26:1 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who [was] sixteen
years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.
26:2 He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after the king
slept with his fathers.
26:3 Sixteen years old [was] Uzziah when he began to reign, and
he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name
also [was] Jecoliah of Jerusalem.
26:4 And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD,
according to all that his father Amaziah did.
26:5 And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had
understanding in the visions of God: and, as long as he sought
the LORD, God made him to prosper.
26:6 And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and
broke down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the
wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the
Philistines.
26:7 And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the
Arabians that dwelt in Gur-baal, and the Mehunims.
26:8 And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread
abroad [even] to the entrance of Egypt: for he strengthened
[himself] exceedingly.
26:9 Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner
gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning [of the wall],
and fortified them.
26:10 Also he built towers in the desert, and digged many wells:
for he had many cattle, both in the low country, and in the
plains: husbandmen [also], and vine-dressers in the mountains,
and in Carmel: for he loved husbandry.
26:11 Moreover, Uzziah had an army of fighting men, that went
out to war, by bands, according to the number of their account
by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under
the hand of Hananiah, [one] of the king's captains.
26:12 The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty
men of valor [were] two thousand and six hundred.
26:13 And under their hand [was] an army, three hundred thousand
and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty
power, to help the king against the enemy.
26:14 And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the army,
shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and
slings [to cast] stones.
26:15 And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by skillful
men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows
and great stones. And his name spread far abroad; for he was
helped in a wonderful manner, till he was strong.
26:16 But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to [his]
destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and
went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar
of incense.
26:17 And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him
eighty priests of the LORD, [that were] valiant men:
26:18 And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said to him, [It
appertaineth] not to thee, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD,
but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to
burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast
trespassed; neither [will it be] for thy honor from the LORD
God.
26:19 Then Uzziah was wroth, and [had] a censer in his hand to
burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the
leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the
house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar.
26:20 And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests looked
upon him, and behold, he [was] leprous in his forehead, and
they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go
out, because the LORD had smitten him.
26:21 And Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death,
and dwelt in a separate house, [being] a leper; for he was cut
off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son [was] over
the king's house, judging the people of the land.
26:22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, were
written by Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos.
26:23 So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with
his fathers in the field of the burial which [belonged] to the
kings; for they said, He [is] a leper: and Jotham his son
reigned in his stead.
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