The Daily Audio Bible

Uzziah, King of Judah^(A)

26 And all the people of Judah took Uzziah^[a] and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah when he was sixteen years old. ² He built Eloth and restored it to Judah after Amaziah the king slept with his fathers.

³ Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he was king in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. The name of his mother was Jekoliah from Jerusalem. ⁴ And he did what was correct in the eyes of the Lord as everything his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ And he sought after God in the days of Zechariah, the one who instructed him in the fear of the Lord. And in the days that he sought after the Lord, God caused him to succeed.

⁶ He went out to make war with the Philistines, and he broke through the walls at Gath and Jabneh and Ashdod. Then he built cities in Ashdod and among the Philistines. ⁷ And God brought him aid against the Philistines and Arabians, those living in Gur Baal, and the Meunites. ⁸ And the Ammonites gave a gift to Uzziah, and his name spread even to the border of Egypt because he became quite powerful.

⁹ Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the corner buttress; and he fortified them. ¹⁰ And he built towers in the wilderness, and he dug out many cisterns because he had a large amount of livestock, both in the lowland Shephelah and in the plain. He also had workers in the fields and vineyards in the hills and fertile orchards, for he loved agriculture.

¹¹ And Uzziah had an army prepared for battle, those who went out for war as companies in the number of their divisions by the appointment of Jeiel the scribe, and Maaseiah the officer, and Hananiah a commander of the king. ¹² The total number of chief officers of the mighty men of valor was two thousand six hundred. ¹³ And under their hand was a mighty army of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred who were able to go to battle as a strong army and to help the king against his enemies. ¹⁴ And Uzziah prepared for the entire army shields, long spears, helmets, scale armor, bows, and slings for stones. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem he made war machines by skilled men to be placed on towers and corners to shoot arrows and large stones. And his name went out for a great distance. He received great help until he was even more powerful.

Uzziah’s Punishment for Pride

¹⁶ And as he grew strong, his heart grew more proud, leading to his destruction. Then he acted unfaithfully against the Lord his God, for he entered the temple main hall of the Lord to burn incense on the altar. ¹⁷ But Azariah the priest entered in after him, and with him were eighty priests of the Lord—men of valor. ¹⁸ And they stood against King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord for it is for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Leave from the sanctuary because you have been unfaithful, and there will be no honor for you from the Lord God.”

¹⁹ Then Uzziah was enraged, and in his hand was a censer for incense. And when he became angry with the priests, leprosy appeared on his forehead in front of the priests in the house of the Lord, near the altar of incense. ²⁰ Then Azariah the head priest and all the priests turned to him, and he had leprosy on his forehead; and they hastened to remove him from there, and he also hurried to leave because the Lord had struck him.

²¹ So King Uzziah had leprosy until the day of his death. He dwelt in a separate house with his unclean disease because he was cut off from the house of the Lord. Then Jotham his son was over the house of the king, and he governed the people of the land.

²² Now the remainder of the acts of Uzziah, from beginning to end, Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz, has written them. ²³ So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field belonging to the kings because they said, “He is a leper.” And Jotham his son ruled in his place.

Jotham, King of Judah^(B)

27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began as king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. ² And he did what was correct in the eyes of the Lord just as his father Uzziah had done. However, he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people continued acting corruptly. ³ And he built the Upper Gate of the house of the Lord, and he built much on the wall of Ophel. ⁴ And he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and on the wooded heights he built citadels and towers.

⁵ He made war with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. That year the Ammonites gave to him one hundred talents^[b] of silver, ten thousand kors^[c] of wheat, and ten thousand kors^[d] of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and third years as well.

⁶ So Jotham was strengthened because he established his ways before the Lord his God.

⁷ And the remainder of the acts of Jotham, all his wars and ways, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸ He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he was king for sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁹ And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. And Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

Ahaz, King of Judah^(C)

28 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he was king in Jerusalem for sixteen years. And he did not do what was correct in the eyes of the Lord as David his father. ² And he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and he cast images for Baal worship. ³ And he made sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, and he burned his sons in the fire according to the detestable acts of the nations that the Lord had displaced before the sons of Israel. ⁴ He even made sacrifices and offered incense on the high places of the hills and under every green tree.

