¹² And when the king came back from Damascus, the king saw the altar; and ^(A)the king approached the altar and made offerings on it.

The Penalty for Uzziah’s Pride^(A)

¹⁶ But ^(B)when he was strong his heart was ^(C)lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God ^(D)by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷ So ^(E)Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him were eighty priests of the Lord—valiant men. ¹⁸ And they withstood King Uzziah, and said to him, “It ^(F)is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the ^(G)priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed! You shall have no honor from the Lord God.”

¹⁹ Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, ^(H)leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altar.

²⁵ And in every single city of Judah he made ^[a]high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers.

²³ For ^(A)he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him, saying, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them ^(B)that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel.

The Message of the Man of God

13 And behold, ^(A)a man of God went from Judah to Bethel ^[a]by the word of the Lord, ^(B)and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

⁴ They shall be joined with you and attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, for all the work of the tabernacle; ^(A)but an outsider shall not come near you. ⁵ And you shall attend to ^(B)the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, ^(C)that there may be no more wrath on the children of Israel. ⁶ Behold, I Myself have ^(D)taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel; ^(E)they are a gift to you, given by the Lord, to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting. ⁷ Therefore ^(F)you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar and ^(G)behind the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood to you as a ^(H)gift for service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”