犹大王亚哈斯

28 亚哈斯二十岁登基,在耶路撒冷执政十六年。他没有效法他祖先大卫做耶和华视为正的事, 反而步以色列诸王的后尘,又铸造巴力神像。 他不但在欣嫩子谷烧香,还效法耶和华在以色列人面前赶走的外族人的可憎行径,焚烧自己的儿子作祭物。 他还在丘坛、山冈和绿树下献祭烧香。

与亚兰和以色列交战

因此,他的上帝耶和华把他交在亚兰王手中,亚兰王就打败他,把他的许多人民掳到大马士革。他也被交在以色列王手中,损失惨重。 利玛利的儿子比加一天之内杀了犹大十二万勇士,因为他们背弃了他们祖先的上帝耶和华。 以法莲的勇士细基利杀了王子玛西雅、宫廷总管押斯利甘和宰相以利加拿。 以色列军队从他们的犹大同胞中掳走了二十万妇孺,同时也将大量战利品带回撒玛利亚。

俄德先知

撒玛利亚有一位耶和华的先知名叫俄德,他出城去迎接班师回来的军队,说:“看啊,你们祖先的上帝耶和华向犹大发怒,才将他们交在你们手中。你们竟怒气冲天,对他们大加杀戮。 10 现在你们竟还想让犹大和耶路撒冷的男女做你们的仆俾。你们岂不也得罪你们的上帝耶和华吗? 11 你们还是听我的忠告,释放你们掳来的同胞,让他们回去吧!因为耶和华的烈怒已经临到你们了。”

12 约哈难的儿子亚撒利雅、米实利末的儿子比利迦、沙龙的儿子耶希西迦和哈得莱的儿子亚玛撒四位以法莲族长起来阻挡从战场回来的军队, 13 说:“你们不可把这些俘虏带进来,我们的罪已经够重了,耶和华的烈怒已经临到以色列人,不要再得罪耶和华,加重我们的罪恶了。” 14 于是,士兵们便把俘虏和战利品交给众首领和民众。 15 那些以法莲族长就上前照顾俘虏,从战利品中拿出衣服和鞋子给那些赤身露体的俘虏穿上,供应他们吃喝,又给他们的伤口抹上油,让软弱的骑驴。他们把所有的俘虏送到棕树城耶利哥他们的亲族那里,随后返回撒玛利亚。

亚哈斯向亚述王求援

16 那时,亚哈斯王派人到亚述王那里求援。 17 原来以东人又来攻打犹大,掳掠民众。 18 非利士人也入侵丘陵和犹大南方的城镇,攻占了伯·示麦、亚雅仑、基低罗,以及梭哥、亭拿、瑾锁和三城周围的村庄,并住在那里。 19 耶和华使犹大衰微,因为以色列王[a]亚哈斯在犹大肆无忌惮,悖逆耶和华。 20 亚述王提革拉·毗列色来到犹大后,不但不救他,反而压迫他。 21 亚哈斯从耶和华的殿里、王宫和官员家中取财宝送给亚述王,但无济于事。

亚哈斯的恶行

22 亚哈斯在患难时越发悖逆耶和华, 23 竟去祭拜打败他的大马士革人的神明,说:“既然亚兰王的神明帮助了亚兰人,我要向这些神明献祭,以便它们帮助我。”但那些神明导致了他和全体以色列人的灭亡。 24 亚哈斯将耶和华上帝殿里的器皿收集起来打碎,封锁殿门,并在耶路撒冷的每个角落为自己设立祭坛。 25 他还在犹大各城建立丘坛,向其他神明烧香,惹他祖先的上帝耶和华发怒。 26 亚哈斯其他的事及所作所为自始至终都记在犹大和以色列的列王史上。 27 亚哈斯与祖先同眠后,葬在耶路撒冷城中,但没有葬在以色列的王陵。他儿子希西迦继位。

Footnotes

  1. 28:19 以色列王”这里可能指统治犹大的王,而非统治北国以色列的王。
'2 Chronicles 28 ' not found for the version: Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament.

Ahaz’s Reign

28 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what pleased the Lord, in contrast to his ancestor David.[a] He followed in the footsteps of[b] the kings of Israel; he also made images of the Baals. He offered sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and passed his sons through the fire,[c] a horrible sin practiced by the nations[d] whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

The Lord his God handed him over to the king of Syria. The Syrians[e] defeated him and deported many captives to Damascus.[f] He was also handed over to the king of Israel, who thoroughly defeated him.[g] In one day Pekah son of Remaliah killed 120,000 warriors in Judah, because they had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors.[h] Zikri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed the king’s son Maaseiah, Azrikam, the supervisor of the palace, and Elkanah, the king’s second-in-command. The Israelites seized from their brothers 200,000 wives, sons, and daughters. They also carried off a huge amount of plunder and took it[i] back to Samaria.

Oded, a prophet of the Lord, was there. He went to meet the army as they arrived in Samaria and said to them: “Look, because the Lord God of your ancestors was angry with Judah he handed them over to you. You have killed them so mercilessly that God has taken notice.[j] 10 And now you are planning[k] to enslave[l] the people[m] of Judah and Jerusalem. Yet are you not also guilty before the Lord your God? 11 Now listen to me! Send back those you have seized from your brothers, for the Lord is very angry at you!”[n] 12 So some of[o] the Ephraimite family leaders, Azariah son of Jehochanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jechizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai confronted[p] those returning from the battle. 13 They said to them, “Don’t bring those captives here! Are you planning on making us even more sinful and guilty before the Lord?[q] Our guilt is already great, and the Lord is very angry at Israel.”[r] 14 So the soldiers released the captives and the plunder before the officials and the entire assembly. 15 Men were assigned to take the prisoners and find clothes among the plunder for those who were naked.[s] So they clothed them, supplied them with sandals, gave them food and drink, and provided them with oil to rub on their skin.[t] They put the ones who couldn’t walk on donkeys.[u] They brought them back to their brothers at Jericho, the city of date palm trees, and then returned to Samaria.

