2 Kings 16
New American Standard Bible
Ahaz Reigns over Judah
16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, (A)Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, became king. 2 (B)Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God, as his father David had done. 3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, (C)and he even made his son pass through the fire, (D)in accordance with the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had [a]driven out before the sons of Israel. 4 And he (E)sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
5 Then (F)Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem for war; and they besieged Ahaz, (G)but [b]were not capable of fighting him. 6 At that time Rezin king of Aram restored (H)Elath to Aram, and drove the Judeans away from [c]Elath; and the [d]Arameans came to Elath and have lived there to this day.
Ahaz Seeks Help of Assyria
7 (I)So Ahaz sent messengers to (J)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and save me from the [e]hand of the king of Aram, and from the [f]hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.” 8 And (K)Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent a gift to the king of Assyria. 9 (L)So the king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and (M)captured it, and led the people of it into exile to (N)Kir, and put Rezin to death.
Damascus Falls
10 Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet (O)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he saw the altar which was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to (P)Urijah the priest the [g]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, [h]before the coming of King Ahaz from Damascus. 12 And when the king came from Damascus, the king saw the altar; then (Q)the king approached the altar and [i]went up to it, 13 and [j]burned his burnt offering and his meal offering, and poured out his [k]drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. 14 And (R)the bronze altar, which was before the Lord, [l]he brought from the front of the house, from between (S)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 [m]burn (T)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 [n]drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. But (U)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 (V)cut off the borders of the stands, and removed the wash basin from them; he also (W)took down the [o]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.
Hezekiah Reigns over Judah
19 Now as for the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written (X)in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20 So (Y)Ahaz [p]lay down with his fathers, and (Z)was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 16:3 Or dispossessed
- 2 Kings 16:5 Or did not prevail in fighting
- 2 Kings 16:6 Heb Eloth
- 2 Kings 16:6 As in some ancient versions; MT Edomites
- 2 Kings 16:7 Lit palm
- 2 Kings 16:7 Lit palm
- 2 Kings 16:10 Lit likeness
- 2 Kings 16:11 Lit until
- 2 Kings 16:12 Or offered on it
- 2 Kings 16:13 Lit offered up in smoke
- 2 Kings 16:13 I.e., libation
- 2 Kings 16:14 Lit he also
- 2 Kings 16:15 Lit offer up in smoke
- 2 Kings 16:15 I.e., libations
- 2 Kings 16:17 I.e., a very large basin
- 2 Kings 16:20 I.e., died
2 Kings 16
King James Version
16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.
2 Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord his God, like David his father.
3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel.
4 And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
5 Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.
6 At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.
7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.
9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.
10 And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.
11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.
12 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.
13 And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.
14 And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the Lord, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of the altar.
15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.
16 Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
17 And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon the pavement of stones.
18 And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the Lord for the king of Assyria.
19 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.
2 Kings 16
New Century Version
Ahaz King of Judah
16 Ahaz was the son of Jotham king of Judah. Ahaz became king of Judah in the seventeenth year Pekah son of Remaliah was king of Israel. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he ruled sixteen years in Jerusalem. Unlike his ancestor David, he did not do what the Lord his God said was right. 3 Ahaz did the same things the kings of Israel had done. He even made his son pass through fire. He did the same hateful sins as the nations had done whom the Lord had forced out of the land ahead of the Israelites. 4 Ahaz offered sacrifices and burned incense at the places where gods were worshiped, on the hills, and under every green tree.
5 Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, came up to attack Jerusalem. They surrounded Ahaz but could not defeat him. 6 At that time Rezin king of Aram took back the city of Elath for Aram, and he forced out all the people of Judah. Then Edomites moved into Elath, and they still live there today.
7 Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your friend. Come and save me from the king of Aram and the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” 8 Ahaz took the silver and gold that was in the Temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the palace, and he sent these as a gift to the king of Assyria. 9 So the king of Assyria listened to Ahaz. He attacked Damascus and captured it and sent all its people away to Kir. And he killed Rezin.
10 Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. Ahaz saw an altar at Damascus, and he sent plans and a pattern of this altar to Uriah the priest. 11 So Uriah the priest built an altar, just like the plans King Ahaz had sent him from Damascus. Uriah finished the altar before King Ahaz came back from Damascus. 12 When the king arrived from Damascus, he saw the altar and went near and offered sacrifices on it. 13 He burned his burnt offerings and grain offerings and poured out his drink offering. He also sprinkled the blood of his fellowship offerings on the altar.
14 Ahaz moved the bronze altar that was before the Lord at the front of the Temple. It was between Ahaz’s altar and the Temple of the Lord, but he put it on the north side of his altar. 15 King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, “On the large altar burn the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and grain offering, and the whole burnt offering, the grain offering, and the drink offering for all the people of the land. Sprinkle on the altar all the blood of the burnt offering and of the sacrifice. But I will use the bronze altar to ask questions of God.” 16 So Uriah the priest did everything as King Ahaz commanded him.
17 Then King Ahaz took off the side panels from the bases and removed the washing bowls from the top of the bases. He also took the large bowl, which was called the Sea, off the bronze bulls that held it up, and he put it on a stone base. 18 Ahaz took away the platform for the royal throne, which had been built at the Temple of the Lord. He also took away the outside entrance for the king. He did these things because of the king of Assyria.
19 The other things Ahaz did as king are written in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. 20 Ahaz died and was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem, and Ahaz’s son Hezekiah became king in his place.
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