2 Kings 16
16
Ahaz Reigns over Judah
1In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, became king. 2Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God, as his father (ancestor) David had done. 3Instead he walked in the way of the [idolatrous] kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire [as a human sacrifice], in accordance with the repulsive [and idolatrous] practices of the [pagan] nations whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. 4He also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.
5Then Rezin the king of Aram (Syria) and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to wage war. They besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome and conquer him. 6At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered #16:6 Elath was located on the Gulf of Aqaba, the southernmost port city of Judah.Elath [in Edom] for Aram, and drove the Jews away from it. The Arameans came to Elath, and live there to this day.
Ahaz Seeks Help of Assyria
7So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the kings of Aram and of Israel, who are rising up against me.” 8And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent a gift to the king of Assyria. 9So the king of Assyria listened to him; and he went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried its people away into exile to Kir, and put Rezin [king of Aram] to death.
Damascus Falls
10Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser the king of Assyria, and saw the pagan altar which was at Damascus. Then King Ahaz sent a model of the altar to Urijah the priest along with a [detailed] pattern for all its construction. 11So Urijah the priest built an altar; in accordance with everything that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, that is how Urijah the priest made it before King Ahaz returned from Damascus. 12When the king came from Damascus, he saw the altar; then the king approached the altar and offered [sacrifices] on it, 13and burned his burnt offering and his grain offering, and poured out his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. 14He brought the bronze altar, which was before the Lord, from the front of the house (temple), from between the [new] altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of the [new] altar. 15Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “Upon the great [new] 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 offerings; and sprinkle on the new altar all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. But the [old] bronze altar shall be kept for me to use to #16:15 The meaning of the Hebrew here is not certain, but Ahaz was probably referring to the pagan practice of examining the entrails of sacrifices as omens for deciding whether to go to war or for other major decisions.examine the sacrifices.” 16Urijah the priest acted in accordance with everything that King Ahaz commanded.
17Then King Ahaz cut away the frames of the basin stands [in the temple], and removed the basin from [each of] them; and he took down the [large] Sea from the bronze oxen which were under it, and put it on a plastered stone floor. 18He removed from the house of the Lord the covered way for the Sabbath which they had built in the house, and the outer entrance of the king, because of the king of Assyria [who might confiscate them].
Hezekiah Reigns over Judah
19Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20So Ahaz slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried with his fathers in the City of David; and his son Hezekiah became king in his place.
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2 Kings 16
16
King Ahaz of Judah
(2 Chr 28.1–27)
1In the seventeenth year of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah as king of Israel, Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah 2at the age of twenty, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years. He did not follow the good example of his ancestor King David; instead, he did what was not pleasing to the LORD his God 3#Deut 12.31and followed the example of the kings of Israel. He even sacrificed his own son as a burnt offering to idols, imitating the disgusting practice of the people whom the LORD had driven out of the land as the Israelites advanced. 4At the pagan places of worship, on the hills, and under every shady tree, Ahaz offered sacrifices and burnt incense.
5 #
Is 7.1
King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel attacked Jerusalem and besieged it, but could not defeat Ahaz. 6(At the same time, the king of Edom#16.6 Probable text the king of Edom; Hebrew King Rezin of Syria. regained control of the city of Elath, and drove out the Judeans who lived there. The Edomites settled in Elath, and still live there.) 7Ahaz sent men to Tiglath Pileser, the emperor of Assyria, with this message: “I am your devoted servant. Come and rescue me from the kings of Syria and of Israel, who are attacking me.” 8Ahaz took the silver and gold from the Temple and the palace treasury and sent it as a present to the emperor. 9Tiglath Pileser, in answer to Ahaz' plea, marched out with his army against Damascus, captured it, killed King Rezin, and took the people to Kir as prisoners.
10When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Emperor Tiglath Pileser, he saw the altar there and sent back to Uriah the priest an exact model of it, down to the smallest details. 11So Uriah built an altar just like it, and finished it before Ahaz returned. 12On his return from Damascus, Ahaz saw that the altar was finished, 13so he burnt animal sacrifices and grain offerings on it, and poured a wine offering and the blood of a fellowship offering on it. 14#Ex 27.1–2; 2 Chr 4.1The bronze altar dedicated to the LORD was between the new altar and the Temple, so Ahaz moved it to the north side of his new altar. 15Then he ordered Uriah: “Use this large altar of mine for the morning burnt offerings and the evening grain offerings, for the burnt offerings and grain offerings of the king and the people, and for the people's wine offerings. Pour on it the blood of all the animals that are sacrificed. But keep the bronze altar for me to use for divination.” 16Uriah did as the king commanded.
17 #
1 Kgs 7.23–39; 2 Chr 4.2–6 King Ahaz took apart the bronze carts used in the Temple and removed the basins that were on them; he also took the bronze tank from the backs of the twelve bronze bulls, and placed it on a stone foundation. 18And in order to please the Assyrian emperor, Ahaz also removed from the Temple the platform for the royal throne and closed up the king's private entrance to the Temple.#16.18 Verse 18 in Hebrew is unclear.
19Everything else that King Ahaz did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. 20#Is 14.28Ahaz died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Hezekiah succeeded him as king.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.