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King Uzziah gets leprosy

An obedient King becomes proud.
Contributed by Sweet Publishing
Story also available on our translated website: German
1
When King Amaziah was killed, the people of Judah made his son Uzziah king. He was just 16 years old when he became king and began to rule from Jerusalem. – Slide 1
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As a young king he was instructed to love and obey the Lord by a godly man called Zechariah. Uzziah learnt to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. – Slide 2
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With Zechariah’s help, Uzziah learnt to humbly obey the Lord and God gave him success. – Slide 3
4
Uzziah went to war against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. – Slide 4
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He then rebuilt towns near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. – Slide 5
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God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal and against the Meunites. – Slide 6
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The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful. – Slide 7
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Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate and at the angle of the wall, and he fortified them. – Slide 8
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He 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. – Slide 9
10
Uzziah had a well-trained army, ready to go out by divisions as organised by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officials. The total number of family leaders over the fighting men was 2,600. Under their command was an army of 307,500 men trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies. Uzziah provided shields, spears, helmets, coats of armour, bows and slingstones for the entire army. – Slide 10
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In Jerusalem he made devices invented for use on the towers and on the corner defences 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. – Slide 11
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However, after Zechariah died, Uzziah became proud of all his success. He thought he was more powerful and important than he was. He became unfaithful to the Lord and vainly entered the Temple to burn incense on the altar of incense. Only the priests were allowed to enter the inner sanctuary of the Temple and burn incense. – Slide 12
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Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the Lord followed him in. They confronted King Uzziah and said, ‘It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord.’ – Slide 13
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‘That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful. You will not be honoured by the Lord God.’ – Slide 14
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Uzziah, 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’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. – Slide 15
16
When 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. – Slide 16
17
King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house and was banned from the temple of the Lord. – Slide 17
18
Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land. When Uzziah died Jotham succeeded him as king. Uzziah was remembered as the King who had leprosy. – Slide 18
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Slide 19