Uzziah was the tenth king in the southern kingdom of Judah. He began to rule at age 16 when his father, Amaziah, was killed by conspirators in about 767 B.C. Uzziah sought for and followed the counsel of the prophet Zechariah. While he followed the ways of righteousness, the Lord prospered him (see 2 Kings 15:34; 2 Chronicles 26:5). He led the kingdom of Judah in several successful military campaigns against local enemies. He strengthened the walls of Jerusalem. He supported agriculture. He raised the kingdom of Judah to a condition of prosperity that it had not known since the death of Solomon. Toward the end of his life, as an unauthorized servant of the Lord, Uzziah tried to offer incense on the altar in the temple, at which time he was struck with leprosy (see 2 Chronicles 26:19). His leprosy stayed with him until his death in about 742 B.C. (see Merrill F. Unger, The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, ed. R. K. Harrison and others [1988], 1322–23).