Jehoahaz Reigns in Israel

¹In the twenty-third year of the reign of Joash son of Ahaziah over Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria seventeen years.

²And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and followed the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.

³So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them continually into the hands of Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-hadad.

⁴Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him because He saw the oppression that the king of Aram had inflicted on Israel.

⁵So the LORD gave Israel a deliverer, and they escaped the power of the Arameans. Then the people of Israel lived in their own homes as they had before.

⁶Nevertheless, they did not turn away from the sins that the house of Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit, but they continued to walk in them.The Asherah pole even remained standing in Samaria.

⁷Jehoahaz had no army left, except fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.

⁸As for the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, along with all his accomplishments and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

⁹And Jehoahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. And his son Jehoashreigned in his place.

Jehoash Reigns in Israel

¹⁰In the thirty-seventh year of the reign of Joash over Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years.

¹¹And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and did not turn away from all the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit, but he walked in them.

¹²As for the rest of the acts of Jehoash, along with all his accomplishments and his might, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

¹³And Jehoash rested with his fathers, and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Elisha’s Final Prophecy

¹⁴When Elisha had fallen sick with the illness from which he would die, Jehoash king of Israel came down to him and wept over him, saying, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!”

¹⁵Elisha told him, “Take a bow and some arrows.”So Jehoash took a bow and some arrows.

¹⁶Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.”So the king put his hand on the bow, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.

¹⁷“Open the east window,” said Elisha.So he opened it and Elisha said, “Shoot!” So he shot.And Elisha declared:“This is the LORD’s arrow of victory,the arrow of victory over Aram,for you shall strike the Arameans in Aphekuntil you have put an end to them.”

¹⁸Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows!”So he took them, and Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!”So he struck the ground three times and stopped.

¹⁹But the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would have struck down Aram until you had put an end to it. But now you will strike down Aram only three times.”

²⁰And Elisha died and was buried.Now the Moabite raiders used to come into the land every spring.

²¹Once, as the Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders, so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. And as soon as his body touched the bones of Elisha, the man was revived and stood up on his feet.

²²And Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz.

²³But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been unwilling to destroy them or cast them from His presence.

²⁴When Hazael king of Aram died, his son Ben-hadad reigned in his place.

²⁵Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz took back from Ben-hadad son of Hazael the cities that Hazael had taken in battle from his father Jehoahaz. Jehoash defeated Ben-hadad three times, and so recovered the cities of Israel.

Jotham Reigns in Judah

¹Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother’s name was Jerushahdaughter of Zadok.

²And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Uzziahhad done. In addition, he did not enter the temple of the LORD. But the people still behaved corruptly.

³Jotham 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.

⁵Jotham 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.

⁷As 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.

Uzziah Reigns in Judah

¹All 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 Elothand restored it to Judah after King Amaziahrested with his fathers.

³Uzziah 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 fearof God. And as long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.

⁶Uzziah 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.

⁹Uzziah 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 foothillsand 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.

¹¹Uzziah 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.

¹⁴Uzziah supplied the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and slingstones.

¹⁵And in Jerusalem he made skillfully designed devices to shootarrows 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.

¹⁶But 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.

¹⁷Then 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.”

¹⁹Uzziah, 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, leprosybroke 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.

²¹So 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.

²²As 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 themin 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.

I Will Exalt You, My God and King

¹I will exalt You, my God and King;I will bless Your name forever and ever.

²Every day I will bless You,and I will praise Your name forever and ever.

³Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised;His greatness is unsearchable.

⁴One generation will commend Your works to the next,and will proclaim Your mighty acts—

⁵the glorious splendor of Your majesty.And I will meditate on Your wondrous works.

⁶They will proclaim the power of Your awesome deeds,and I will declare Your greatness.

⁷They will extol the fame of Your abundant goodnessand sing joyfully of Your righteousness.

⁸The LORD is gracious and compassionate,slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.

⁹The LORD is good to all;His compassion rests on all He has made.

¹⁰All You have made will give You thanks, O LORD,and Your saints will bless You.

¹¹They will tell of the glory of Your kingdomand speak of Your might,

¹²to make known to men Your mighty actsand the glorious splendor of Your kingdom.

¹³Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,and Your dominion endures through all generations.The LORD is faithful in all His wordsand kind in all His actions.

¹⁴The LORD upholds all who falland lifts up all who are bowed down.

¹⁵The eyes of all look to You,and You give them their food in season.

¹⁶You open Your handand satisfy the desire of every living thing.

¹⁷The LORD is righteous in all His waysand kind in all His deeds.

¹⁸The LORD is near to all who call on Him,to all who call out to Him in truth.

¹⁹He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him;He hears their cry and saves them.

²⁰The LORD preserves all who love Him,but all the wicked He will destroy.

²¹My mouth will declare the praise of the LORD;let every creature bless His holy nameforever and ever.