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¹Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.

²He did right in the sight of the LORD, yet not wholeheartedly.

³When his kingdom was firmly established, he killed his servants who had struck down his father the king.

⁴But he did not kill their children; for he did as it is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, "The fathers shall not die for the children, nor the children die for the fathers, but each shall be put to death for his own sin."

⁵Amaziah assembled [the men of] Judah and appointed them in accordance with their fathers' (ancestors') households under commanders of thousands and of hundreds throughout Judah and Benjamin. He numbered them from twenty years old and above and found there to be 300,000 choice men fit for war and able to handle spear and shield.

⁶He also hired 100,000 brave warriors from Israel for a hundred talents of silver.

⁷But a man of God came to him, saying, "O king, do not let this army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel nor with any of the sons of Ephraim.

⁸But if you do go [in spite of this warning], be strong and courageous for battle; yet God will cause you to stumble and fall before the enemy, for God has power to help and to cause people to stumble."

⁹Amaziah said to the man of God, "But what shall we do about the hundred talents which I gave to the troops of Israel?" The man of God answered, "The LORD is able to give you much more than this."

¹⁰So Amaziah dismissed the troops that came to him from Ephraim, to go home. So their anger was kindled and burned greatly against Judah, and they returned home in the heat of anger.

¹¹Now Amaziah took courage and led his people out to the Valley of Salt, and he struck down 10,000 of the men of Seir (Edom).

¹²The sons of Judah also captured 10,000 alive and brought them to the top of the cliff. They threw them down from the top of the cliff and they were all crushed to pieces.

¹³But the troops whom Amaziah sent back, those not allowed to go with him to battle, attacked and raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 men and took a large amount of spoil.

¹⁴After Amaziah came back from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought the gods of the sons of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, bowed before them, and burned incense to them.

¹⁵So the anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, "Why have you desired the gods of the people who did not save their own people from your hand?"

¹⁶As he was talking, the king said to him, "Have we made you the king's counselor? Stop! Why should you be put to death?" Then the prophet stopped and said, "I know that God has decided to destroy you because you have done this and have ignored my advice."

¹⁷Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent word to Joash the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, "Come [to battle], let us face each other."

¹⁸Then Joash king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, "The [little] thorn bush in Lebanon sent word to the [great] cedar in Lebanon, saying, 'Give your daughter to my son in marriage.' But a wild beast in Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thorn bush.

¹⁹You say, 'See, I have struck down and defeated Edom.' Your heart lifts you up to boast [about your victory]. Now stay at home; why should you meddle and court disaster so that you, even you, will fall and Judah with you?"

²⁰But Amaziah would not listen, for it was from God, so that He might hand Judah over to Joash because they had desired the gods of Edom.

²¹So Joash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another at Beth-shemesh, which belonged to Judah.

²²And Judah was defeated by Israel, and they fled, every man to his tent.

²³Then Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of Jehoahaz (Ahaziah), at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, 400 cubits.

²⁴He took all the gold and silver and all the utensils which were found in the house of God with [the doorkeeper] Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king's house (palace), and the hostages, and returned to Samaria.

²⁵And Amaziah 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 acts of Amaziah, from the first to the last, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel?

²⁷Now from the time that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD, they conspired against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there.

²⁸Then they brought him on horses and buried him with his fathers in the City of [David in] Judah.

¹Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.

²He built Eloth and restored it to Judah after the king [Amaziah] slept with his fathers [in death].

³Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jechiliah of Jerusalem.

⁴He did right in the sight of the LORD, in accordance with everything that his father Amaziah had done.

⁵He continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through the vision of God; and as long as he sought (inquired of, longing for) the LORD, God caused him to prosper.

⁶He went out and made war against the Philistines, and broke through the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities near Ashdod and [elsewhere] among the Philistines.

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

⁸The Ammonites paid tribute (money) to Uzziah, and his fame spread abroad, even as far as the border of Egypt, for he became very strong.

⁹Uzziah also built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and at the corner buttress [of the wall], and fortified them.

¹⁰He also built towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, for he had a great deal of livestock, both in the lowlands and in the plain. He also had farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and in the fertile fields, for he loved the soil.

¹¹Moreover, Uzziah had an army ready for battle, which went into combat by divisions according to the number of their muster as recorded by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the official, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king's commanders.

¹²The total number of the heads of the fathers' households, of valiant men, was 2,600.

¹³Under their command was an army of 307,500, who could wage war with great power, to help the king against the enemy.

¹⁴Moreover, Uzziah prepared shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows, and sling stones for the entire army.

¹⁵In Jerusalem he made machines of war invented by skillful men to be put on the towers and on the [corner] battlements for the purpose of shooting arrows and large stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped until he was strong.

¹⁶But when Uzziah became strong, he became so proud [of himself and his accomplishments] that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful and sinned against the LORD his God, for he went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.

