2 Kings 16
New Living Translation
Ahaz Rules in Judah
16 Ahaz son of Jotham began to rule over Judah in the seventeenth year of King Pekah’s reign in Israel. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. He did not do what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had done. 3 Instead, he followed the example of the kings of Israel, even sacrificing his own son in the fire.[a] In this way, he followed the detestable practices of the pagan nations the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites. 4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the pagan shrines and on the hills and under every green tree.
5 Then King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of Israel came up to attack Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him. 6 At that time the king of Edom[b] recovered the town of Elath for Edom.[c] He drove out the people of Judah and sent Edomites[d] to live there, as they do to this day.
7 King Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria with this message: “I am your servant and your vassal.[e] Come up and rescue me from the attacking armies of Aram and Israel.” 8 Then Ahaz took the silver and gold from the Temple of the Lord and the palace treasury and sent it as a payment to the Assyrian king. 9 So the king of Assyria attacked the Aramean capital of Damascus and led its population away as captives, resettling them in Kir. He also killed King Rezin.
10 King Ahaz then went to Damascus to meet with King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria. While he was there, he took special note of the altar. Then he sent a model of the altar to Uriah the priest, along with its design in full detail. 11 Uriah followed the king’s instructions and built an altar just like it, and it was ready before the king returned from Damascus. 12 When the king returned, he inspected the altar and made offerings on it. 13 He presented a burnt offering and a grain offering, he poured out a liquid offering, and he sprinkled the blood of peace offerings on the altar.
14 Then King Ahaz removed the old bronze altar from its place in front of the Lord’s Temple, between the entrance and the new altar, and placed it on the north side of the new altar. 15 He told Uriah the priest, “Use the new altar[f] for the morning sacrifices of burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and grain offering, and the burnt offerings of all the people, as well as their grain offerings and liquid offerings. Sprinkle the blood from all the burnt offerings and sacrifices on the new altar. The bronze altar will be for my personal use only.” 16 Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz commanded him.
17 Then the king removed the side panels and basins from the portable water carts. He also removed the great bronze basin called the Sea from the backs of the bronze oxen and placed it on the stone pavement. 18 In deference to the king of Assyria, he also removed the canopy that had been constructed inside the palace for use on the Sabbath day,[g] as well as the king’s outer entrance to the Temple of the Lord.
19 The rest of the events in Ahaz’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. 20 When Ahaz died, he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Then his son Hezekiah became the next king.
Footnotes
- 16:3 Or even making his son pass through the fire.
- 16:6a As in Latin Vulgate; Hebrew reads Rezin king of Aram.
- 16:6b As in Latin Vulgate; Hebrew reads Aram.
- 16:6c As in Greek version, Latin Vulgate, and an alternate reading of the Masoretic Text; the other alternate reads Arameans.
- 16:7 Hebrew your son.
- 16:15 Hebrew the great altar.
- 16:18 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
2 Kings 16
International Standard Version
Ahaz Becomes King of Judah
16 During the seventeenth year of the reign of[a] Remaliah’s son Pekah, Jotham’s son Ahaz became king of Judah. 2 Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years. He did not practice what the Lord considered to be right, as had his ancestor David. 3 Instead, he behaved like the kings of Israel did by making his son pass through fire, the very same abomination that the heathen practiced, whom the Lord evicted from the land right in front of the Israelis. 4 Furthermore, Ahaz[b] sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on top of hills, and under every green tree.
Ahaz Seeks Help from Assyria(A)
5 Later, King Rezin of Aram and Remaliah’s son Pekah, king of Israel, approached Jerusalem to attack it. They besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him. 6 But at that time, King Rezin of Aram recovered Elath for Aram, completely removing the Judeans from Elath. Then the Arameans returned to Elath and have remained there to this day. 7 So Ahaz sent envoys to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, to tell him, “I am your servant and son. Save me from the king of Aram and the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” 8 Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that was in the Lord’s Temple and in the palace treasuries and sent them as a gift to the king of Assyria, 9 so the king of Assyria listened to Ahaz. He attacked Damascus, captured it, sent its people away into exile to Kir, and executed Rezin.
King Ahaz Constructs a Pagan Altar(B)
10 King Ahaz traveled to Damascus and met with King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, where he observed the altar at Damascus. So King Ahaz sent a set of construction patterns of this altar to Uriah the priest. 11 Uriah the priest built an altar, following the plans that King Ahaz had sent him from Damascus and finishing the altar before King Ahaz returned from Damascus. 12 When the king returned from Damascus, as soon as he saw the altar, he[c] approached it and offered sacrifices on it. 13 He presented a burnt offering, a meat offering, poured out a drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of a peace offering on his altar. 14 Then he took the bronze altar that stood in the Lord’s presence from in front of the Temple, moved it to the north side of his altar, 15 and issued these orders to Uriah the priest:
“Burn the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and grain offering, the whole burnt offering, the grain offering, and the drink offering on behalf of all the people of the land on the large altar. And sprinkle all the blood from the burnt offering and from the sacrifice. But I will use the bronze altar to ask God questions.”
16 So Uriah the priest did precisely what King Ahaz ordered. 17 Later, King Ahaz ordered the side panels removed from the bases, along with the washing bowls that had stood on top of the bases. He also removed the large bowl that was called the Sea from on top of the bronze bulls that supported it, and put it on a stone base. 18 Then Ahaz removed the covered walkway for use on the Sabbath that they had built in the Temple. Because of the king of Assyria, he also removed the outside entrance from the Lord’s Temple that had been built exclusively[d] for the king.
19 Now the rest of Ahaz’s activities are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? 20 Later, Ahaz died, as did[e] his ancestors, and was buried alongside his ancestors in the City of David. His son Hezekiah reigned in his place.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 16:1 The Heb. lacks the reign of
- 2 Kings 16:4 Lit. he
- 2 Kings 16:12 Lit. altar, the king
- 2 Kings 16:18 The Heb. lacks that had been built exclusively
- 2 Kings 16:20 Lit. Ahaz slept with
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