2Ki 16 | NASB2020 | STEP | In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah , Ahaz the son of Jotham , king of Judah , became king .

2 Kings 16

Ahaz Reigns over Judah

1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, ^aAhaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, became king. 2 ^bAhaz 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, ^cand he even made his son pass through the fire, ^din accordance with the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had ^{▼▼Or dispossessed}driven out before the sons of Israel. 4 And he ^fsacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

5 Then ^gRezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem for war; and they besieged Ahaz, ^hbut ^{▼▼Or did not prevail in fighting}were not capable of fighting him. 6 At that time Rezin king of Aram restored ^jElath to Aram, and drove the Judeans away from ^{▼▼Heb Eloth}Elath; and the ^{▼▼As in some ancient versions; MT Edomites}Arameans came to Elath and have lived there to this day.

Ahaz Seeks Help of Assyria

7 ^mSo Ahaz sent messengers to ⁿTiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and save me from the ^{▼▼Lit palm}hand of the king of Aram, and from the ^{▼▼Lit palm}hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.” 8 And ^qAhaz 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 ^rSo the king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and ^scaptured it, and led the people of it into exile to ^tKir, and put Rezin to death.

Damascus Falls

10 Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet ^uTiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he saw the altar which was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to ^vUrijah the priest the ^{▼▼Lit likeness}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, ^{▼▼Lit until}before the coming of King Ahaz from Damascus. 12 And when the king came from Damascus, the king saw the altar; then ^ythe king approached the altar and ^{▼▼Or offered on it}went up to it, 13 and ^{▼▼Lit offered up in smoke}burned his burnt offering and his meal offering, and poured out his ^{▼▼I.e., libation}drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. 14 And ^acthe bronze altar, which was before the Lord, ^{▼▼Lit he also}he brought from the front of the house, from between ^aehis 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 ^{▼▼Lit offer up in smoke}burn ^agthe 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 ^{▼▼I.e., libations}drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. But ^aithe 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 ^ajcut off the borders of the stands, and removed the wash basin from them; he also ^aktook down the ^{▼▼I.e., a very large basin}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 ^amin the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20 So ^anAhaz ^{▼▼I.e., died}lay down with his fathers, and ^apwas buried with his fathers in the city of David; and his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.