1 All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 2Uzziah was the one who rebuilt Eloth and restored it to Judah after King Amaziah rested with his fathers.

3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 4And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5He sought God throughout the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. And as long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.

6 Uzziah went out to wage war against the Philistines, and he tore down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Then he built cities near Ashdod and among the Philistines. 7God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabs living in Gur-baal, and against the Meunites. 8The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, for he had become exceedingly powerful.

9 Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and the angle in the wall, and he fortified them. 10Since he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns. And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and in the fertile fields.

11 Uzziah had an army ready for battle that went out to war by assigned divisions, as recorded by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officers. 12The total number of family leaders of the mighty men of valor was 2,600. 13Under their authority was an army of 307,500 trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies.

14 Uzziah supplied the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and slingstones. 15And in Jerusalem he made skillfully designed devices to shoot arrows and catapult large stones from the towers and corners. So his fame spread far and wide, for he was helped tremendously until he became powerful.

16 But when Uzziah became powerful, his arrogance led to his own destruction. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, for he entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.

17 Then Azariah the priest, along with eighty brave priests of the Lord, went in after him. 18They took their stand against King Uzziah and said, “Uzziah, you have no right to offer incense to the Lord. Only the priests, the descendants of Aaron, are consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully; you will not receive honor from the Lord God.”

19 Uzziah, with a censer in his hand to offer incense, was enraged. But while he raged against the priests in their presence in the house of the Lord before the altar of incense, leprosy broke out on his forehead. 20When Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned to him and saw his leprous forehead, they rushed him out. Indeed, he himself hurried to get out, because the Lord had afflicted him.

21 So King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He lived in isolation, leprous and cut off from the house of the Lord, while his son Jotham had charge of the royal palace and governed the people of the land.

22 As for the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from beginning to end, they are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 23And Uzziah rested with his fathers and was buried near them in a field of burial that belonged to the kings, for the people said, “He was a leper.” And his son Jotham reigned in his place.

1 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother’s name was Jerushah daughter of Zadok. 2And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done. In addition, he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people still behaved corruptly.

3 Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the house of the Lord, and he worked extensively on the wall at the hill of Ophel. 4He also built cities in the hill country of Judah and fortresses and towers in the forests.

5 Jotham waged war against the king of the Ammonites and defeated them, and that year they gave him a hundred talents of silver, ten thousand cors of wheat, and ten thousand cors of barley. They paid him the same in the second and third years. 6So Jotham grew powerful because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God.

7 As for the rest of the acts of Jotham, along with all his wars and his ways, they are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. 8He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. 9And Jotham rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. And his son Ahaz reigned in his place.

1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. And unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. 2Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even made cast images of the Baals.

3 Moreover, Ahaz burned incense in the Valley of Ben-hinnom and sacrificed his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 4And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

5 So the Lord his God delivered Ahaz into the hand of the king of Aram, who attacked him and took many captives to Damascus.

Ahaz was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force. 6For in one day Pekah son of Remaliah killed 120,000 valiant men in Judah. This happened because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. 7Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the son of the king, Azrikam the governor of the palace, and Elkanah the second to the king. 8Then the Israelites took 200,000 captives from their kinsmen— women, sons, and daughters. They also carried off a great deal of plunder and brought it to Samaria.

9 But a prophet of the Lord named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army that returned to Samaria. “Look,” he said to them, “because of His wrath against Judah, the Lord, the God of your fathers, has delivered them into your hand. But you have slaughtered them in a rage that reaches up to heaven. 10And now you intend to reduce to slavery the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem. But are you not also guilty before the Lord your God? 11Now therefore, listen to me and return the captives you took from your kinsmen, for the fierce anger of the Lord is upon you.”

12 Then some of the leaders of the Ephraimites— Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai— stood in opposition to those arriving from the war. 13“You must not bring the captives here,” they said, “for you are proposing to bring guilt upon us from the Lord and to add to our sins and our guilt. For our guilt is great, and fierce anger is upon Israel.”

14 So the armed men left the captives and the plunder before the leaders and all the assembly. 15Then the men who were designated by name arose, took charge of the captives, and provided from the plunder clothing for the naked. They clothed them, gave them sandals and food and drink, anointed their wounds, and put all the feeble on donkeys. So they brought them to Jericho, the City of Palms, to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.

16 At that time King Ahaz sent for help from the king of Assyria. 17The Edomites had again come and attacked Judah and carried away captives. 18The Philistines had also raided the cities of the foothills and the Negev of Judah, capturing and occupying Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, and Gederoth, as well as Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo with their villages. 19For the Lord humbled Judah because Ahaz king of Israel had thrown off restraint in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the Lord.

20 Then Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came to Ahaz but afflicted him rather than strengthening him. 21Although Ahaz had taken a portion from the house of the Lord, from the royal palace, and from the princes and had presented it to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.

22 In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the Lord. 23He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him, and he said, “Because the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But these gods were the downfall of Ahaz and of all Israel.

24 Then Ahaz gathered up the articles of the house of God, cut them into pieces, shut the doors of the house of the Lord, and set up altars of his own on every street corner in Jerusalem. 25In every city of Judah he built high places to offer incense to other gods, and so he provoked the Lord, the God of his fathers.

26 As for the rest of the acts of Ahaz and all his ways, from beginning to end, they are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 27And Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. And his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.

1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God. 2Consequently, whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval. 4For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not carry the sword in vain. He is God’s servant, an agent of retribution to the wrongdoer.

5 Therefore it is necessary to submit to authority , not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience. 6This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God’s servants, who devote themselves to their work. 7Pay everyone what you owe him: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

8 Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

11 And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.