¹⁷Then Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him eighty priests of the LORD, men of courage.

¹⁸They opposed 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 have been consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the LORD God."

¹⁹Then Uzziah, with a censer in his hand to burn incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the incense altar.

²⁰As Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked toward him, behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they hurried him out of there, and he also hurried to get out because the LORD had stricken him.

²¹King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death; and, being a leper, he lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the LORD. And his son Jotham took charge of the king's household, judging and governing the people of the land.

²²Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from the first to the last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, has written.

²³So Uzziah slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field of the kings [outside the royal tombs], for they said, "He is a leper." And his son Jotham became king in his place.

¹Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok.

²He did right in the sight of the LORD, in accordance with everything that his father Uzziah had done; however, he did not enter the temple of the LORD. But the people continued behaving corruptly.

³He built the upper gate of the house of the LORD, and did extensive building on the wall of Ophel.

⁴Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and in the forests he built fortresses and towers.

⁵He also fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed over them. As a result the Ammonites gave him during that year a hundred talents of silver and ten thousand measures each of wheat and of barley. The Ammonites also paid him that much in the second year and third year.

⁶So Jotham grew powerful, because he directed 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 became king, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem.

⁹And Jotham slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him in the City of David. Ahaz his son became king in his place.

¹Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do right in the sight of the LORD, as his father (forefather) David had done.

²Instead he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and even made cast images for the Baals.

³And he burned incense in the Valley of Ben-hinnom and burned his sons [as an offering], in accordance with the repulsive acts of the [pagan] nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons (descendants) of Israel.

⁴He also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places [of pagan worship], on the hills and under every green tree.

⁵Therefore the LORD his God handed over Ahaz to the king of Aram (Syria), who defeated him and led away a great number [of the people] as captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also handed over to the king of Israel, who struck Judah with a great slaughter.

⁶For Pekah son of Remaliah killed 120,000 in Judah in one day, all courageous men, because they had abandoned (turned away from) the LORD God of their fathers.

⁷And Zichri, a warrior of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king's son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah, who was second [in power] to the king.

⁸And the sons of Israel led away captive 200,000 of their kinsmen [of Judah]—women, sons, and daughters—and they also took a great quantity of spoil from them and brought it to Samaria.

⁹But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out to meet the army that was returning to Samaria and said to them, "Behold, because the LORD, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, He handed them over to you; but you have killed them in a rage that has reached as far as heaven.

¹⁰And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem as male and female slaves for yourselves. But are you yourselves not guilty of transgressions against the LORD your God?

¹¹Now therefore, hear me and return the captives whom you have captured from your brothers (fellow descendants of Israel, i.e. Jacob), for the burning anger of the LORD is against you."

¹²Then some of the heads of the Ephraimites (Israel)—Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai—took a stand against those who were returning from the battle,

¹³and said to them, "You must not bring the captives in here; for we are guilty before the LORD already, and what you intend to do will add more to our sins and our guilt. For our guilt is so great that His burning anger is against Israel."

¹⁴So the armed men [of Israel] left the captives and the spoil [of Judah] before the officers and all the assembly.

¹⁵Then the men who were designated by name rose up and took the captives, and from the spoil they clothed all those who were naked; they clothed them and gave them sandals, and fed them and gave them [something to] drink, anointed them [with oil, as was a host's duty], and led all the feeble ones on donkeys, and they brought them to Jericho, the City of Palm Trees, to their brothers (fellow descendants of Israel, i.e. Jacob). Then they returned to Samaria.

¹⁶At that time King Ahaz sent word to the king of Assyria [to ask him] for help.

¹⁷For the Edomites had come again and attacked Judah and led away captives.

¹⁸The Philistines had also invaded the cities of the low country and of the Negev (the South country) of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, and Soco with their villages, and also 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 Ahaz had allowed unrestrained and undisciplined behavior in Judah and had been very unfaithful to the LORD.

²⁰So Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came against him and harassed him instead of strengthening and supporting him.

²¹Although Ahaz took a portion [of treasure] from the house of the LORD and from the house (palace) of the king and from the leaders, and gave it [as tribute] to the king of Assyria, it did not help Ahaz.

²²In the time of his distress, this same King Ahaz became yet more unfaithful to the LORD.

²³For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had defeated him, and he said, "Since the gods of the kings of Aram (Syria) helped them, I will sacrifice to them so that they may help me." But they became the ruin and downfall of him and all of Israel.

²⁴Then Ahaz collected the utensils of the house of God and he cut them in pieces; and he shut the doors of the house of the LORD and made altars for himself in every corner of Jerusalem.

²⁵In every city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, provoking to anger the LORD, the God of his fathers.

²⁶Now the rest of his acts and of all his ways, from the first to the last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

²⁷And Ahaz slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, but they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. And his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.