16 At that time King Ahaz asked the king[v] of Assyria for help. 17 The Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried off captives. 18 The Philistines had raided the cities of Judah in the foothills[w] and the Negev.[x] They captured and settled in Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco and its surrounding villages, Timnah and its surrounding villages, and Gimzo and its surrounding villages. 19 The Lord humiliated[y] Judah because of King Ahaz of Israel,[z] for he encouraged Judah to sin and was very[aa] unfaithful to the Lord. 20 King Tiglath-Pileser[ab] of Assyria came, but he gave him more trouble than support.[ac] 21 Ahaz gathered riches[ad] from the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and the officials and gave them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help.

22 During his time of trouble King Ahaz was even more unfaithful to the Lord. 23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus whom he thought had defeated him.[ae] He reasoned,[af] “Since the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they caused him and all Israel to stumble. 24 Ahaz gathered the items in God’s temple and removed them. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple and erected altars on every street corner in Jerusalem. 25 In every city throughout Judah he set up high places to offer sacrifices to other gods. He angered the Lord God of his ancestors.

26 The rest of the events of Ahaz’s reign, including his accomplishments from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel.[ag] 27 Ahaz passed away[ah] and was buried in the city of Jerusalem; they did not bring him to the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah replaced him as king.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 28:1 tn Heb “and he did not do what was proper in the eyes of the Lord, like David his father.”
  2. 2 Chronicles 28:2 tn Heb “he walked in the ways of.”
  3. 2 Chronicles 28:3 sn This may refer to child sacrifice, though some interpret it as a less drastic cultic practice (NEB “burnt his sons in the fire”; NASB “burned his sons in the fire”; NIV “sacrificed his sons in the fire”; NRSV “made his sons pass through fire”). For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 266-67.
  4. 2 Chronicles 28:3 tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”
  5. 2 Chronicles 28:5 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Syrians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  6. 2 Chronicles 28:5 tn Heb “and took captive from him a great captivity and brought [them] to Damascus.”
  7. 2 Chronicles 28:5 tn Heb “who struck him down with a great striking.”
  8. 2 Chronicles 28:6 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 9, 25).
  9. 2 Chronicles 28:8 tn Heb “the loot.” The pronoun (“it”) has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
  10. 2 Chronicles 28:9 tn Heb “and you killed them with anger [that] reaches as far as heaven.”
  11. 2 Chronicles 28:10 tn Heb “saying.”
  12. 2 Chronicles 28:10 tn Heb “to enslave as male servants and female servants.”
  13. 2 Chronicles 28:10 tn Heb “sons.”
  14. 2 Chronicles 28:11 tn Heb “for the rage of the anger of the Lord is upon you.”
  15. 2 Chronicles 28:12 tn Heb “men from.”
  16. 2 Chronicles 28:12 tn Heb “arose against.”
  17. 2 Chronicles 28:13 tn Heb “for to the guilt of the Lord upon us you are saying to add to our sins and our guilty deeds.”
  18. 2 Chronicles 28:13 tn Heb “for great is [the] guilt to us and rage of anger is upon Israel.”
  19. 2 Chronicles 28:15 tn Heb “and the men who were designated by names arose and took the captives and all their naked ones they clothed from the loot.”
  20. 2 Chronicles 28:15 tn Heb “and poured oil on them.”
  21. 2 Chronicles 28:15 tn Heb “and they led them on donkeys, with respect to everyone stumbling.”
  22. 2 Chronicles 28:16 tc Most Hebrew mss read the plural, “kings,” but one Hebrew ms, the LXX and Vulgate read the singular “king.” Note the singular in v. 20.
  23. 2 Chronicles 28:18 sn The foothills (שְׁפֵלָה, shephelah) are the region between the Judean hill country and the Mediterranean coastal plain.
  24. 2 Chronicles 28:18 sn The Negev is an area of central, southern Judah, south of the hill country and Beer Sheba and west of the rift valley.
  25. 2 Chronicles 28:19 tn Or “subdued.”
  26. 2 Chronicles 28:19 sn That is, “of Judah.” Frequently in 2 Chronicles “Israel” is substituted for “Judah.”
  27. 2 Chronicles 28:19 tn The infinitive absolute precedes the cognate nominal form to emphasize the degree of Ahaz’s unfaithfulness.
  28. 2 Chronicles 28:20 tn Heb “Tilgath-Pilneser,” a variant spelling of Tiglath-Pileser.
  29. 2 Chronicles 28:20 tn Heb “and he caused him distress and did not strengthen him.”
  30. 2 Chronicles 28:21 tn Heb “divided up,” but some read חִלֵּץ (khillets, “despoiled”).
  31. 2 Chronicles 28:23 tn Heb “the gods of Damascus, the ones who had defeated him.” The words “he thought” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The perspective is that of Ahaz, not the narrator! Another option is that “the kings” has been accidentally omitted after “gods of.” See v. 23b.
  32. 2 Chronicles 28:23 tn Heb “said.”
  33. 2 Chronicles 28:26 tn Heb “As for the rest of his events, and all his ways, the former and the latter, look, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel.”
  34. 2 Chronicles 28:27 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”