Judah Defeated

⁵ So the Lord his God gave him into the hand of the king of Aram. They struck Ahaz and took captive many prisoners and brought them to Damascus.

He was even given into the hand of the king of Israel, and he attacked Ahaz with a great slaughter. ⁶ And Pekah the son of Remaliah killed one hundred and twenty thousand in Judah in one day, and they were all strong men, but they abandoned the Lord God of their fathers. ⁷ And Zikri, a mighty warrior from Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the son of the king, and Azrikam the official of the palace, and Elkanah second to the king. ⁸ And the sons of Israel took captive two hundred thousand of their kin, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much plunder and brought the plunder to Samaria.

⁹ And there was a prophet there whose name was Oded, and he went out to the army as it approached Samaria and said to them, “See that the anger of the Lord God of your fathers is against Judah, and He gave them into your hand, and you all have killed them in a rage that has reached even to heaven. ¹⁰ And now you are planning to subdue for yourselves the people of Judah and Jerusalem as male and female slaves. Do you all not surely have among you guilt before the Lord your God? ¹¹ And now listen to me. Return the captives whom you have taken captive from your relatives because the burning wrath of the Lord is on you all.”

¹² And some men who were heads of the people of Ephraim rose up before those coming from the war: Azariah the son of Jehohanan, Berekiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai. ¹³ And they said, “You will not bring the captives here, for guilt from the Lord will be on us, and you plan to add to our sin and guilt. Our guilt is great, and there is already a burning anger against Israel.”

¹⁴ So the soldiers left the captives and spoil before the officials and all the assembly. ¹⁵ Then the men who were designated by name took the captives and clothed those who were naked from the plunder. So they clothed them, gave them sandals, offered them food and drink, anointed them with oil, and led them on donkeys, even all those who stumbled. They brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, which was near their kinsmen. Then the officials returned to Samaria.

¹⁶ At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help. ¹⁷ The Edomites continually came and struck Judah and carried off captives. ¹⁸ Even the Philistines made raids on the cities of the lowlands of the Shephelah and the Negev of Judah. And they captured Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soko and its villages, Timnah and its villages, and Gimzo and its villages; and they settled there. ¹⁹ For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Judah, for he allowed depravity to spread in Judah and continually transgressed against the Lord. ²⁰ So Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came against him, but he brought him distress and not strength. ²¹ For Ahaz took a portion from the house of the Lord and palace of the king and the officials, and he gave it to the king of Assyria, but the king did not help Ahaz.

The Death of Ahaz

²² And at the time that he was oppressed he increased in unfaithfulness against the Lord. ²³ So he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had devastated him, for he said, “Because the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so that they might help me.” But they were his downfall in Judah and the downfall for all of Israel.

²⁴ And Ahaz gathered the vessels from the house of God, and he cut up the vessels. Then he shut the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made altars in every corner of Jerusalem. ²⁵ Then in every city in Judah he made high places to make offerings to other gods. So he provoked the Lord God of his fathers.

²⁶ Now the remainder of the acts and all his ways, from first to last, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷ So Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of Jerusalem because they did not bring him to the tombs of the kings of Israel. Then Hezekiah his son was king in his place.

Subjection to Authorities

13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are appointed by God. ² Therefore whoever resists the authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³ Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil works. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from him, ⁴ for he is the servant of God for your good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the servant of God, an avenger to execute wrath upon him who practices evil. ⁵ So it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for the sake of conscience.

⁶ For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are God’s servants, devoting themselves to this very thing. ⁷ Render to all what is due them: taxes to whom taxes are due, respect to whom respect is due, fear to whom fear is due, and honor to whom honor is due.

Brotherly Love

⁸ Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not give false testimony, You shall not covet,”^[a] and if there are any other commandments, are summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”^{[b] 10} Love works no evil to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

The Approach of the Day of Christ

¹¹ Furthermore, knowing the time, now is the moment to awake from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. ¹² The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us take off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us behave properly, as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in immorality and wickedness, not in strife and envy. ¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.

Psalm 23

A Psalm of David.