Uzziah

21Then all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old. They made him king in place of his father Amaziah.

And all the people of Judah took Azariah, which was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.

NoteThis king is also called Uzziah in other parts of the Bible. Both names belong to the same person.

22Azariah rebuilt the town of Elath and made it part of Judah again. He did this after his father the king died.

He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers.

NoteElath was a town on the shore of the sea, far south. Ships stopped there, so it was worth a lot.

1Jeroboam had been king of Israel for 27 years. Then Azariah, son of Amaziah, became king of Judah.

In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign.

NoteGod's people had split into two kingdoms. The northern one was called Israel. The southern one was called Judah. Each one had its own king. This chapter jumps back and forth between them.

2Azariah was 16 when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 52 years. His mother was Jecholiah, from Jerusalem.

Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.

NoteThe Bible often names a king's mother. She was an important person in the palace.

3He did what was right in the LORD's eyes. He did what his father Amaziah had done.

And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done;

NoteLORD in big letters stands for God's own special name. Doing right "in the LORD's eyes" means doing what God said was good.

4But he did not take down the high places. These were hilltop places for worship. People still made offerings and burned sweet-smelling incense there.

Save that the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.

NoteAn offering was a gift given to God. It was usually an animal or food. Incense was a sweet-smelling powder that people burned. God had told the people to bring their gifts to the temple in Jerusalem. The high places were hilltops where people worshiped instead.

5The LORD made the king sick with a skin disease. He had it until the day he died. So he lived in a separate house. His son Jotham ran the palace and led the people.

And the LORD smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house. And Jotham the king’s son was over the house, judging the people of the land.

NoteIn those days people with a bad skin disease had to live away from everyone else. Even a king had to. That is why Azariah lived in a separate house and his son ran things for him.

6The other things Azariah did are written down. They are in the book called the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.

And the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

NoteKings kept writers who wrote down what happened each year. That record was called the chronicles. The book itself is lost now.

7Then Azariah died like his fathers before him. They buried him near them in the City of David. His son Jotham became king after him.

So Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

NoteThe City of David was the oldest part of Jerusalem. Kings of Judah were buried there.

1All the people of Judah chose Uzziah to be their new king. He was sixteen years old. He took the place of his father Amaziah.

Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.

NoteJudah was the land where God's people lived, in the south. Its main city was Jerusalem. A king ruled the whole land.

2Uzziah rebuilt the town of Eloth. He made it part of Judah again. This happened after his father the king died.

He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers.

NoteEloth was a town far south, beside the sea. Ships stopped there, so it was a good town to own.

3Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. His mother was Jecoliah, from Jerusalem.

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.

4Uzziah did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. He did the same good things his father Amaziah had done.

And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did.

NoteThe King James says "in the sight of the LORD." It means what God saw and called right. LORD in big letters is God's own special name.

5Uzziah looked to God while Zechariah was alive. Zechariah was a man who understood the things God showed him. As long as he looked to the LORD, God made things go well for him.

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.

Note"Looked to God" means he asked God for help. It also means he wanted to obey God.

6Uzziah went out to fight the Philistines. He broke down the walls of the towns of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Then he built towns near Ashdod and in Philistine land.

And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines.

NoteThe Philistines were people who lived by the sea near Judah. They fought God's people many times. Towns then had thick walls all around them. Breaking a wall down meant the town could not fight back.

7God helped him fight the Philistines. God also helped him fight the Arabs who lived in Gur-baal, and the Meunites.

And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gurbaal, and the Mehunims.

NoteThe Arabs and the Meunites were groups of people living near Judah. Gur-baal was a place where some of them lived.

8The Ammonites brought Uzziah gifts to show that he was over them. People heard about him far away, all the way to the edge of Egypt. He had become very strong.

And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly.

NoteThe Ammonites lived east of Judah. These gifts were really a payment. A weaker king paid a stronger king so he would be left alone.

9Uzziah built strong towers in Jerusalem. He put them at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and where the wall turned. He made them very strong.

