⁵ Then ^(A)Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to wage war; and they besieged Ahaz, ^(B)but could not ^[a]overcome him. ⁶ At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered ^(C)Elath for Aram, and cleared the Judeans out of ^[b]Elath entirely; and the ^[c]Arameans came to Elath and have lived there to this day.

Ahaz Seeks Help of Aram

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

Judah Is Invaded

⁵ Wherefore, ^(A)the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Aram; and they ^[a]defeated him and carried away from him a great number of captives and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who ^[b]inflicted him with heavy casualties. ⁶ For ^(B)Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah 120,000 in one day, all valiant men, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers.

^18 (A)The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the ^[a]lowland and of the Negev of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, and Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages, and they settled there. ¹⁹ For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of ^(B)Israel, for he had brought about a lack of restraint in Judah and was very unfaithful to the Lord. ²⁰ So ^(C)Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. ^21 (D)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 in the time of his distress this same King Ahaz ^(E)became yet more unfaithful to the Lord. ^23 (F)For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had ^[b]defeated him, and said, “^(G)Because the gods of the kings of Aram helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they became the ^[c]downfall of him and all Israel.

¹⁴ Moreover, I will make you a desolation and a ^(A)reproach among the nations which surround you, in the sight of all who pass by. ¹⁵ So ^[a]it will be a reproach, a reviling, a ^(B)warning and an object of horror to the nations who surround you when I ^(C)execute judgments against you in anger, wrath and raging rebukes. I, the Lord, have spoken.

⁴ You have become ^(A)guilty by ^[a]the blood which you have shed, and defiled by your idols which you have made. Thus you have brought your ^[b]day near and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a ^(B)reproach to the nations and a mocking to all the lands.