Ahaz Reigns in Judah

16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. Ahaz was (A)twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done, but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. (B)He even burned his son as an offering,[a] (C)according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. (D)And he sacrificed and made offerings (E)on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

(F)Then Rezin king of Syria and (G)Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz (H)but could not conquer him.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 16:3 Or made his son pass through the fire

Ahaz King of Judah(A)

16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz(B) son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right(C) in the eyes of the Lord his God. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel(D) and even sacrificed his son(E) in the fire, engaging in the detestable(F) practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense(G) at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.(H)

Then Rezin(I) king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz, but they could not overpower him.

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