Ahaz King of Judah^(A)

28 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he ·ruled [reigned] sixteen years in Jerusalem. Unlike his ·ancestor [father] David, he did not do what ·the Lord said was right [^Lwas pleasing/proper in the eyes/sight of the Lord]. ² Ahaz ·did the same things as [^Lwalked in the ways of] the kings of Israel. He made ·metal [cast; molten] ·idols [images] to worship Baal. ³ He ·burned incense [offered sacrifices] in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and ·made [sacrificed] his children ·pass through [in] the fire. He ·did [followed] the ·same hateful sins [detestable/abominable practices] as the nations had done whom the Lord had ·forced [driven] out of the land ahead of the Israelites. ⁴ Ahaz ·offered [sacrificed] sacrifices and burned incense at the ·places where gods were worshiped [^Lhigh places; 11:15], and on the hills, and under every green tree.

⁵ So the Lord his God handed over Ahaz to the king of Aram. The Arameans defeated Ahaz and ·took [deported] many people of Judah as ·prisoners [captives] to Damascus.

He also handed over Ahaz to Pekah king of Israel, ·and Pekah’s army killed many soldiers of Ahaz [who inflicted heavy casualties on him]. ⁶ Pekah son of Remaliah killed one hundred twenty thousand ·brave [skilled] soldiers from Judah in one day. Pekah defeated them because they had ·left [abandoned; forsaken] the Lord, the God of their ·ancestors [fathers]. ⁷ Zicri, a mighty warrior from Ephraim, killed King Ahaz’s son Maaseiah. He also killed Azrikam, the ·officer [commander] in charge of the ·palace [^Lhouse], and Elkanah, who was second in command to the king. ⁸ The Israelite army captured two hundred thousand of their own relatives. They took women, sons and daughters, and ·many valuable things [much plunder/spoil/booty] from Judah and carried ·them [it] back to Samaria. ⁹ But a prophet of the Lord named Oded was there. He met the Israelite army when it returned to Samaria and said to them, “The Lord, the God of your ·ancestors [fathers], handed Judah over to you, because he was angry with them. But ·God has seen the cruel way you killed them [you slaughtered them in a rage that has reached to heaven]. ¹⁰ Now you plan to make the people of Judah and Jerusalem your slaves, but ·you also have sinned [^Lwhat about your own sins/transgressions…?] against the Lord your God. ¹¹ Now listen to me. Send back ·your brothers and sisters whom you captured [the captives you have taken from your brothers], because the ·Lord is very angry with you [^Lfierce anger of the Lord burns against you].”

¹² Then some of the ·leaders [officials] in Ephraim—Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berekiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai—·met [confronted; ^Lrose against] the Israelite soldiers coming home from ·war [battle]. ¹³ They warned the soldiers, “Don’t bring the ·prisoners [captives] from Judah here. If you do, we will ·be guilty of sin against the Lord, and that will make our sin and guilt even worse [add to our sins and guilt before the Lord]. Our guilt is already so great that ·he is angry with [^Lhis fierce anger is burning against] Israel.”

¹⁴ So the soldiers left the ·prisoners [captives] and ·valuable things [plunder; spoil; booty] in front of the ·officers [officials] and ·people there [the entire assembly]. ¹⁵ The ·leaders [men] who were named took the ·prisoners [captives] and gave those who were naked clothes from ·what the Israelite army had taken [the plunder/spoil/booty]. They gave the ·prisoners [captives] clothes, sandals, food, drink, and ·medicine [oil for their wounds; ^Lanointed them]. They put the weak on donkeys and took them back to their ·families [brothers] in Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned home to Samaria.

More Attacks^(B)

At that time the Edomites came again and attacked Judah and carried away ·prisoners [captives]. So King Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help. ¹⁸ The Philistines also ·robbed [raided; invaded] the towns in the ·western hills [^LShephelah] and in ·southern [^Lthe Negev of] Judah. They captured the towns of Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo, and the villages around them. Then the Philistines ·lived [settled] in those towns. ¹⁹ The Lord ·brought trouble on [humbled; humiliated; or subdued] Judah because Ahaz their king ·led the people of Judah to sin [acted without restraint/irresponsibly], and he was ·very [completely; utterly] unfaithful to the Lord. ²⁰ Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came to Ahaz, but he ·gave Ahaz trouble instead of help [oppressed him rather than helped him]. ²¹ Ahaz ·took some valuable things from [plundered] the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord, from the ·palace [^Lhouse], and from the ·princes [officials], and he gave them to the king of Assyria, but it did not help.

²² During Ahaz’s ·troubles [^Ltime of distress] he was even more unfaithful to the Lord. ²³ He ·offered [sacrificed] sacrifices to the gods of the people of Damascus, who had defeated him. He thought, “The gods of the kings of Aram helped them. If I ·offer [sacrifice] sacrifices to them, they ·will [may] help me also.” But this brought ·ruin to [the downfall of] Ahaz and all Israel.

²⁴ Ahaz gathered the ·things [articles; utensils] from the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of God and ·broke [cut] them into pieces. Then he closed the doors of the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. He made himself altars [^Cto pagan gods] and put them on every street corner in Jerusalem. ²⁵ In every town in Judah, Ahaz made ·places [^Lhigh places; 11:15] for burning sacrifices to other gods. So he ·made [provoked] the Lord, the God of his ·ancestors [fathers], ·very angry [to anger].

²⁶ The ·other things Ahaz did as king [rest of the events/acts/history of Ahaz’s reign], from ·beginning to end [first to last], are written in the ·book [scroll] of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷ Ahaz ·died [^Llay down/^Tslept with his fathers/ancestors] and was buried in the City of David [^CJerusalem], but not in the ·graves [tombs] of the kings of Israel. Ahaz’s son Hezekiah became king in his place.