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.

NoteA tower is a tall stone building on the city wall. Soldiers stood on top and watched for enemies. The gates were doorways in the wall, named for where they stood.

10He also built towers out in the dry land. He dug many pits to hold water, because he had many animals. His animals fed in the low hills and the flat land. He had farmers and grape growers in the hill country and in the good fields. He loved working the soil.

Also he built towers in the desert, and digged many wells: for he had much 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.

NoteThe pits were called cisterns. They were holes dug and lined to hold rain water. In dry land, water like this kept animals alive. Grape growers cared for the vines that grapes grow on.

11Uzziah had an army of fighting men who were ready for war. They went out in groups. Jeiel the writer and Maaseiah the officer kept the list of their names. They worked under Hananiah, one of the king's leaders.

Moreover Uzziah had an host 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.

NoteA writer like this was called a scribe. He kept lists and wrote things down for the king. Back then very few people could read or write.

12There were 2,600 family leaders in charge of these brave fighting men.

The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were two thousand and six hundred.

13Under those leaders was an army of 307,500 men. They fought with great power to help the king against his enemies.

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.

14Uzziah gave the whole army shields, spears, and helmets. He also gave them coats of armor, bows, and stones for slings.

And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones.

NoteA coat of armor was a shirt covered with small metal pieces. It helped stop a sword or an arrow. A sling was a leather strap for throwing stones. You swung it around and let a stone fly out fast.

15In Jerusalem he had skilled men build war machines. These stood on the towers and on the corners of the wall. They shot arrows and threw large stones. His name became known far and wide, because God helped him greatly and he grew strong.

And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.

NoteThese war machines were big wooden machines. They could shoot arrows or throw heavy stones a long way.

16But when Uzziah was strong, he became proud, and that pride ruined him. He was not faithful to the LORD his God. He went into the LORD's temple to burn incense on the incense altar.

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.

NoteThe temple was God's special house in Jerusalem. Incense is dried tree sap and sweet spices. When you burn it, it makes a sweet smell. Burning it was one way people worshiped God. Only certain men were allowed to burn it inside the temple.

17Azariah the priest went into the temple after him. Eighty brave priests of the LORD went with him.

And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the LORD, that were valiant men:

NoteA priest was a man chosen to serve God in the temple. Priests brought the people's gifts to God.

18They stood in front of King Uzziah and spoke up. They said, "Uzziah, you are not allowed to burn incense to the LORD. Only the priests, who come from Aaron's family, may do that. They were set apart for this work. Leave this holy place. You have done wrong. The LORD God will not honor you for this."

And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto 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 shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God.

NoteAaron was Moses' brother, long before this. God chose Aaron's family to be the priests. "Set apart" means picked out for God's work and nothing else. The King James calls the temple the "sanctuary," a holy place.

19Uzziah was holding a pan for burning incense. He became very angry at the priests. While he was raging at them, a skin disease broke out on his forehead. The priests saw it happen right there beside the incense altar, inside the LORD's house.

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.

NoteThe pan was called a censer. It was a metal dish with a handle, holding hot coals.

20Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him. They saw the disease on his forehead. They rushed him out of the temple. He hurried out too, because the LORD had struck him.

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.

21King Uzziah had this skin disease until the day he died. He lived by himself in a separate house. He was not allowed to go to the LORD's temple. His son Jotham ran the king's house and led the people of the land.

And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several 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.

NoteIn those days a person with this skin disease had to live away from others. People were afraid it would spread. That is why the king lived alone and could not go to the temple.

22The rest of Uzziah's story, from start to finish, was written down by Isaiah son of Amoz. Isaiah was a prophet, someone who told people what God said.

Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write.

23Uzziah died and was buried near his fathers. They buried him in a burial field that belonged to the kings, because people said, "He had a skin disease." His son Jotham became king after him.

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.

Note"His fathers" means the family members who died before him. Kings were usually buried in one special place together. Because of his disease, he was buried in a field close by instead.