using the psalms ¹⁰⁸  of David and Asaph the prophet. ¹⁰⁹  So they joyfully offered praise and bowed down and worshiped. 29:31 Hezekiah said, “Now you have consecrated yourselves ¹¹⁰  to the Lord. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings ¹¹¹  to the Lord’s temple.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and whoever desired to do so ¹¹²  brought burnt sacrifices.

29:32 The assembly brought a total of 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs as burnt sacrifices to the Lord, ¹¹³  29:33 and 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep ¹¹⁴  were consecrated. 29:34 But there were not enough priests to skin all the animals, ¹¹⁵  so their brothers, the Levites, helped them until the work was finished and the priests could consecrate themselves. (The Levites had been more conscientious about consecrating themselves than the priests.) ¹¹⁶  29:35 There was a large number of burnt sacrifices, as well as fat from the peace offerings and drink offerings that accompanied the burnt sacrifices. So the service of the Lord’s temple was reinstituted. ¹¹⁷  29:36 Hezekiah and all the people were happy about what God had done ¹¹⁸  for them, ¹¹⁹  for it had been done quickly. ¹²⁰ 

30:1 Hezekiah sent messages throughout Israel and Judah; he even wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, summoning them to come to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem ¹²¹  and observe a Passover celebration for the Lord God of Israel. 30:2 The king, his officials, and the entire assembly in Jerusalem decided to observe the Passover in the second month. 30:3 They were unable to observe it at the regular ¹²²  time because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem. 30:4 The proposal seemed appropriate to ¹²³  the king and the entire assembly. 30:5 So they sent an edict ¹²⁴  throughout Israel from Beer Sheba to Dan, summoning the people ¹²⁵  to come and observe a Passover for the Lord God of Israel in Jerusalem, for they had not observed it on a nationwide scale as prescribed in the law. ¹²⁶  30:6 Messengers ¹²⁷  delivered the letters from the king and his officials throughout Israel and Judah.

This royal edict read: ¹²⁸  “O Israelites, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so he may return ¹²⁹  to you who have been spared from the kings of Assyria. ¹³⁰  30:7 Don’t be like your fathers and brothers who were unfaithful to the Lord God of their ancestors, ¹³¹  provoking him to destroy them, ¹³²  as you can see. 30:8 Now, don’t be stubborn ¹³³  like your fathers! Submit ¹³⁴  to the Lord and come to his sanctuary which he has permanently consecrated. Serve the Lord your God so that he might relent from his raging anger. ¹³⁵  30:9 For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and sons will be shown mercy by their captors and return to this land. The Lord your God is merciful and compassionate; he will not reject you ¹³⁶  if you return to him.”

30:10 The messengers journeyed from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but people mocked and ridiculed them. ¹³⁷  30:11 But some men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. 30:12 In Judah God moved the people to unite and carry out the edict the king and the officers had issued at the Lord’s command. ¹³⁸  30:13 A huge crowd assembled in Jerusalem to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month. ¹³⁹  30:14 They removed the altars in Jerusalem; they also removed all the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley. ¹⁴⁰ 

30:15 They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed, so they consecrated themselves and brought burnt sacrifices to the Lord’s temple. 30:16 They stood at their posts according to the regulations outlined in the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests were splashing the blood as the Levites handed it to them. ¹⁴¹  30:17 Because many in the assembly had not consecrated themselves, the Levites slaughtered ¹⁴²  the Passover lambs of all who were ceremonially unclean and could not consecrate their sacrifice to the Lord. ¹⁴³  30:18 The majority of the many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun were ceremonially unclean, yet they ate the Passover in violation of what is prescribed in the law. ¹⁴⁴  For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying: “May the Lord, who is good, forgive ¹⁴⁵  30:19 everyone who has determined to follow God, ¹⁴⁶  the Lord God of his ancestors, even if he is not ceremonially clean according to the standards of the temple.” ¹⁴⁷  30:20 The Lord responded favorably ¹⁴⁸  to Hezekiah and forgave ¹⁴⁹  the people.

30:21 The Israelites who were in Jerusalem observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy. The Levites and priests were praising the Lord every day with all their might. ¹⁵⁰  30:22 Hezekiah expressed his appreciation to all the Levites, ¹⁵¹  who demonstrated great skill in serving the Lord. ¹⁵²  They feasted for the seven days of the festival, ¹⁵³  and were making peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord God of their ancestors.

30:23 The entire assembly then decided to celebrate for seven more days; so they joyfully celebrated for seven more days. 30:24 King Hezekiah of Judah supplied 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep ¹⁵⁴  for the assembly, while the officials supplied them ¹⁵⁵  with 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. Many priests consecrated themselves. 30:25 The celebration included ¹⁵⁶  the entire assembly of Judah, the priests, the Levites, the entire assembly of those who came from Israel, the resident foreigners who came from the land of Israel, and the residents of Judah. 30:26 There was a great celebration in Jerusalem, unlike anything that had occurred in Jerusalem since the time of King Solomon son of David of Israel. ¹⁵⁷  30:27 The priests and Levites got up and pronounced blessings on the people. The Lord responded favorably to them ¹⁵⁸  as their prayers reached his holy dwelling place in heaven.