Chronicles II 26

1 Then all the people of the land took Ozias, and he was sixteen years old, and they made him king in the room of his father Amasias.

After King Amaziah died, all the people of Judah appointed his son Uzziah, who then was 16 years old, as their king. [One of the things that happened] while he was the king [was that] his men captured Elath [town on the Gulf of Aqaba] and rebuilt it.

2 He built Aelath, he recovered it to Juda, after the king slept with his fathers.

3 Ozias began to reign at the age of sixteen years, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jechelia of Jerusalem.

Uzziah ruled in Jerusalem for 52 years. His mother was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem.

4 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Amasias his father did.

Uzziah did things that Yahweh considered to be good, like his father Amaziah had done.

5 And he sought the Lord in the days of Zacharias, who understood the fear of the Lord; and in his days he sought the Lord, and the Lord prospered him.

He tried to please God while [the priest] Zechariah was living, because Zechariah taught him to revere God. As long as Uzziah tried to please God, God enabled him to be successful.

6 And he went out and fought against the Philistines, and pulled down the walls of Geth, and the walls of Jabner, and the walls of Azotus, and he built cities [near] Azotus, and among the Philistines.

Uzziah and his army started to fight against the army of Philistia. They tore down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod [cities]. Then they rebuilt the towns near Ashdod and in other places in Philistia.

7 And the Lord strengthened him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that lived on the rock, and against the Minaeans.

God helped them to fight the army of Philistia and the Arabs who lived in [the town of] Gur-Baal and the descendants of Meun who had come to that area from Edom.

8 And the Minaeans gave gifts to Ozias; and his fame spread as far as the entering in of Egypt, for he strengthened [himself] exceedingly.

Even the Ammon [people-group] paid taxes to Uzziah each year. So Uzziah became famous as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful.

9 And Ozias built towers in Jerusalem, both at the gate of the corners, and at the valley gate, and at the corners and he fortified them.

Uzziah’s [workers] built watchtowers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the place where the wall turns, and they placed weapons in them.

10 And he built towers in the wilderness, and dug many wells, for he had many cattle in the low country and in the plain; and vinedressers in the mountain country and in Carmel: for he was a husbandman.

They also built watchtowers in the desert and dug many wells. They did that [to provide water] for a lot of the king’s cattle that were in the foothills and in the plains. Uzziah liked farming, so he also stationed workers [to take care of] his fields and vineyards in the hills and in the fertile areas.

11 And Ozias had a host of warriors, and that went out orderly to war, and returned orderly in number; and their number was [made] by the hand of Jeiel the scribe, and Maasias the judge, by the hand of Ananias the king's deputy.

Uzziah’s army was trained for fighting battles. They were in groups that were always ready to go into battle. Jeiel, the king’s secretary, and Maaseiah, one of the army officers, counted the men and placed them in groups. Hananiah, one of the king’s officials, was their commander.

12 The whole number of the chiefs of families of the mighty men of war [was] two thousand six hundred;

There were 2,600 leaders of those groups of soldiers.

13 and with them was a warrior force, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred: these waged war mightily to help the king against [his] enemies.

In the groups that those leaders commanded there were a total of 307,500 well-trained soldiers. It was a very powerful army which was ready to help the king fight against his enemies.

14 And Ozias prepared for them, [even] for all the host, shields, and spears, and helmets, and breastplates, and bows, and slings for stones.

Uzziah gave to each soldier a shield, a spear, a helmet, a vest made of iron plates, a bow [and arrows], and a slingshot.

15 And he made in Jerusalem machines invented by a wise contriver, to be upon the towers and upon the corners, to cast darts and great stones: and [the fame] of their preparation was heard at a distance; for he was wonderfully helped, till he was strong.

In Jerusalem his skilled workers made machines to put on the watchtowers and on the corners [of the walls], to shoot arrows and to hurl large stones. He became very famous even in distant places, because God helped him very much and enabled him to become very powerful.

16 And when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction; and he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to turn incense on the altar of incense.

But because Uzziah was very powerful, he became very proud, and that led to his being punished. He disobeyed what Yahweh his God had commanded. He went into the temple to burn incense on the altar [where God had said that only the priests should burn] incense.

17 And there went in after him Azarias the priest, and with him eighty priests of the Lord, mighty men.

Azariah the [Supreme] Priest and 80 other brave priests followed him into the temple.

18 And they withstood Ozias the king, and said to him, [It is] not for you, Ozias, to burn incense to the Lord, but only for the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to sacrifice: go forth of the sanctuary, for you have departed from the Lord; and this shall not be for glory to you from the Lord god.

They rebuked him and said to him, “Uzziah, it is not right for you to burn incense to [honor] Yahweh. That duty is only for the priests, those who are descendants of Aaron [our first Supreme Priest]! You must leave [immediately], because you have disobeyed Yahweh our God, and he will not honor you [for what you have done]!”

19 And Ozias was angry, and in his hand [was] the censer to burn incense in the temple: and when he was angry with the priests, then the leprosy rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, over the altar of incense.

Uzziah had in his hand a pan for burning incense. He became very angry with the priests, but suddenly there was leprosy on his forehead.

20 And Azarias the chief priest, and the [other] priests, turned [to look] at him, and, behold, he [was] leprous in his forehead; and they got him hastily out thence, for he also hasted to go out, because the Lord had rebuked him.

When Azariah the [Supreme] Priest and all the other priests [who were there] looked at him, they saw the leprosy on his forehead, so they quickly took him outside. And truly the king was eager to leave the temple, because he knew that it was Yahweh who had caused him to have that leprosy, [and he did not want it to become worse.]

21 And Ozias the king was a leper to the day of his death, and he lived [as] a leper in a separate house; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord: and Joathan his son [was set] over his kingdom, judging the people of the land.

King Uzziah had leprosy until he died. And because he had leprosy, he lived in a house that was not near other houses, and he was not allowed to enter [the courtyard of] the temple. His son Jotham supervised the palace and ruled the people of Judah.

22 And the rest of the acts of Ozias, the first and the last, [are] written by Jessias the prophet.

A record of all the other things that Uzziah did while he was the king [of Judah] was written by the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz.

23 And Ozias slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the burial [place] of the kings, for they said, He is a leper; and Joatham his son reigned in his stead.

Because Uzziah was a leper, [when he died, ] they would not bury him in the tombs where the other kings were buried. Instead, he was buried in a nearby cemetery that the kings owned. Then his son Jotham became the king [of Judah].