Uzziah became king of Judah at sixteen and reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. He warred against the Philistines, the Arabians, and the Ammonites, built fortified towers in Jerusalem and the desert, dug wells, kept large herds, and supplied his army with shields, spears, and stone-throwing engines. After he grew strong he went into the temple to burn incense, a function reserved for the priests; when the priests confronted him he was struck with leprosy on his forehead and lived apart in seclusion until his death, while his son Jotham governed in his place (2 Chronicles 26).
In Isaiah’s record, quoted by Nephi, Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon a throne in the temple “in the year that king Uzziah died” (2 Nephi 16:1). Uzziah is also named in the genealogy of the kings of Judah as the father of Jotham and grandfather of Ahaz, in whose days Rezin of Syria and Pekah of Israel marched against Jerusalem (2 Nephi 17:1).