1
Ahaz was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord, as David his father.
2
But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, for he made graven images.
3
And [he sacrificed] to their idols in the valley of the Son of Hinnom, and passed his children through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel.
4
And he burnt incense upon the high places, and upon the roofs, and under every shady tree.
5
And the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria. And [the king] attacked him, and took a great multitude of prisoners captive, and carried him to Damascus. Also [God] delivered him into the hands of the king of Israel, who defeated him with a great slaughter.
6
And Pekah the son of Remeliah king of Israel, killed in Judah in one day a hundred and twenty thousand mighty men, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers.
7
And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king's son, and Azrikam the chief of his house, and Elkanah the king's deputy.
8
And the children of Israel took captive of their brethren three hundred thousand women, sons, and daughters, and they plundered them of much property, and brought the spoils to Samaria.
9
And there was a prophet of the Lord there whose name [was] Oded. And he went out to meet the army that was coming to Samaria, and said to them, Behold, the wrath of the Lord God of your fathers [is] upon Judah, and He has delivered them into your hands, but you have killed them in wrath, and it has reached even to heaven.
10
And now you talk of keeping the children of Judah and Jerusalem for servants and handmaidens. Behold, am I not with you to testify for the Lord your God?
11
And now listen to me, and restore the prisoners of your brethren whom you have taken: for the fierce anger of the Lord [is] upon you.
12
And the chiefs of the sons of Ephraim rose up, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, against those that came from the war,
13
and said to them, You shall not bring the prisoners here to us, for whereas sin against the Lord [is already] upon us, [and] you mean to add to our sins, and to our trespass: for our sin [is] great, and the fierce anger of the Lord [is] upon Israel.
14
So the warriors left the prisoners and the spoils before the princes and all the congregation.
15
And the men who were called by name rose up, and took hold of the prisoners, and clothed all the naked from the spoils, and gave them garments and shoes, and gave them [food] to eat, and [oil] to anoint themselves [with], and they let everyone that was weak [to ride on] donkeys, and placed them in Jericho, the city of palm trees, with their brethren; and they returned to Samaria.
16
At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria to help him, and on this occasion,
17
because the Edomites had attacked [him] and attacked Judah, and taken a number of prisoners.
18
Also the Philistines had made an attack on the cities of the plain country, and the cities of the south of Judah, and had taken Beth Shemesh, and (the things in the house of the Lord, and the things in the house of the king, and of the princes, and they gave [these] to the king) Aijalon, Gederoth, Sochoh and her villages, Timnah and her villages, and Gimzo and her villages. And they dwelt there.
19
For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Judah, because he grievously departed from the Lord.
20
And Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came against him, and he afflicted him.
21
And Ahaz took the things [that were] in the house of the Lord, and the things in the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave them to the king of Assyria; but he was no help to him,
22
but only [troubled him] in his affliction. And he departed yet again from the Lord, and King Ahaz said,
23
I will seek after the gods of Damascus that attack me. And he said, Forasmuch as the gods of the king of Syria themselves strengthen them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, and they will help me. But they became a stumbling block to him, and to all Israel.
24
And Ahaz removed the vessels of the house of the Lord, and cut them in pieces, and shut the doors of the house of the Lord, and made for himself altars in every corner in Jerusalem.
25
And in every single city in Judah he made high places to burn incense to strange gods. And they provoked the Lord God of their fathers.
26
And the rest of his acts and his deeds, the first and the last, behold, [they are] written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
27
And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David; for they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel; and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
