Ozias reigneth prosperously, till he invadeth the priests’ office, upon
which he is struck with a leprosy.
26:1. And all the people of Juda took his son Ozias, who was sixteen
years old, and made him king in the room of Amasias his father.
26:2. He built Ailath, and restored it to the dominion of Juda, after
that the king slept with his fathers.
26:3. Ozias was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was
Jechelia of Jerusalem.
26:4. And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord,
according to all that Amasias his father had done.
26:5. And he sought the Lord in the days of Zacharias that understood
and saw God: and as long as he sought the Lord, he directed him in all
things.
26:6. Moreover he went forth and fought against the Philistines, and
broke down the wall of Geth, and the wall of Jabnia, and the wall of
Azotus: and he built towns in Azotus, and among the Philistines.
26:7. And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the
Arabians, that dwelt in Gurbaal, and against the Ammonites.
26:8. And the Ammonites gave gifts to Ozias: and his name was spread
abroad even to the entrance of Egypt for his frequent victories.
26:9. And Ozias built towers in Jerusalem over the gate of the corner,
and over the gate of the valley, and the rest, in the same side of the
wall, and fortified them.
26:10. And he built towers in the wilderness, and dug many cisterns,
for he had much cattle both in the plains, and in the waste of the
desert: he had also vineyards and dressers of vines in the mountains,
and in Carmel: for he was a man that loved husbandry.
26:11. And the army of his fighting men, that went out to war, was
under the hand of Jehiel the scribe, and Maasias the doctor, and under
the hand of Henanias, who was one of the king’s captains.
26:12. And the whole number of the chiefs by the families of valiant
men were two thousand six hundred.
26:13. And the whole army under them three hundred and seven thousand
five hundred: who were fit for war, and fought for the king against the
enemy.
26:14. And Ozias prepared for them, that is, for the whole army,
shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and
slings to cast stones.
26:15. And he made in Jerusalem engines of diverse kinds, which he
placed in the towers, and in the corners of the walls, to shoot arrows,
and great stones: and his name went forth far abroad, for the Lord
helped him, and had strengthened him.
26:16. But when he was made strong, his heart was lifted up to his
destruction, and he neglected the Lord his God: and going into the
temple of the Lord, he had a mind to burn incense upon the altar of
incense.
26:17. And immediately Azarias the priest going in after him, and with
him fourscore priests of the Lord, most valiant men,
26:18. Withstood the king and said: It doth not belong to thee, Ozias,
to burn incense to the Lord, but to the priests, that is, to the sons
of Aaron, who are consecrated for this ministry: go out of the
sanctuary, do not despise: for this thing shall not be accounted to thy
glory by the Lord God.
26:19. And Ozias was angry, and holding in his hand the censer to burn
incense, threatened the priests. And presently there rose a leprosy in
his forehead before the priests, in the house of the Lord at the altar
of incense.
26:20. And Azarias the high priest, and all the rest of the priests
looked upon him, and saw the leprosy in his forehead, and they made
haste to thrust him out. Yea himself also being frightened, hasted to
go out, because he had quickly felt the stroke of the Lord.
26:21. And Ozias the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and he
dwelt in a house apart being full of the leprosy, for which he had been
cast out of the house of the Lord. And Joatham his son governed the
king’s house, and judged the people of the land.
26:22. But the rest of the acts of Ozias first and last were written by
Isaias the son of Amos, the prophet.
26:23. And Ozias slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the
field of the royal sepulchres, because he was a leper: and Joatham his
son reigned in his stead.