Azariah Reigns in Judah
1 vIn the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, wAzariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was xsixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 4 yNevertheless, the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. 5 zAnd the Lord touched the king, so that he was a leper1 to the day of his death, aand he lived in a separate house.2 And Jotham the king’s son was over the household, governing the people of the land. 6 Now 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? 7 And Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers bin the city of David, and Jotham his son reigned in his place.
Uzziah Reigns in Judah
1 And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. 2 He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers. 3 Uzziah was esixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 4 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 5 He set himself to seek God fin the days of Zechariah, gwho instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.
6 He went out and hmade 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. 7 God helped him iagainst the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gurbaal and against the jMeunites. 8 The Ammonites kpaid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. 9 Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at lthe Corner Gate and at mthe Valley Gate and at nthe Angle, and fortified them. 10 And he built towers in the wilderness and ocut 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. 11 Moreover, 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. 12 The whole number of the heads of fathers’ houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600. 13 Under their command was an army of p307,500, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. 14 And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, qcoats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. 15 In 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.
Uzziah’s Pride and Punishment
16 But when rhe was strong, she 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. 17 But tAzariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor, 18 and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, u“It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, vbut 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.” 19 Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, wleprosy1 broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. 20 And 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. 21 xAnd King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived yin 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.
22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, zIsaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote. 23 And 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.
Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord
1 In the year that sKing Uzziah died I tsaw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train1 of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had usix wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:
u“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
4 And wthe foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and xthe house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! yFor I am lost; zfor I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the aKing, the Lord of hosts!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he btouched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Isaiah’s Commission from the Lord
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for cus?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
d“‘Keep on hearing,3 but do not understand;
keep on seeing,4 but do not perceive.’
10 eMake the heart of this people fdull,5
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
glest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, h“How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until icities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is a desolate waste,
12 and the Lord removes people far away,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 jAnd though a tenth remain in it,
it will be burned6 again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump kremains
when it is felled.”
1 The words of Amos, who was among the ashepherds1 of bTekoa, which he saw concerning Israel cin the days of dUzziah king of Judah and in the days of eJeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years2 before fthe earthquake.
Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors
2 And he said:
g“The Lord roars from Zion
and utters his voice from Jerusalem;
hthe pastures of the shepherds mourn,
3 Thus says the Lord:
k“For three transgressions of lDamascus,
and for four, lI will not revoke the punishment,3
because they have threshed mGilead
with threshing sledges of iron.
4 nSo I will send a fire upon the house of oHazael,
and it shall devour the strongholds of oBen-hadad.
5 I will pbreak the gate-bar of lDamascus,
and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of qAven,4
and him who holds the scepter from rBeth-eden;
and the people of sSyria shall go into exile to tKir,”
says the Lord.
6 Thus says the Lord:
k“For three transgressions of uGaza,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because vthey carried into exile a whole people
to deliver them up to Edom.
7 So I will send a fire upon the wall of uGaza,
and it shall devour her strongholds.
8 I will cut off the inhabitants from wAshdod,
and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;
I will turn my hand against Ekron,
and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,”
says the Lord God.
9 Thus says the Lord:
k“For three transgressions of xTyre,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they delivered up a whole people to Edom,
and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.
10 So I will send a fire upon the wall of xTyre,
and it shall devour her strongholds.”
11 Thus says the Lord:
k“For three transgressions of yEdom,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
ybecause he pursued his brother with the sword
zand cast off all pity,
aand his anger tore perpetually,
aand he kept his wrath forever.
12 So I will send a fire upon bTeman,
and it shall devour the strongholds of cBozrah.”
13 Thus says the Lord:
k“For three transgressions of the dAmmonites,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because ethey have ripped open pregnant women in fGilead,
that they might enlarge their border.
14 So I will kindle a fire in the wall of gRabbah,
hand it shall devour her strongholds,
with shouting on the day of battle,
hwith a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
15 and itheir king shall go into exile,
he and his princes5 together,”
says the Lord.
1 Thus says the Lord:
k“For three transgressions of jMoab,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,6
because khe burned to lime
the bones of the king of Edom.
2 So I will send a fire upon Moab,
and it shall devour the strongholds of lKerioth,
and Moab shall die amid uproar,
amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;
3 mI will cut off the ruler from its midst,
and will kill mall its princes7 with him,”
says the Lord.
Judgment on Judah
4 Thus says the Lord:
n“For three transgressions of Judah,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because othey have rejected the law of the Lord,
and have not kept his statutes,
but ptheir lies have led them astray,
those after which their fathers walked.
5 So qI will send a fire upon Judah,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.”
Judgment on Israel
6 Thus says the Lord:
n“For three transgressions of Israel,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because rthey sell the righteous for ssilver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals—
7 those who trample the head of the poor tinto the dust of the earth
and uturn aside the way of the afflicted;
va man and his father go in to the same girl,
so that my holy name is profaned;
8 they lay themselves down beside every altar
on garments wtaken in pledge,
and in the house of their God they drink
the wine of those who have been fined.
9 “Yet xit was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,
ywhose height was like the height of the cedars
and who was as strong as the oaks;
zI destroyed his fruit above
and his roots beneath.
10 aAlso it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt
band led you forty years in the wilderness,
xto possess the land of the Amorite.
11 And I raised up some of your sons for prophets,
and some of your young men for cNazirites.
Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?”
declares the Lord.
12 “But you made the Nazirites ddrink wine,
and commanded the prophets,
saying, e‘You shall not prophesy.’
13 “Behold, I will press you down in your place,
as a cart full of sheaves presses down.
14 fFlight shall perish from the swift,
fand the strong shall not retain his strength,
gnor shall the mighty save his life;
15 he who handles the bow shall not stand,
and he who is hswift of foot shall not save himself,
inor shall he who rides the horse save his life;
16 and he who is stout of heart among the mighty
shall flee away naked in that day,”
declares the Lord.
