2 Kings 16
Common English Bible
Ahaz rules Judah
16 Ahaz, Jotham’s son, became king of Judah in the seventeenth year of Pekah, Remaliah’s son. 2 Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king, and he ruled for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He didn’t do what was right in the Lord’s eyes, unlike his ancestor David. 3 Instead, he walked in the ways of Israel’s kings. He even burned his own son alive, imitating the detestable practices of the nations that the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 4 He also sacrificed and burned incense at the shrines on every hill and beneath every shady tree. 5 Then Aram’s King Rezin and Israel’s King Pekah, Remaliah’s son, came up to Jerusalem to fight. They surrounded Ahaz, but they weren’t able to defeat him. 6 At that time Aram’s King Rezin recovered Elath for the Arameans, driving the Judeans out of Elath. The Edomites[a] came to Elath and settled there, and that’s still the case now.
7 Ahaz sent messengers to Assyria’s King Tiglath-pileser, saying, “I’m your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the power of the kings of Aram and Israel. Both of them are attacking me!” 8 And Ahaz took the silver and the gold that was in the Lord’s temple and in the palace treasuries, and sent a gift to Assyria’s king. 9 The Assyrian king heard the request and marched against Damascus. He captured it and sent its citizens into exile to Kir. He also killed Rezin.
10 Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet up with Assyria’s King Tiglath-pileser. King Ahaz noticed the altar that was in Damascus, and he sent the altar’s plan and details for its construction to the priest Uriah. 11 Uriah built the altar, following the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus; he had it finished before King Ahaz returned from Damascus.
12 When the king arrived from Damascus, he inspected the altar. He came close to it, then went up on it, 13 burning his entirely burned offering and grain offering, pouring out his drink offering, and sprinkling the blood of his well-being sacrifices on the altar. 14 As for the bronze altar that used to stand before the Lord, Ahaz moved it away from the front of the temple where it had stood between the main altar and the Lord’s temple. He put it on the north side of the new altar. 15 Then King Ahaz ordered the priest Uriah, saying, “Burn the following sacrifices on the main altar:
in the morning, the entirely burned offering;
in the evening, the grain offering;
the king’s entirely burned offering and his grain offering;
the entirely burned offering for all the people of the land, their grain offering, and their drink offerings.
“Sprinkle all the blood of the entirely burned offerings and all the blood of the sacrifices on it. I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance.”[b] 16 Uriah the priest did everything that King Ahaz commanded. 17 King Ahaz cut off the side panels from the stands and removed the basins from them. He took the Sea down from the bronze bulls that were under it and put it on a stone pavement. 18 He also took away the sabbath canopy that had been built in the temple. He removed the royal entrance outside the Lord’s temple. This was done because of the Assyrian king.
19 The rest of Ahaz’s deeds, aren’t they written in the official records of Judah’s kings? 20 Ahaz died and was buried with his ancestors in David’s City. His son Hezekiah succeeded him as king.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 16:6 Qere; Kethib Arameans
- 2 Kings 16:15 Heb uncertain
2 Kings 16
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 16[a]
Ahaz of Judah. 1 Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the king of Judah, began to reign during the seventeenth year of the reign of Pekah, the son of Remaliah. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem for sixteen years.
He did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord as David, his father, had done. 3 He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, even sacrificing his son in fire. He practiced the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the Israelites. 4 He performed sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hilltops, and under every green tree.
5 Then Rezin, the king of Aram, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, attacked Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz, but they could not defeat him. 6 It was at this time that Rezin, the king of Aram, reconquered Elath, and the Arameans drove the Judahites out of Elath. The Edomites then settled in Elath and they have dwelt there up to the present.
7 Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come and save me from the hands of the king of Aram and the hands of the king of Israel who have risen up against me.”
8 Ahaz took the silver and the gold from the temple of the Lord and the treasury of the royal palace, and he sent it to the king of Assyria as a gift. 9 The king of Assyria consented to his request, and the king of Assyria attacked Damascus and captured it. He deported its people to Kir.
10 Then King Ahaz traveled to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus, and King Ahaz sent Uriah the priest to Damascus to make a drawing of the altar along with a complete description of its construction. 11 Uriah the priest built an altar according to everything for which King Ahaz had sent him to Damascus. Uriah finished it before King Ahaz returned from Damascus. 12 When the king returned from Damascus, the king saw the altar. The king approached the altar and made an offering on it. 13 He offered up burnt offerings and cereal offerings. He poured out drink offerings and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings upon the altar. 14 He brought the bronze altar that was before the Lord from the front of the temple, from between the altar and the temple of the Lord, and he placed it on the north side of the altar.
15 King Ahaz gave orders to Uriah the priest, saying, “Offer on the great altar the morning burnt offerings and the evening cereal offerings, the king’s burnt offerings and his cereal offerings, along with the burnt offerings, cereal offerings, and drink offerings of all of the people of the land. Sprinkle the blood of the sacrifices on it, but I will use the bronze altar when I make inquiries.” 16 Uriah the priest did everything that King Ahaz had commanded.
17 King Ahaz cut off the side panels and he removed the basins from the moveable carts, he removed the sea from the bronze oxen underneath it and he placed it on a stone base. 18 He took away the Sabbath canopy[b] that had been built on the temple and the royal entrance outside the temple of the Lord on account of the king of Assyria.
19 Now the rest of the deeds of Ahaz, what he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
20 Ahaz slept with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Hezekiah, his son, reigned in his stead.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 16:1 Despite efforts to force Ahaz into a coalition against Assyria, this king prefers to declare himself a vassal of the mighty Tiglath-pileser III. Some of his neighbors take advantage of his difficulties to rid themselves of his yoke. Inspired by what he has seen in other sanctuaries, Ahaz introduces deviant reforms into the temple. Isaiah will try in vain to communicate to Ahaz his own confidence in the Lord (Isa 6–7 and the prophecy of Immanuel). See also 2 Chr 28.
- 2 Kings 16:18 Took away the Sabbath canopy: as a vassal to Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria, King Ahaz made several religious concessions, such as building a new altar, to please him. Ahaz’s political mistake allowed the Assyrian king to take God’s place as leader in Judah.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
