Drawing Closer: An Everyday Guide for Lent

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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2CH">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="2CH.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="s1">Solomon Asks for Wisdom</div><div class="p"> 1Solomon son of David established himself firmly over his kingdom, for the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.</div><div class="p"> 2Then Solomon spoke to all Israel&#8212;to the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, to the judges and to all the leaders in Israel, the heads of families&#8212; 3and Solomon and the whole assembly went to the high place at Gibeon, for God&#8217;s tent of meeting was there, which Moses the Lord&#8217;s servant had made in the wilderness. 4Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. 5But the bronze altar that Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was in Gibeon in front of the tabernacle of the Lord; so Solomon and the assembly inquired of him there. 6Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the Lord in the tent of meeting and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.</div><div class="p"> 7That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, &#8220;Ask for whatever you want me to give you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8Solomon answered God, &#8220;You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. 9Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11God said to Solomon, &#8220;Since this is your heart&#8217;s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13Then Solomon went to Jerusalem from the high place at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting. And he reigned over Israel.</div><div class="p"> 14Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses,#1:14 Or charioteers which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 15The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. 16Solomon&#8217;s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue#1:16 Probably Cilicia&#8212;the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. 17They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels#1:17 That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty.#1:17 That is, about 3 3/4 pounds or about 1.7 kilograms They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2CH">
 <div class="chapter ch6" data-usfm="2CH.6">
 <div class="label">6</div><div class="p"> 1Then Solomon said, &#8220;The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; 2I have built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed them. 4Then he said:</div><div class="pm">&#8220;Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hands has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to my father David. For he said, 5&#8216;Since the day I brought my people out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my Name might be there, nor have I chosen anyone to be ruler over my people Israel. 6But now I have chosen Jerusalem for my Name to be there, and I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.&#8217;</div><div class="pm"> 7&#8220;My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 8But the Lord said to my father David, &#8216;You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name. 9Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood&#8212;he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.&#8217;</div><div class="pm"> 10&#8220;The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 11There I have placed the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with the people of Israel.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Prayer of Dedication</div><div class="p"> 12Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 13Now he had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high,#6:13 That is, about 7 1/2 feet long and wide and 4 1/2 feet high or about 2.3 meters long and wide and 1.4 meters high and had placed it in the center of the outer court. He stood on the platform and then knelt down before the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. 14He said:</div><div class="pm">&#8220;Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth&#8212;you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 15You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it&#8212;as it is today.</div><div class="pm"> 16&#8220;Now, Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, &#8216;You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me according to my law, as you have done.&#8217; 17And now, Lord, the God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David come true.</div><div class="pm"> 18&#8220;But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 19Yet, Lord my God, give attention to your servant&#8217;s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence. 20May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 21Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.</div><div class="pm"> 22&#8220;When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple, 23then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.</div><div class="pm"> 24&#8220;When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you and when they turn back and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple, 25then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.</div><div class="pm"> 26&#8220;When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 27then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.</div><div class="pm"> 28&#8220;When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 29and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel&#8212;being aware of their afflictions and pains, and spreading out their hands toward this temple&#8212; 30then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know the human heart), 31so that they will fear you and walk in obedience to you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.</div><div class="pm"> 32&#8220;As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm&#8212;when they come and pray toward this temple, 33then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.</div><div class="pm"> 34&#8220;When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to you toward this city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, 35then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.</div><div class="pm"> 36&#8220;When they sin against you&#8212;for there is no one who does not sin&#8212;and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near; 37and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, &#8216;We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly&#8217;; 38and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your Name; 39then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you.</div><div class="pm"> 40&#8220;Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.</div><div class="qm1"> 41&#8220;Now arise, Lord God, and come to your resting place,</div><div class="qm2">you and the ark of your might.</div><div class="qm1">May your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation,</div><div class="qm2">may your faithful people rejoice in your goodness.</div><div class="qm1"> 42 Lord God, do not reject your anointed one.</div><div class="qm2">Remember the great love promised to David your servant.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2CH">
 <div class="chapter ch7" data-usfm="2CH.7">
