2 Chronicles 28

1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right before the Lord, as David his father did. [a] 2 But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, for he even made carved images for their idols. [b] 3 And he sacrificed in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and he passed his children through fire, following the detestable things of the nations the Lord destroyed from before the children of Israel. [c] 4 And he burned incense on the high places, and on the roofs, and under every leafy tree. [d]

5 And the Lord his God gave him over into the hand of the king of Aram; and he struck him, and took a great many of them captive, and brought them to Damascus. The Lord gave him into the hands of the king of Israel as well, who struck him with a great blow. [e] 6 And Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, killed in Judah in one day a hundred and twenty thousand men mighty in strength, because they had left the Lord, the God of their fathers. 7 And Zichri, the mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, and Azrikam the leader of his house, and Elkanah the king’s second in command. [f] 8 And the children of Israel took captive from their brothers three hundred thousand — women, sons and daughters — and they took much spoil from them, and brought the spoils to Samaria.

9 And a prophet of the Lord was there, Oded by name, and he went out to meet the force as it came to Samaria, and said to them, “Look, the anger of the Lord, the God of your fathers, is on Judah, and he gave them into your hands — and you have killed among them in anger, and it has reached to the heavens. 10 And now you are saying that you will take the children of Judah and Jerusalem for yourselves as slaves, men and women. Look — am I not with you to bear witness for the Lord your God? [g] 11 And now hear me, and send back the captives you have taken from your brothers, for the fierce anger of the Lord is on you.”

12 And leaders of the sons of Ephraim rose up — Udia son of Johanan, and Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, and Hezekiah son of Shallum, and Amaziah son of Hadlai — against those who were coming from the war, [h] 13 and they said to them, “You are not to bring the captives here to us. You are speaking of bringing sin against the Lord upon us, of adding to our sins and to our ignorance — and our sin is great already, and the fierce anger of the Lord is on Israel.” 14 So the fighting men let the captives and the spoils go, before the leaders and all the assembly. 15 And men who had been called out by name rose up and took charge of the captives, and clothed all the naked from the spoils; they dressed them and put sandals on them, and gave them food to eat and oil to rub on themselves, and they helped everyone who was weak with donkeys, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brothers. And they returned to Samaria.

16 At that time King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria to help him, 17 and in this as well: that the Edomites had attacked and struck in Judah and carried off captives. 18 And the Philistines attacked the cities of the lowland and of the south of Judah, and took Beth-shemesh, and Aijalon, and Gaderoth, and Soco and its villages, and Timnah and its villages, and Gimzo and its villages; and they settled there. [i] 19 For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Judah, because he turned away, and kept turning away, from the Lord.

20 And Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came against him, and struck him. [j] 21 And Ahaz took what was in the house of the Lord, and what was in the house of the king and of the rulers, and gave it to the king of Assyria — and it was no help to him, 22 but only brought him affliction. And he went further in turning away from the Lord, and the king said, 23 “I will seek out the gods of Damascus, the ones striking me.” And he said, “Since the gods of the king of Aram are the ones making them strong, I will sacrifice to them, and they will help me.” But they became a snare to him, and to all Israel. [k]

24 And Ahaz took away 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 himself altars in every corner in Jerusalem; 25 and in city after city in Judah he made high places to burn incense to foreign gods. And they provoked to anger the Lord, the God of their fathers.

26 And the rest of his words, and his acts, the first and the last — look, 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. [l]