⁷Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser. He was king of Assyria. The message of Ahaz said, “I am your servant. You are my master. Come up and save me from the powerful hands of the kings of Aram and Israel. They are attacking me.”

⁸Ahaz took the silver and gold that were in the Lord’s temple. He also took the silver and gold that were among the treasures in the royal palace. He sent all of it as a gift to the king of Assyria.

⁹So the king of Assyria did what Ahaz asked him to do. He attacked the city of Damascus and captured it. He sent its people away to Kir. And he put Rezin to death.

¹⁰Then King Ahaz went to Damascus. He went there to see Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria. Ahaz saw an altar in Damascus. He sent a drawing of it to the priest Uriah. He also sent him plans for building it.

¹¹So the priest Uriah built an altar. He followed all of the plans King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. He finished it before Ahaz returned.

¹²The king came back from Damascus. When he saw the altar, he approached it. Then he offered sacrifices on it. ¹³He offered up his burnt offering and grain offering. He poured out his drink offering. And he sprinkled blood from his friendship offerings on the altar.

¹⁴The bronze altar for burnt offerings stood in front of the Lord. It was between the new altar and the Lord’s temple. Ahaz took it away from the front of the temple. He put it on the north side of the new altar.

¹⁵Then King Ahaz gave orders to the priest Uriah. He said, “Offer sacrifices on the large new altar. Offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering. Offer my burnt offering and my grain offering. Offer the burnt offering of all of the people of the land. Offer their grain offering and their drink offering. Sprinkle on the altar all of the blood from the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar to look for advice and direction.”

¹⁶The priest Uriah did just as King Ahaz had ordered.

¹⁷Ahaz took away the sides of the bronze stands. He removed the bowls from the stands. He removed the huge bowl from the bronze bulls it stood on. He placed the bowl on a stone base. ¹⁸He took away the covered area that had been used on the Sabbath day. It had been built at the Lord’s temple. He removed the royal entrance that was outside the temple. Ahaz did all of that to honor the king of Assyria.

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