Through the Bible – Day 159

₁Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled twenty-nine years from Jerusalem, the home town of his mother Jehoaddin.

₂Even though Amaziah obeyed the LORD by doing right, he refused to be completely faithful. ₃For example, as soon as he had control of Judah, he arrested and killed the officers who had murdered his father. ₄But the children of those officers were not killed; the LORD had commanded in the Law of Moses that only the people who sinned were to be punished.

₅Amaziah sent a message to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and called together all the men who were twenty years old and older. Three hundred thousand men went to Jerusalem, all of them ready for battle and able to fight with spears and shields. Amaziah grouped these soldiers according to their clans and put them under the command of his army officers. ₆Amaziah also paid about three thousand four hundred kilogrammes of silver to hire one hundred thousand soldiers from Israel.

₇One of God's prophets said, “Your Majesty, don't let these Israelite soldiers march into battle with you. The LORD has refused to help anyone from the northern kingdom of Israel, ₈and so he will let your enemies defeat you, even if you fight hard. He is the one who brings both victory and defeat.”

₉Amaziah replied, “What am I supposed to do about all the silver I paid those troops?”

“The LORD will give you back even more than you paid,” the prophet answered.

₁₀Amaziah ordered the troops from Israel to go home, but when they left, they were furious with the people of Judah.

₁₁After Amaziah got his courage back, he led his troops to Salt Valley, where he killed ten thousand Edomite soldiers in battle. ₁₂He captured ten thousand more soldiers and dragged them to the top of a high cliff. Then he pushed them over the side, and they were all killed on the rocks below.

₁₃Meanwhile, the Israelite troops that Amaziah had sent home, raided the towns in Judah between Samaria and Beth-Horon. They killed three thousand people and carried off their possessions.

₁₄After Amaziah had defeated the Edomite army, he returned to Jerusalem. He took with him the idols of the Edomite gods and set them up. Then he bowed down and offered them sacrifices. ₁₅This made the LORD very angry, and he sent a prophet to ask Amaziah, “Why would you worship these foreign gods that couldn't even save their own people from your attack?”

₁₆But before the prophet finished speaking, Amaziah interrupted and said, “You're not one of my advisers! Don't say another word, or I'll have you killed.”

The prophet stopped. But then he added, “First you sinned and now you've ignored my warning. It's clear that God has decided to punish you!”

₁₇King Amaziah of Judah talked with his officials, then sent a message to King Jehoash of Israel: “Come out and face me in battle!”

₁₈Jehoash sent back a reply that said:

₂₀God made Amaziah stubborn because he was planning to punish him for worshipping the Edomite gods. Amaziah refused to listen to Jehoash's warning, ₂₁so Jehoash led his army to the town of Beth-Shemesh in Judah to attack Amaziah and his troops. ₂₂During the battle, Judah's army was crushed. Every soldier from Judah ran back home, ₂₃and Jehoash captured Amaziah.

Jehoash took Amaziah with him when he went to attack Jerusalem. Jehoash broke down the city wall from Ephraim Gate to Corner Gate, a section nearly two hundred metres long. ₂₄He carried away the gold, the silver, and all the valuable furnishings from God's temple where the descendants of Obed-Edom stood guard. He robbed the king's treasury, took hostages, then returned to Samaria.

₂₅Amaziah lived fifteen years after Jehoash died. ₂₆Everything else Amaziah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

₂₇As soon as Amaziah started disobeying the LORD, some people in Jerusalem plotted against Amaziah. He was able to escape to the town of Lachish, but another group of people caught him and killed him there. ₂₈His body was taken to Jerusalem on horseback and buried beside his ancestors.

_1-3After the death of King Amaziah, the people of Judah crowned his son Uzziah king, even though he was only sixteen at the time. Uzziah ruled fifty-two years from Jerusalem, the home town of his mother Jecoliah. During his rule, he recaptured and rebuilt the town of Elath.

₄He obeyed the LORD by doing right, as his father Amaziah had done. ₅Zechariah was Uzziah's adviser and taught him to obey God. And so, as long as Zechariah was alive, Uzziah was faithful to God, and God made him successful.

₆While Uzziah was king, he started a war against the Philistines. He smashed the walls of the cities of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod, then rebuilt towns around Ashdod and in other parts of Philistia. ₇God helped him defeat the Philistines, the Arabs living in Gur-Baal, and the Meunites. ₈Even the Ammonites paid taxes to Uzziah. He became very powerful, and people who lived as far away as Egypt heard about him.

