2 Kings 16:1-18
Christian Standard Bible
Judah’s King Ahaz
16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah,(A) Ahaz(B) son of Jotham became king of Judah. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God like his ancestor David(C) 3 but walked in the ways of the kings of Israel.(D) He even sacrificed his son in the fire,[a] imitating the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.(E) 4 He sacrificed and burned incense(F) on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.(G)
5 Then(H) Aram’s King Rezin and Israel’s King Pekah son of Remaliah came to wage war against Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz but were not able to conquer him.(I) 6 At that time Aram’s King Rezin recovered Elath for Aram and expelled the Judahites from Elath.(J) Then the Arameans came to Elath, and they still live there today.(K)
7 So Ahaz sent messengers(L) to King Tiglath-pileser(M) of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. March up and save me from the grasp of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.” 8 Ahaz also took the silver and gold found in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the king’s palace and sent them to the king of Assyria as a bribe.(N) 9 So the king of Assyria listened to him(O) and marched up to Damascus and captured it.(P) He deported its people to Kir(Q) but put Rezin to death.
Ahaz’s Idolatry
10 King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet King Tiglath-pileser(R) of Assyria. When he saw the altar that was in Damascus, King Ahaz sent a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction to the priest Uriah.(S) 11 Uriah built the altar according to all the instructions King Ahaz sent from Damascus. Therefore, by the time King Ahaz came back from Damascus, the priest Uriah had completed it. 12 When the king came back from Damascus, he saw the altar. Then he approached the altar(T) and ascended it.[b] 13 He offered his burnt offering(U) and his grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and splattered the blood of his fellowship offerings(V) on the altar. 14 He took the bronze altar(W) that was before the Lord in front of the temple between his altar and the Lord’s temple, and put it on the north side of his altar.
15 Then King Ahaz commanded the priest Uriah, “Offer on the great altar the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, and the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering. Also offer the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their grain offering, and their drink offerings. Splatter on the altar all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of sacrifice. The bronze altar will be for me to seek guidance.”[c] 16 The priest Uriah did everything King Ahaz commanded.
17 Then King Ahaz cut off the frames of the water carts[d](X) and removed the bronze basin from each of them. He took the basin[e](Y) from the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pavement. 18 To satisfy the king of Assyria, he removed from the Lord’s temple the Sabbath canopy they had built in the palace, and he closed the outer entrance for the king.
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2 Chronicles 28:21-25
Christian Standard Bible
21 Although Ahaz plundered the Lord’s temple and the palace of the king and of the rulers and gave the plunder to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.
22 At the time of his distress, King Ahaz himself became more unfaithful to the Lord. 23 He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him; he said, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram are helping them, I will sacrifice to them so that they will help me.”(A) But they were the downfall of him and of all Israel.
24 Then Ahaz gathered up the utensils of God’s temple, cut them into pieces,(B) shut the doors of the Lord’s temple,(C) and made himself altars on every street corner in Jerusalem.(D) 25 He made high places in every city of Judah to offer incense to other gods, and he angered the Lord, the God of his ancestors.
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Isaiah 7:10-25
Christian Standard Bible
The Immanuel Prophecy
10 Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz: 11 “Ask for a sign(A) from the Lord your God—it can be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.”
12 But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask. I will not test the Lord.”
13 Isaiah(B) said, “Listen, house of David! Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God?(C) 14 Therefore, the Lord himself will give you[a] a sign: See, the virgin will conceive,[b] have a son, and name him Immanuel.[c](D) 15 By the time he learns to reject what is bad and choose what is good,(E) he will be eating curds[d] and honey.(F) 16 For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned. 17 The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father’s house such a time as has never been since Ephraim separated from Judah:(G) He will bring the king of Assyria.”(H)
18 On that day(I)
the Lord will whistle(J) to flies
at the farthest streams of the Nile
and to bees in the land of Assyria.
19 All of them will come and settle
in the steep ravines, in the clefts of the rocks,(K)
in all the thornbushes, and in all the water holes.
20 On that day the Lord will use a razor(L) hired from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria(M)—to shave the hair on your heads, the hair on your legs, and even your beards.
21 On that day
a man will raise a young cow and two sheep,
22 and from the abundant milk they give
he will eat curds,
for every survivor in the land will eat curds and honey.(N)
23 And on that day
every place where there were a thousand vines,
worth a thousand pieces of silver,
will become thorns and briers.(O)
24 A man will go there with bow and arrows
because the whole land will be thorns and briers.
25 You will not go to all the hills
that were once tilled with a hoe,
for fear of the thorns and briers.
Those hills will be places for oxen to graze
and for sheep to trample.
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