Ahaz Becomes King of Judah

28 Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 16 years.

He didn’t do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He didn’t do what King David had done. 2He followed the ways of the kings of Israel. He also made metal statues of gods that were named after Baal. 3He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. He sacrificed his children in the fire to other gods. He followed the practices of the nations. The Lord hated those practices. He had driven out those nations to make room for the people of Israel. 4Ahaz offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places. He also did it on the tops of hills and under every green tree.

5So the Lord his God handed him over to the king of Aram. The men of Aram won the battle over him. They took many of his people as prisoners. They brought them to Damascus.

God also handed Ahaz over to Pekah. His army wounded or killed many of the troops of Ahaz. Pekah was king of Israel. 6In one day Pekah killed 120,000 soldiers in Judah. That’s because Judah had deserted the Lord, the God of their people. Pekah was the son of Remaliah.

7Zicri was a fighting man from Ephraim. He killed Maaseiah, Azrikam and Elkanah. Maaseiah was the king’s son. Azrikam was the officer who was in charge of the palace. And Elkanah was next in command after the king. 8The men of Israel captured 200,000 wives, sons and daughters from their relatives in Judah. They also took a large amount of goods. They carried all of it back to Samaria.

9But a prophet of the Lord was there. His name was Oded. When the army returned to Samaria, he went out to meet them. He said to them, “The Lord is the God of your people. He burned with anger against Judah. So he handed them over to you. But you have killed them. Your anger reached all the way to heaven.

10“Now you are planning to make the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem your slaves. But aren’t you also guilty of sins against the Lord your God? 11Listen to me! You have taken your relatives from Judah as prisoners. The Lord’s anger is burning against you. So send your relatives back.”

12Then some of the leaders in Ephraim stood up to those who were returning from the war. The leaders were Azariah, Berekiah, Jehizkiah and Amasa. Azariah was the son of Jehohanan. Berekiah was the son of Meshillemoth. Jehizkiah was the son of Shallum. And Amasa was the son of Hadlai. 13“Don’t bring those prisoners here,” they said. “If you do, we’ll be guilty in the sight of the Lord. Do you really want to add to our sin and guilt? We’re already very guilty. The Lord’s anger is burning against Israel.”

14So the soldiers gave up the prisoners and the goods they had taken. They did it in front of the officials and the whole community. 15Azariah, Berekiah, Jehizkiah and Amasa received the prisoners. From the goods that had been taken they gave clothes to all those who were naked. They gave them clothes, sandals, food, drink and healing lotion. They put all of the weak people on donkeys. They took them back to their relatives at Jericho. Then they returned to Samaria. Jericho was also known as the City of Palm Trees.

16At that time King Ahaz sent men to the king of Assyria to get help. 17The men of Edom had come again and attacked Judah. They had carried prisoners away. 18At the same time the Philistines had attacked towns in the western hills and in the Negev Desert of Judah. They had captured Beth Shemesh, Aijalon and Gederoth. They had also captured Soco, Timnah and Gimzo and the villages that were around them. They had settled down in all of them.

19The Lord had brought Judah down because of Ahaz, their king. Ahaz had stirred up the people of Judah to do evil things. He hadn’t been faithful to the Lord at all.

20Tiglath-Pileser came to Ahaz. But he gave Ahaz trouble instead of help. Tiglath-Pileser was king of Assyria. 21Ahaz took some things from the Lord’s temple. He also took some from the royal palace and from the princes. He gave all of them to the king of Assyria. But that didn’t help him.

22When King Ahaz was in trouble, he became even more unfaithful to the Lord. 23He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus. They had won the battle over him. He thought, “The gods of the kings of Aram have helped them. So I’ll sacrifice to them. Then they’ll help me.” But they brought him down. In fact, they brought the whole nation of Israel down.

24Ahaz gathered together everything that belonged to God’s temple. He took all of it away. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple. He set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem. 25In every town in Judah he built high places. Sacrifices were burned there to other gods. That made the Lord, the God of his people, very angry.

26The other events of the rule of Ahaz and all of his evil practices from beginning to end are written down. They are written in the records of the kings of Judah and Israel.

27Ahaz joined the members of his family who had already died. His body was buried in the city of Jerusalem. But it wasn’t placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah became the next king after him.