American Standard Version of 1901
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{[chapter 13:23 in Hebrew]}So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years. {[chapter 14:1 in Hebrew]}
And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of Jehovah his God:
for he took away the foreign altars, and the high places, and brake down the {Or, obelisks}pillars, and hewed down the Asherim,
and commanded Judah to seek Jehovah, the God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.
Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the sun-images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.
And he built fortified cities in Judah; for the land was quiet, and he had no war in those years, because Jehovah had given him rest.
For he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars; the land is yet before us, because we have sought Jehovah our God; we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.
And Asa had an army that bare bucklers and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valor.
And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an army of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and he came unto Mareshah.
Then Asa went out to meet him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.
And Asa cried unto Jehovah his God, and said, Jehovah, {Or, there is no difference with thee to help, whether the mighty or him &c.}there is none {Or, like}besides thee to help, between the mighty and him that hath no strength: help us, O Jehovah our God; for we rely on thee, and in thy name are we come against this multitude. O Jehovah, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.
So Jehovah smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.
And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and there fell of the Ethiopians {Or, so that none remained alive}so many that they could not recover themselves; for they were {Hebrew: broken.}destroyed before Jehovah, and before his host; and they carried away very much booty.
And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for {Or, a terror from Jehovah}the fear of Jehovah came upon them: and they despoiled all the cities; for there was much spoil in them.
They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep in abundance, and camels, and returned to Jerusalem.
Joash was seven years old when he began to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Zibiah, of Beer-sheba.
And Joash did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters.
And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to restore the house of Jehovah.
And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year; and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened it not.
And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the tax of Moses the servant of Jehovah, and of the assembly {Or, for Israel}of Israel, for the tent of the testimony?
For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of Jehovah did they bestow upon the Baalim.
So the king commanded, and they made a chest, and set it without at the gate of the house of Jehovah.
And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in for Jehovah the tax that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness.
And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end.
And it was so, that, at what time the chest was brought unto the king's {Hebrew: office.}officers {Or, which was under the hand}by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king's {Or, secretary}scribe and the chief priest's officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to its place again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.
And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of Jehovah; and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of Jehovah, and also such as wrought iron and brass to repair the house of Jehovah.
So the workmen wrought, and {Hebrew: healing went up upon the work.}the work of repairing went forward in their hands, and they set up the house of God {Or, according to the proportion thereof}in its state, and strengthened it.
And when they had made an end, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of Jehovah, even vessels wherewith to minister and {Or, pestles}to offer, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt-offerings in the house of Jehovah continually all the days of Jehoiada.
But Jehoiada waxed old and was full of days, and he died; a hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.
And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.
Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.
And they forsook the house of Jehovah, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guiltiness.
Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto Jehovah; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.
And the Spirit of God {Hebrew: clothed itself with.}came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of Jehovah, so that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken Jehovah, he hath also forsaken you.
And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of Jehovah.
Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, Jehovah look upon it, and require it.
And it came to pass at the {Hebrew: revolution.}end of the year, that the army of the Syrians came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus.
For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men; and Jehovah delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken Jehovah, the God of their fathers. So they executed {Hebrew: judgements.}judgment upon Joash.
And when they were departed for him (for they left him very sick), his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the {The Vulgate and some editions of Septuagint read, son.}sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died; and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.
And these are they that conspired against him: {In 2 Kings 12:21, Jozacar.}Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of {In 2 Kings 12:21, Shomer.}Shimrith the Moabitess.
Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens {Or, uttered against}laid upon him, and the {Hebrew: founding.}rebuilding of the house of God, behold, they are written in the commentary of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.
Now from the time that Amaziah did turn away from following Jehovah they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there.
And all the people of Judah took {In 2 Kings 14:21, Azariah.}Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.
He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers.
Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jechiliah, of Jerusalem.
And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.
And he set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who {Or, gave instruction}had understanding in {Hebrew: the seeing.}the vision of God: and as long as he sought Jehovah, God made him to prosper.
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 he built cities in the country of Ashdod, and among the Philistines.
And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gur-baal, and the Meunim.
And the Ammonites gave tribute to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entrance of Egypt; for he waxed exceeding 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.
And he built towers in the wilderness, and hewed out many cisterns, for he had much cattle; in the lowland also, and in the {Or, table-land}plain: and he had husbandmen and vinedressers in the mountains and in {Or, Carmel See 1 Samuel 25:2}the fruitful fields; for he loved husbandry.
Moreover Uzziah had an army of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their reckoning made by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains.
The whole number of the heads of fathers' houses, even the mighty men of valor, was two thousand and six hundred.
And under their hand was {Hebrew: the power of an army.}an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.
And Uzziah prepared for them, even for all the host, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and stones for slinging.
And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by skilful men, to be on the towers and upon the {Or, corner towers}battlements, wherewith to shoot arrows and great stones. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.
But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up, {Or, to his destruction}so that he did corruptly, and he trespassed against Jehovah his God; for he went into the temple of Jehovah to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of Jehovah, that were valiant men:
and they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It pertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto Jehovah, 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 honor from Jehovah God.
Then Uzziah was wroth; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense; and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy {Hebrew: rose (as the sun).}brake forth in his forehead before the priests in the house of Jehovah, beside the altar of incense.
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 quickly from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because Jehovah had smitten him.
And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a {Or, infirmary}separate house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of Jehovah: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.
Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write.
So Uzziah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.
But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.
Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Neco from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.