1Ahaz was twenty when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for sixteen years. He did not do what was right in the Lord's sight as his forefather David had.

2He followed the example of the kings of Israel, and also cast metal idols for worshiping the Baals.

3He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, and sacrificed his children in the fire, following the disgusting practices of the peoples the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.

4He presented sacrifices and burned incense offerings on the high places, on the mountain tops, and under every living tree.

5As a result, the Lord his God let the king of Aram conquer Ahaz. The Arameans attacked him and captured many of his people, taking them to Damascus. Ahaz was also defeated by the king of Israel in a massive attack.

6In just one day, Pekah, son of Remaliah, killed 120,000 fighting men in Judah, because they had abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers.

7Zichri, a warrior from Ephraim, killed Maaseiah, the son of the king; Azrikam, the palace governor; and Elkanah, the king's second-in-command.

8The Israelites captured 200,000 of their “brothers” ⁶²—women, sons, and daughters. They also took a great deal of plunder and brought it to Samaria.

9But a prophet of the Lord named Oded was there in Samaria, and he went out to meet the returning army. He told them, “It was because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah that he allowed you to defeat them. But you have killed them with such fury that it has upset heaven.

10Now you're planning to turn these people from Judah and Jerusalem into slaves. But aren't you also guilty of sinning against the Lord your God?

11Listen to me! Return the prisoners you've taken from your brothers, the fierce anger of the Lord is falling upon you!”

12Some of the leaders of the people of Ephraim ⁶³—Azariah, son of Jehohanan, Berechiah, son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah, son of Shallum, and Amasa, son of Hadlai—stood up in opposition against those returning from the war.

13“Don't you bring those prisoners here!” they told them. “If you do you will only add to our sins and wrongdoing against the Lord. Our guilt is already great, and his fierce anger is falling upon Israel.”

14So the armed men left the prisoners and the plunder before the leaders and all the people gathered there.

15The men named above got up and took clothes from the plunder to those that had none, gave them sandals to wear, and food and drink, and put olive oil on their wounds. Those who couldn't walk any more they put on donkeys, and took them all to Jericho, the town of palms, to be close to the people of Judah. ⁶⁴

16It was then that King Ahaz asked the king of Assyria for help.

17The armies of Edom had once again invaded Judah and taken people prisoner,

18while the Philistines had attacked the towns in the foothills and the Negev of Judah. They had captured and occupied Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, along with Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo and their villages.

19The Lord had brought Judah down because Ahaz, king of Israel, was out of control in Judah, sinning terribly against the Lord.

20So Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, came to Ahaz but attacked rather than helped him.

21Ahaz took what was valuable from the Lord's Temple, the king's palace, and from his officials and gave them to the king of Assyria as tribute. But it didn't help him.

22Even at this time when he was having so much trouble, King Ahaz sinned more and more against the Lord.

23He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, whose army had defeated him, for he said to himself, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram helped them, I'll sacrifice to them so they can help me.” But this led to the ruin of Ahaz and of all Israel.

24Ahaz took the sacred items from the Lord's Temple and smashed them to pieces. He barred the doors of the Lord's Temple and set up pagan altars on every corner in Jerusalem.

25In every town throughout Judah he set up high places to make offerings to pagan gods, angering the Lord, the God of his forefathers.

26The rest of what Ahaz did, from beginning to end, is written down in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

27Ahaz died, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem. They did not bury him in the tombs of the kings of Israel. Hezekiah his son took over as king.