1 Azariah son of Amaziah became king of Judah in Jeroboam's twenty-seventh year as king of Israel.
2 He was only sixteen years old when he became king, and he ruled fifty-two years from Jerusalem, which was also the home town of his mother Jecoliah.
3 Azariah obeyed the Lord by doing right, as his father Amaziah had done.
4 But Azariah did not destroy the local shrines, and they were still used as places for offering sacrifices.
5 The Lord punished Azariah with leprosy for the rest of his life. He wasn't allowed to live in the royal palace, so his son Jotham lived there and ruled in his place.