2 Chronicles 25-28
English Standard Version
Chapter 25
1Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother 's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart. 3And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father. 4But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, "Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin."
5Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by fathers ' houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those twenty years old and upward, and found that they were 300,000 choice men, fit for war, able to handle spear and shield.
6He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents of silver.
7But a man of God came to him and said, "O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, with all these Ephraimites.
8But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? For God has power to help or to cast down."
9And Amaziah said to the man of God, "But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?" The man of God answered, "The Lord is able to give you much more than this."
10Then Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger.
11But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the Valley of Salt and struck down 10,000 men of Seir.
12The men of Judah captured another 10,000 alive and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock, and they were all dashed to pieces.
13But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 people in them and took much spoil.
14After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, he brought the gods of the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them.
15Therefore the Lord was angry with Amaziah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, "Why have you sought the gods of a people who did not deliver their own people from your hand?"
16But as he was speaking, the king said to him, "Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?" So the prophet stopped, but said, "I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel."
17Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, "Come, let us look one another in the face."
18And Joash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, "A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle.
19You say, ‘See, I have struck down Edom,’ and your heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. But now stay at home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?"
20But Amaziah would not listen, for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought the gods of Edom.
21So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah.
22And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home.
23And Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for 400 cubits, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate.
24And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, in the care of Obed-edom. He seized also the treasuries of the king 's house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria.
25Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel.
26Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, from first to last, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel?
27From the time when he turned away from the Lord they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there.
28And they brought him upon horses, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David.
Chapter 26
1And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. 2He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers. 3Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother 's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 4And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 5He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.
6He went out and made war against the Philistines and broke through the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines.
7God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gurbaal and against the Meunites.
8The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong.
9Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them.
10And he built towers in the wilderness and cut out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.
11Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king 's commanders.
12The whole number of the heads of fathers ' houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600.
13Under their command was an army of 307,500, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.
14And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging.
15In Jerusalem he made machines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.
16But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.
17But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor,
18and they withstood King Uzziah 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 are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God."
19Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense.
20And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him.
21And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king 's household, governing the people of the land.
22Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote.
23And Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said, "He is a leper." And Jotham his son reigned in his place.
Chapter 27
1Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother 's name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. 2And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord according to all that his father Uzziah had done, except he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people still followed corrupt practices. 3He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord and did much building on the wall of Ophel. 4Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and forts and towers on the wooded hills. 5He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. And the Ammonites gave him that year 100 talents of silver, and 10,000 cors of wheat and 10,000 of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and the third years. 6So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God. 7Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. 8He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. 9And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.Chapter 28
1Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done, 2but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made metal images for the Baals, 3and he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 4And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.
5Therefore the Lord his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria, who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force.
6For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valor, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers.
7And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king 's son and Azrikam the commander of the palace and Elkanah the next in authority to the king.
8The men of Israel took captive 200,000 of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria.
9But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded, and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, "Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage that has reached up to heaven.
10And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. Have you not sins of your own against the Lord your God?
11Now hear me, and send back the captives from your relatives whom you have taken, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you."
12Certain chiefs also of the men of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who were coming from the war
13and said to them, "You shall not bring the captives in here, for you propose to bring upon us guilt against the Lord in addition to our present sins and guilt. For our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel."
14So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the assembly.
15And the men who have been mentioned by name rose and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, and anointed them, and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.
16At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help.
17For the Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried away captives.
18And the Philistines had made raids on the cities in the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. And they settled there.
19For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah act sinfully and had been very unfaithful to the Lord.
20So Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him.
21For Ahaz took a portion from the house of the Lord and the house of the king and of the princes, and gave tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him.
22In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the Lord — this same King Ahaz.
23For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, "Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me." But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel.
24And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem.
25In every city of Judah he made high places to make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his fathers.
26Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
27And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