₉In Jerusalem, Uzziah built fortified towers at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and the place where the city wall turned inward. ₁₀He also built defence towers out in the desert.

He owned such a large herd of livestock in the western foothills and in the flat lands, that he had cisterns dug there to catch the rainwater. He loved farming, so he had crops and vineyards planted in the hill country wherever there was fertile soil, and he hired farmers to take care of them.

₁₁Uzziah's army was always ready for battle. Jeiel and Maaseiah were the officers who kept track of the number of soldiers, and these two men were under the command of Hananiah, one of Uzziah's officials. _12-13There were 307,500 trained soldiers, all under the command of 2,600 clan leaders. These powerful troops protected the king against any enemy. ₁₄Uzziah supplied his army with shields, spears, helmets, armour, bows, and stones used for slinging. ₁₅Some of his skilled workers invented machines that could shoot arrows and sling large stones. Uzziah set these up in Jerusalem at his defence towers and at the corners of the city wall.

God helped Uzziah become more and more powerful, and he was famous all over the world.

₁₆Uzziah became proud of his power, and this led to his downfall.

One day, Uzziah disobeyed the LORD his God by going into the temple and burning incense as an offering to him. ₁₇Azariah the priest and eighty other brave priests followed Uzziah into the temple ₁₈and said, “Your Majesty, this isn't right! You are not allowed to burn incense to the LORD. That must be done only by priests who are descendants of Aaron. You will have to leave! You have sinned against the LORD, and so he will no longer bless you.”

₁₉Uzziah, who was standing next to the incense altar at the time, was holding the incense burner, ready to offer incense to the LORD. He became very angry when he heard Azariah's warning, and leprosy suddenly appeared on his forehead! ₂₀Azariah and the other priests saw it and immediately told him to leave the temple. Uzziah realized that the LORD had punished him, so he hurried to get outside.

₂₁Uzziah had leprosy for the rest of his life. He was no longer allowed in the temple or in his own palace. That's why his son Jotham lived there and ruled in his place.

₂₂Everything else Uzziah did while he was king is in the records written by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. ₂₃Since Uzziah had leprosy, he could not be buried in the royal tombs. Instead, he was buried in a nearby cemetery that the kings owned. His son Jotham then became king.

₁₉The high priest questioned Jesus about his followers and his teaching. ₂₀But Jesus told him, “I have spoken freely in front of everyone. And I have always taught in our meeting places and in the temple, where all our people come together. I have not said anything in secret. ₂₁Why are you questioning me? Why don't you ask the people who heard me? They know what I have said.”

₂₂As soon as Jesus said this, one of the temple police hit him and said, “That's no way to talk to the high priest!”

₂₃Jesus answered, “If I have done something wrong, say so. But if not, why did you hit me?” ₂₄Jesus was still tied up, and Annas sent him to Caiaphas the high priest.

₂₅While Simon Peter was standing there warming himself, someone asked him, “Aren't you one of Jesus' followers?”

Again Peter denied it and said, “No, I am not!”

₂₆One of the high priest's servants was there. He was a relative of the servant whose ear Peter had cut off, and he asked, “Didn't I see you in the garden with that man?”

₂₇Once more Peter denied it, and at once a cock crowed.

₂₈It was early in the morning when Jesus was taken from Caiaphas to the building where the Roman governor stayed. But the crowd waited outside. Any of them who had gone inside would have become unclean and would not be allowed to eat the Passover meal.

₂₉Pilate came out and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”

₃₀They answered, “He is a criminal! That's why we brought him to you.”

₃₁Pilate told them, “Take him and judge him by your own laws.”

The crowd replied, “We are not allowed to put anyone to death.” ₃₂And so what Jesus said about his death would soon come true.

₃₃Pilate then went back inside. He called Jesus over and asked, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

₃₄Jesus answered, “Are you asking this on your own or did someone tell you about me?”

₃₅“You know I'm not a Jew!” Pilate said. “Your own people and the chief priests brought you to me. What have you done?”

₃₆Jesus answered, “My kingdom doesn't belong to this world. If it did, my followers would have fought to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. No, my kingdom doesn't belong to this world.”

₃₇“So you are a king,” Pilate replied.

“You are saying that I am a king,” Jesus told him. “I was born into this world to tell about the truth. And everyone who belongs to the truth knows my voice.”

₃₈Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?”

Pilate went back out and said, “I don't find this man guilty of anything!