Uzziah Reigns in Judah
(2 Kings 14:21–22; 2 Kings 15:1–7)
All the people of Judah took Uzziah, 1 who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. Mat 1:8-92Ch 22:11Ch 3:122Ch 33:252Ki 14:212Ki 15:1-7 Uzziah was the one who rebuilt Eloth 2and restored it to Judah after King Amaziah 3rested with his fathers. 2Ch 25:232Ch 25:282Ch 8:172Ki 14:222Ki 16:6
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. 2Ki 15:2-3Amo 1:1Hos 1:1Isa 1:1Isa 6:1Zec 14:5 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. 2Ch 25:2 He sought God throughout the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear 4of God. And as long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success. 2Ch 15:22Ch 24:21Ch 22:13Dan 5:16Gen 41:382Ch 25:8Dan 1:17Dan 10:1
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. Isa 14:291Ch 18:11Sa 5:11Sa 5:62Ch 21:162Sa 8:1 God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabs living in Gur-baal, and against the Meunites. 2Ch 21:161Ch 5:20Act 26:221Ch 12:182Ch 14:112Ch 17:112Ch 20:1Isa 14:29 The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, for he had become exceedingly powerful. 2Ch 17:112Sa 8:2Gen 19:381Ki 4:311Sa 11:12Ch 20:12Sa 8:13Deu 2:19
Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and the angle in the wall, and he fortified them. Neh 3:132Ch 25:232Ki 14:13Jer 31:38Neh 2:13Neh 2:15Neh 3:19-20Neh 3:24 Since he had much livestock in the foothills 5and 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. Gen 26:18-21Isa 29:171Ch 27:26-312Ki 19:232Ki 3:4
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. 2Ki 5:2 The total number of family leaders of the mighty men of valor was 2,600. Under their authority was an army of 307,500 trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies. 2Ch 11:12Ch 13:32Ch 14:82Ch 17:14-192Ch 25:5
Uzziah supplied the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and slingstones. 1Sa 17:49Jdg 20:16 And in Jerusalem he made skillfully designed devices to shoot 6arrows and catapult large stones from the towers and corners. So his fame spread far and wide, for he was helped tremendously so that he became powerful. Exo 31:4Mat 4:242Ch 2:142Ch 2:7
But when Uzziah grew 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. 2Ch 32:252Ch 25:19Hab 2:4Pro 16:18Deu 8:14Deu 8:17Col 2:181Ki 12:33
Then Azariah the priest, along with eighty brave priests of the LORD, went in after him. 1Ch 6:101Ch 12:281Ch 26:6 They 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.” Exo 30:7-8Num 18:7Heb 5:42Ch 19:2Jer 13:181Co 5:51Sa 2:302Ch 16:7-9
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 7broke out on his forehead. Num 12:102Ch 25:162Ki 5:25-272Ch 16:10 When 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. Deu 28:22Deu 28:35Est 6:12Lev 14:34
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 to govern the people of the land. Lev 13:462Ki 15:5-72Ki 7:3Num 12:15Num 5:2-3
As for the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from beginning to end, they are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. Isa 1:1Isa 6:12Ch 12:152Ch 9:29 And Uzziah rested with his fathers and was buried near them 8in 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. 2Ch 21:202Ch 28:272Ch 26:182Ch 33:202Ki 15:6-7Isa 6:1