¹² Because they ministered to them before their idols and ^(A)caused^[a] the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have ^(B)raised My hand in an oath against them,” says the Lord God, “that they shall bear their iniquity.

³ “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them ^(A)that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. ^(B)Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?

⁴ “Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols,

¹⁰ Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the design of the altar and its pattern, according to all its workmanship. ¹¹ Then ^(A)Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. So Urijah the priest made it before King Ahaz came back from Damascus. ¹² And when the king came back from Damascus, the king saw the altar; and ^(B)the king approached the altar and made offerings on it. ¹³ So he burned his burnt offering and his grain offering; and he poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. ¹⁴ He also brought ^(C)the bronze altar which was before the Lord, from the front of the ^[a]temple—from between the new altar and the house of the Lord—and put it on the north side of the new altar. ¹⁵ Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “On the great new altar burn ^(D)the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their grain offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. And the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” ¹⁶ Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that King Ahaz commanded.

Laws Governing Priests

^10 (A)“And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.

²³ Also I raised My hand in an oath to those in the wilderness, that ^(A)I would scatter them among the Gentiles and disperse them throughout the countries,

¹⁵ So ^(A)I also raised My hand in an oath to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, ^(B)‘flowing with milk and honey,’ ^(C)the glory of all lands,

⁵ The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land ^(A)raised up his ^[a]hand to heaven ⁶ and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, ^(B)who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, ^(C)that there should be delay no longer,