Ahaz Seeks Help of Assyria

^7 (A)So Ahaz sent messengers to ^(B)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and save me from the ^[a]hand of the king of Aram, and from the ^[b]hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.”

Damascus Falls

¹⁰ Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet ^(A)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he saw the altar which was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to ^(B)Urijah the priest the ^[a]pattern of the altar and its model, according to all its workmanship. ¹¹ So Urijah the priest built an altar; according to everything that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, in that way Urijah the priest made it, ^[b]before the coming of King Ahaz from Damascus. ¹² And when the king came from Damascus, the king saw the altar; then ^(C)the king approached the altar and ^[c]went up to it, ¹³ and ^[d]burned his burnt offering and his meal offering, and poured out his ^[e]drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. ¹⁴ And ^(D)the bronze altar, which was before the Lord, ^[f]he brought from the front of the house, from between ^(E)his altar and the house of the Lord, and he put it on the north side of his altar. ¹⁵ Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “Upon the great altar ^[g]burn ^(F)the morning burnt offering, the evening meal offering, the king’s burnt offering and his meal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their meal offering, and their ^[h]drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. But ^(G)the bronze altar shall be for me, for making inquiries.” ¹⁶ So Urijah the priest acted in accordance with everything that King Ahaz commanded.

¹⁷ Then King Ahaz ^(H)cut off the borders of the stands, and removed the wash basin from them; he also ^(I)took down the ^[i]Sea from the bronze oxen which were under it and put it on a pavement of stone. ¹⁸ And the covered way for the Sabbath which they had built in the house, and the outer entry of the king, he removed from the house of the Lord because of the king of Assyria.

Compromise with Assyria

^16 (A)At that time King Ahaz sent word to the ^[a]kings of Assyria for help.

²⁰ So ^(A)Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. ^21 (B)Although Ahaz took a portion out of the house of the Lord and out of the palace of the king and of the princes, and gave it to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.

²² Now during the time of his distress, this same King Ahaz ^(C)became even more unfaithful to the Lord. ^23 (D)For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus who had ^[a]defeated him, and said, “^(E)Because the gods of the kings of Aram helped them, I will sacrifice to them so that they may help me.” But they became the ^[b]downfall of him and all Israel.

¹² She lusted after the ^[a](A)Assyrians, governors and officials, the ones near, opulently dressed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them handsome young men.