 <div class="label">7</div><div class="s1">The Dedication of the Temple</div><div class="p"> 1When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. 3When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;He is good;</div><div class="q2">his love endures forever.&#8221;</div><div class="m"> 4Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. 5And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God. 6The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the Lord&#8217;s musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the Lord and which were used when he gave thanks, saying, &#8220;His love endures forever.&#8221; Opposite the Levites, the priests blew their trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.</div><div class="p"> 7Solomon consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat portions.</div><div class="p"> 8So Solomon observed the festival at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him&#8212;a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. 9On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the festival for seven days more. 10On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in heart for the good things the Lord had done for David and Solomon and for his people Israel.</div><div class="s1">The Lord Appears to Solomon</div><div class="p"> 11When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, 12the Lord appeared to him at night and said:</div><div class="pm">&#8220;I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.</div><div class="pm"> 13&#8220;When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.</div><div class="pm"> 17&#8220;As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, 18I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, &#8216;You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.&#8217;</div><div class="pm"> 19&#8220;But if you#7:19 The Hebrew is plural. turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you#7:19 The Hebrew is plural. and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21This temple will become a heap of rubble. All#7:21 See some Septuagint manuscripts, Old Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Targum; Hebrew And though this temple is now so imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and say, &#8216;Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?&#8217; 22People will answer, &#8216;Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them&#8212;that is why he brought all this disaster on them.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2CH">
 <div class="chapter ch9" data-usfm="2CH.9">
 <div class="label">9</div><div class="s1">The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon</div><div class="p"> 1When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon&#8217;s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. Arriving with a very great caravan&#8212;with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones&#8212;she came to Solomon and talked with him about all she had on her mind. 2Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain to her. 3When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, as well as the palace he had built, 4the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, the cupbearers in their robes and the burnt offerings he made at#9:4 Or and the ascent by which he went up to the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.</div><div class="p"> 5She said to the king, &#8220;The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 6But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard. 7How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 8Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne as king to rule for the Lord your God. Because of the love of your God for Israel and his desire to uphold them forever, he has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9Then she gave the king 120 talents#9:9 That is, about 4 1/2 tons or about 4 metric tons of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.</div><div class="p"> 10(The servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon brought gold from Ophir; they also brought algumwood#9:10 Probably a variant of almugwood and precious stones. 11The king used the algumwood to make steps for the temple of the Lord and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. Nothing like them had ever been seen in Judah.)</div><div class="p"> 12King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for; he gave her more than she had brought to him. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Splendor</div><div class="p"> 13The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,#9:13 That is, about 25 tons or about 23 metric tons 14not including the revenues brought in by merchants and traders. Also all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the territories brought gold and silver to Solomon.</div><div class="p"> 15King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels#9:15 That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms of hammered gold went into each shield. 16He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three hundred shekels#9:16 That is, about 7 1/2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.</div><div class="p"> 17Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with pure gold. 18The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to it. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 19Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. 20All King Solomon&#8217;s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon&#8217;s day. 21The king had a fleet of trading ships#9:21 Hebrew of ships that could go to Tarshish manned by Hiram&#8217;s#9:21 Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram servants. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.</div><div class="p"> 22King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. 23All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. 24Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift&#8212;articles of silver and gold, and robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.</div><div class="p"> 25Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horses,#9:25 Or charioteers which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 26He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. 27The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. 28Solomon&#8217;s horses were imported from Egypt and from all other countries.</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Death</div><div class="p"> 29As for the other events of Solomon&#8217;s reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat? 30Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2CH">
 <div class="chapter ch14" data-usfm="2CH.14">
 <div class="label">14</div><div class="p"> # In Hebrew texts 14:1 is numbered 13:23, and 14:2-15 is numbered 14:1-14. 1And Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. Asa his son succeeded him as king, and in his days the country was at peace for ten years.</div><div class="s1">Asa King of Judah</div><div class="p"> 2Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles.#14:3 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah; here and elsewhere in 2 Chronicles 4He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands. 5He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him. 6He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the Lord gave him rest.</div><div class="p"> 7&#8220;Let us build up these towns,&#8221; he said to Judah, &#8220;and put walls around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God; we sought him and he has given us rest on every side.&#8221; So they built and prospered.</div><div class="p"> 8Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows. All these were brave fighting men.</div><div class="p"> 9Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with an army of thousands upon thousands and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. 10Asa went out to meet him, and they took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.</div><div class="p"> 11Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, &#8220;Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12The Lord struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, 13and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the Lord and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder. 14They destroyed all the villages around Gerar, for the terror of the Lord had fallen on them. They looted all these villages, since there was much plunder there. 15They also attacked the camps of the herders and carried off droves of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2CH">
