King Jotham of Judah

(2 Kings 15.32-38)

1Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem for sixteen years. Jerushah his mother was the daughter of Zadok.

2Jotham obeyed the LORD and did right. He followed the example of his father Uzziah, except he never burnt incense in the temple as his father had done. But the people of Judah kept sinning against the LORD.

3Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple and did a lot of work to repair the wall near Mount Ophel. 4He built towns in the mountains of Judah and built fortresses and defence towers in the forests.

5During his rule he attacked and defeated the Ammonites. Then every year for the next three years, he forced them to pay three thousand four hundred kilogrammes of silver, one thousand tonnes of wheat, and one thousand tonnes of barley.

6Jotham remained faithful to the LORD his God and became a very powerful king.

7Everything else Jotham did while he was king, including the wars he fought, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah. 8After he had ruled Judah sixteen years, he died at the age of forty-one. 9He was buried in Jerusalem, and his son Ahaz became king.