⁷ King Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria with this message: “I am your servant and your vassal.^[a] Come up and rescue me from the attacking armies of Aram and Israel.”

²⁹ During Pekah’s reign, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria attacked Israel again, and he captured the towns of Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, and Hazor. He also conquered the regions of Gilead, Galilee, and all of Naphtali, and he took the people to Assyria as captives.

Wisdom from the Lord

²⁰ So when King Tiglath-pileser^[a] of Assyria arrived, he attacked Ahaz instead of helping him.

Ahaz Closes the Temple

¹⁶ At that time King Ahaz of Judah asked the king of Assyria for help.

²⁶ So the God of Israel caused King Pul of Assyria (also known as Tiglath-pileser) to invade the land and take away the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh as captives. The Assyrians exiled them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the Gozan River, where they remain to this day.

³² So they put on burlap and ropes, and they went to the king of Israel and begged, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please let me live!’”

The king of Israel responded, “Is he still alive? He is my brother!”

³³ The men took this as a good sign and quickly picked up on his words. “Yes,” they said, “your brother Ben-hadad!”

“Go and get him,” the king of Israel told them. And when Ben-hadad arrived, Ahab invited him up into his chariot.