 <div class="chapter ch24" data-usfm="2CH.24">
 <div class="label">24</div><div class="s1">Joash Repairs the Temple</div><div class="p"> 1Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother&#8217;s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. 2Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years of Jehoiada the priest. 3Jehoiada chose two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.</div><div class="p"> 4Some time later Joash decided to restore the temple of the Lord. 5He called together the priests and Levites and said to them, &#8220;Go to the towns of Judah and collect the money due annually from all Israel, to repair the temple of your God. Do it now.&#8221; But the Levites did not act at once.</div><div class="p"> 6Therefore the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and said to him, &#8220;Why haven&#8217;t you required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Moses the servant of the Lord and by the assembly of Israel for the tent of the covenant law?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7Now the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the temple of God and had used even its sacred objects for the Baals.</div><div class="p"> 8At the king&#8217;s command, a chest was made and placed outside, at the gate of the temple of the Lord. 9A proclamation was then issued in Judah and Jerusalem that they should bring to the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God had required of Israel in the wilderness. 10All the officials and all the people brought their contributions gladly, dropping them into the chest until it was full. 11Whenever the chest was brought in by the Levites to the king&#8217;s officials and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this regularly and collected a great amount of money. 12The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who carried out the work required for the temple of the Lord. They hired masons and carpenters to restore the Lord&#8217;s temple, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the temple.</div><div class="p"> 13The men in charge of the work were diligent, and the repairs progressed under them. They rebuilt the temple of God according to its original design and reinforced it. 14When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the Lord&#8217;s temple: articles for the service and for the burnt offerings, and also dishes and other objects of gold and silver. As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the Lord.</div><div class="p"> 15Now Jehoiada was old and full of years, and he died at the age of a hundred and thirty. 16He was buried with the kings in the City of David, because of the good he had done in Israel for God and his temple.</div><div class="s1">The Wickedness of Joash</div><div class="p"> 17After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. 18They abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God&#8217;s anger came on Judah and Jerusalem. 19Although the Lord sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.</div><div class="p"> 20Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, &#8220;This is what God says: &#8216;Why do you disobey the Lord&#8217;s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 21But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord&#8217;s temple. 22King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah&#8217;s father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who said as he lay dying, &#8220;May the Lord see this and call you to account.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23At the turn of the year,#24:23 Probably in the spring the army of Aram marched against Joash; it invaded Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the people. They sent all the plunder to their king in Damascus. 24Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the Lord delivered into their hands a much larger army. Because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, judgment was executed on Joash. 25When the Arameans withdrew, they left Joash severely wounded. His officials conspired against him for murdering the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him in his bed. So he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.</div><div class="p"> 26Those who conspired against him were Zabad,#24:26 A variant of Jozabad son of Shimeath an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad, son of Shimrith#24:26 A variant of Shomer a Moabite woman. 27The account of his sons, the many prophecies about him, and the record of the restoration of the temple of God are written in the annotations on the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son succeeded him as king.</div>
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 <div class="book bk2CH">
 <div class="chapter ch26" data-usfm="2CH.26">
 <div class="label">26</div><div class="s1">Uzziah King of Judah</div><div class="p"> 1Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah,#26:1 Also called Azariah who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 2He was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after Amaziah rested with his ancestors.</div><div class="p"> 3Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother&#8217;s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 4He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear#26:5 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Syriac; other Hebrew manuscripts vision of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.</div><div class="p"> 6He went to war against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. He then rebuilt towns near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. 7God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal and against the Meunites. 8The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful.</div><div class="p"> 9Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate and at the angle of the wall, and he fortified them. 10He also built towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, because he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain. He had people working his fields and vineyards in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.</div><div class="p"> 11Uzziah had a well-trained army, ready to go out by divisions according to their numbers as mustered by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officials. 12The total number of family leaders over the fighting men was 2,600. 13Under their command was an army of 307,500 men trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies. 14Uzziah provided shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows and slingstones for the entire army. 15In Jerusalem he made devices invented for use on the towers and on the corner defenses so that soldiers could shoot arrows and hurl large stones from the walls. His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful.</div><div class="p"> 16But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the Lord followed him in. 18They confronted King Uzziah and said, &#8220;It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the Lord God.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord&#8217;s temple, leprosy#26:19 The Hebrew for leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin; also in verses 20, 21 and 23. broke out on his forehead. 20When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the Lord had afflicted him.</div><div class="p"> 21King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house#26:21 Or in a house where he was relieved of responsibilities&#8212;leprous, and banned from the temple of the Lord. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.</div><div class="p"> 22The other events of Uzziah&#8217;s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 23Uzziah rested with his ancestors and was buried near them in a cemetery that belonged to the kings, for people said, &#8220;He had leprosy.&#8221; And Jotham his son succeeded him as king.</div>
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