CHAPTER 16
In the seventeenth
year
of the reign of Pekah
son
of Remaliah,
Ahaz
son
of Jotham
became king
of Judah.
Ahaz
was twenty
years old
when he became king,
and he reigned
in Jerusalem
sixteen
years.
And unlike David
his forefather,
he did not
do
what was right
in the eyes
of the LORD
his God.
Instead, he walked
in the way
of the kings
of Israel
and even
sacrificed
his son
in the fire,
according to the abominations
of the nations
whom
the LORD
had driven out
before
the Israelites.
And he sacrificed
and burned incense
on the high places,
on
the hills,
and under
every
green
tree.
Then
Rezin
king
of Aram
and Pekah
son
of Remaliah
king
of Israel
came up
to wage war
against Jerusalem.
They besieged
Ahaz
but could
not
overcome him.
At that
time
Rezin
king
of Aram
recovered
Elath
for Aram,
drove out
the men of Judah,
and sent
the Edomites
into Elath,
where
they live
to
this
day.
So Ahaz
sent
messengers
to
Tiglath-pileser
king
of Assyria,
saying,
“I
am your servant
and your son.
Come up
and save me
from the hands
of the kings
of Aram
and
Israel,
who are rising up
against me.”
Ahaz
also took
the silver
and gold
found
in the house
of the LORD
and in the treasuries
of the king’s
palace,
and he sent it
as a gift
to the king
of Assyria.
So the king
of Assyria
listened
to him,
marched up
to
Damascus,
and captured it.
He took its people
to Kir as captives
and
put Rezin
to death.
Then King
Ahaz
went
to Damascus
to meet
Tiglath-pileser
king
of Assyria.
On seeing
the altar
in Damascus,
King
Ahaz
sent
Uriah
the priest
a model
of the altar
and complete plans
for its construction.
And Uriah
built
the altar
according to all
the instructions
King
Ahaz
had sent
from Damascus,
and
he completed it
by the time
King
Ahaz
had returned.
When the king
came back
from Damascus
and saw
the altar,
he
approached
it
and presented offerings
on it.
He offered
his burnt offering
and his grain offering,
poured out
his drink offering,
and sprinkled
the blood
of his peace offerings
on
the altar.
He also took
the bronze
altar
that
stood before
the LORD
from the front
of the temple
(between
the new altar
and
the house
of the LORD)
and he put
it on
the north
side
of the new altar.
Then King
Ahaz
commanded
Uriah
the priest,
“Offer
on
the great
altar
the morning
burnt offering,
the evening
grain offering,
and the king’s
burnt offering
and grain offering,
as well as the burnt offerings,
grain offerings,
and drink offerings
of all
the people
of the land.
Sprinkle
on the altar
all
the blood
of the burnt offerings
and
sacrifices.
But I will use
the bronze
altar
to seek guidance."
King
Ahaz also
cut off
the frames
of the movable stands
and removed
the bronze basin
from each of them.
He took down
the Sea
from
the bronze
bulls
that
were under it
and put
it
on
a stone
base.
And
on account
of the king
of Assyria,
he removed
the Sabbath
canopy
they had built
in the temple
and closed the royal
entryway
outside
the house
of the LORD.
As for the rest
of the acts
of Ahaz,
along with his accomplishments,
are they not written
in the Book
of the Chronicles
of the Kings
of Judah?
And Ahaz
rested
with
his fathers
and was buried
with
them
in the City
of David,
and his son
Hezekiah
became king
in his place.