After the violent death of Amaziah, the kingdom of Judah or house of Jacob had become so excessively weakened, partly through internal dissensions and partly through foreign warfare, that it was a by-word among the nations. A contemporary prophet called it "the crumbling house of David," and oftentimes repeated, "Who will raise Jacob, seeing that he is so small?" And yet from out of this weakness and abasement Judah once more rose to such power that it inspired the neighbouring peoples with fear. First the internal dissensions had to be set at rest. The entire nation of Judah rose up against the nobles that had committed regicide a second time and created confusion. The young prince Azariah, or Uzziah, was made king. This king--who was only seventeen years old, and who, like his contemporary, King Jeroboam, enjoyed a long reign--possessed energy, determination and caution, which enabled him to restore the crumbling house of David. His first care was to transport the corpse of his father from Lachish, where it had been buried, to Jerusalem, where it was interred with the remains of the other kings of the house of David. Whether Uzziah punished the murderers of his father cannot be ascertained. He then proceeded to heal the wounds of his country, but the task was a difficult one, for he not only had to contend with enemies within the state itself and among the neighbouring nations, but also against untoward circumstances. The very forces of nature seemed to have conspired against the land, which was devastated by a succession of calamities calculated to reduce the staunchest heart to despair and apathy. In the first place, an earthquake occurred in Uzziah's time, which terrified the inhabitants of Palestine, who were unused to such occurrences. The people took to flight, shrieking with terror, expecting every moment to be engulfed in an abyss beneath the quivering earth. The phenomena accompanying the earthquake increased their terror. The sun was hidden by a sudden, thick fog, which wrapped everything in darkness, and the lightning flashes which, from time to time, illuminated it, added to the prevailing terror. The moon and stars appeared to have lost their light. The sea, stirred up in its depths, roared and thundered, and its deafening sound was heard far off. The terrors of the earthquake were intensified when the people recalled the fact that a prophet, belonging to the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, had predicted the event two years before. The fulfilment of this awful prophecy filled all hearts with consternation; the end of the world seemed at hand.