1In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.2Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God.3He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.4He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.5Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz, but they could not overpower him.6At that time, Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram by driving out the people of Judah. Edomites then moved into Elath and have lived there to this day.7Ahaz sent messengers to say to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, ‘I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.’8And Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria.9The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus and capturing it. He deported its inhabitants to Kir and put Rezin to death.10Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction.11So Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus and finished it before King Ahaz returned.12When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings[1] on it.13He offered up his burnt offering and grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and splashed the blood of his fellowship offerings against the altar.14The bronze altar that stood before the Lord he brought from the front of the temple – from between the new altar and the temple of the Lord – and put it on the north side of the new altar.15King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest: ‘On the large new altar, offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Splash against this altar the blood of all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance.’16And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered.17King Ahaz cut off the side panels and removed the basins from the movable stands. He removed the Sea from the bronze bulls that supported it and set it on a stone base.18He took away the Sabbath canopy[2] that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entrance outside the temple of the Lord, in deference to the king of Assyria.19As for the other events of the reign of Ahaz, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?20Ahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king.
2 Kings 16
English Standard Version
Ahaz Reigns in Judah
1In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign.2Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done, (2Ch 28:1)3but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering,[1] according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. (Le 18:21; De 12:31; De 18:9; 2Ki 21:2; Ps 106:37)4And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree. (De 12:2; 1Ki 14:23; 2Ki 14:4)5Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him. (2Ki 15:37; 2Ch 28:5)6At that time Rezin the king of Syria recovered Elath for Syria and drove the men of Judah from Elath, and the Edomites came to Elath, where they dwell to this day. (2Ki 14:22)7So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” (2Ki 15:29; 2Ch 28:16)8Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king’s house and sent a present to the king of Assyria. (2Ki 12:18)9And the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus and took it, carrying its people captive to Kir, and he killed Rezin. (2Ch 28:21; Isa 22:6; Am 1:5; Am 9:7)10When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. (2Ki 15:29; Isa 8:2)11And Uriah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus.12And when the king came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar. Then the king drew near to the altar and went up on it (2Ch 26:16)13and burned his burnt offering and his grain offering and poured his drink offering and threw the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.14And the bronze altar that was before the Lord he removed from the front of the house, from the place between his altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of his altar. (Ex 40:6; Ex 40:29; 2Ki 16:11; 2Ch 4:1)15And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering and the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. And throw on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice, but the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” (Ex 29:39; 2Ki 16:14)16Uriah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded.17And King Ahaz cut off the frames of the stands and removed the basin from them, and he took down the sea[2] from off the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pedestal. (1Ki 7:23; 1Ki 7:25)18And the covered way for the Sabbath that had been built inside the house and the outer entrance for the king he caused to go around the house of the Lord, because of the king of Assyria.19Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? (2Ch 28:26)20And Ahaz slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place. (2Ch 28:27)