=Uzziah's Strong Reign.= Uzziah, who succeeded his father, rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and strengthened them by towers that guarded the northwestern and southwestern gates of the city. He also extended the influence of Judah in the south, building the important port of Elath. In a campaign against the Philistines he captured Gath, whose power had already been broken by the Arameans, Jabneh, west of Gezer, and Ashdod farther south. The death of this strong king, therefore, marked a crisis in the life of Judah, for his successors were inefficient and at this time Assyrian armies began to invade Palestine. =Isaiah of Jerusalem.= It was in the year that Uzziah died that Judah's great prophet, Isaiah, entered upon his work. His intense loyalty to his nation and his conception of the transcendent majesty of the Divine King who ruled over Israel, reveal his southern birth and training. His familiarity with king, court, and the problems of the nation leave little doubt that he was a citizen of Jerusalem and possibly a scion of one of its noble families. At first, like Amos, he devoted himself to denouncing the crimes of the ruling class and the inevitable result of their cruelty, greed, and disregard of public responsibility. =His Advice to Ahaz in the Crisis of 734 B.C.= When, in 735, Northern Israel and Damascus united and endeavored to force Judah to combine with them in a coalition against the invader, Tiglath-pileser IV, Isaiah entered upon his work as a statesman. In person he went to advise Ahaz, as the king was probably investigating the defences of Jerusalem, in view of the possibilities of an impending siege. The place of meeting was evidently south of the city, where the valley of the Tyropœon joined that of the Hinnom near the pool where, in earlier days, Adonijah had rallied his followers.^{(107)} Isaiah's advice, however, to make no alliances, but to simply trust Jehovah for deliverance, was rejected by king and people. Ahaz became a vassal of Assyria, and not only turned over the silver and gold of the temple and palace to the invader, but went in person to Damascus to pay homage to Tiglath-pileser.