Edomites whom he attempted to reconquer. He punished
also the murderers of his father, and spared their sons, according to the
merciful provision of the laws of Moses. But he worshiped the gods of the
Edomites, and was filled with vainglory from his successes over them. It
was then he rashly challenged the king of Israel, who replied haughtily:
"The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon,
saying, give thy daughter to my son to wife, and there passed by a wild
beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle." "So thou hast
smitten the Edomites, and thine heart lifteth thee up to boast. Abide now
at home; why shouldst thou meddle to thine hurt, that thou shouldst fall,
even thou and Judah with thee." But Amaziah would not heed, and the two
kings encountered each other in battle, and Judah suffered a disastrous
defeat, and Joash, the king of Israel, came to Jerusalem and took all the
gold and silver and all the sacred vessels of the temple and the treasures
of the royal palace, and returned to Samaria. After this humiliation
Amaziah reigned, probably wisely, more than fifteen years, until falling
into evil courses, he was slain in a conspiracy, B.C. 810, and his son
Uzziah or Azariah, a boy of sixteen, was made king by the people of Judah.

(M134) This monarch enjoyed a long and prosperous reign of fifty-two
years. He reorganized the army and refortified his capital. He conquered
the Philistines, and also the Arabs, on his borders: received tribute from
the Ammonites, and spread his name unto Egypt. During his reign the
kingdom of Judah and Benjamin had great prosperity and power. The army
numbered 307,500 men well equipped and armed, with military engines to
shoot arrows and stones from the towers and walls. He also built castles
in the desert, and digged wells for his troops stationed there. He
developed the resources of his country, and devoted himself especially to
the arts of agriculture and the cultivation of the vine, and the raising
of cattle. But he could not stand prosperity, and in his presumption,
attempted even to force himself in the sacred part of the temple to offer
sacrifices, which was permitted to the priests alone; for which violation
of the sacred laws of the realm, he was smitten with leprosy--the most
loathsome of all the diseases which afflict the East. As a leper, he
remained isolated the rest of his life, not even being permitted by the
laws to enter the precincts o