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
Living Bible
16 New king of Judah: Ahaz
Father’s name: Jotham
His age at the beginning of his reign: 20 years old
Length of reign: 16 years, in Jerusalem
Character of his reign: evil
Reigning in Israel at that time: King Pekah (son of Remaliah), who had been the king there for 17 years
2 But he did not follow the Lord as his ancestor David had; 3 he was as wicked as the kings of Israel. He even killed his own son by offering him as a burnt sacrifice to the gods, following the heathen customs of the nations around Judah—nations that the Lord destroyed when the people of Israel entered the land. 4 He also sacrificed and burned incense at the shrines on the hills and at the numerous altars in the groves of trees.
5 Then King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah (son of Remaliah) of Israel declared war on Ahaz and besieged Jerusalem; but they did not conquer it. 6 However, at that time King Rezin of Syria recovered the city of Elath for Syria; he drove out the Jews and sent Syrians to live there, as they do to this day. 7 King Ahaz sent a messenger to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, begging him to help him fight the attacking armies of Syria and Israel.[a] 8 Ahaz took the silver and gold from the Temple and from the royal vaults and sent it as a payment to the Assyrian king. 9 So the Assyrians attacked Damascus, the capital of Syria. They took away the population of the city as captives, resettling them in Kir, and King Rezin of Syria was killed.
10 King Ahaz now went to Damascus to meet with King Tiglath-pileser, and while he was there he noticed an unusual altar in a heathen temple.[b] He jotted down its dimensions and made a sketch and sent it back to Uriah the priest with a detailed description. 11-12 Uriah built one just like it by following these directions and had it ready for the king, who, upon his return from Damascus, inaugurated it with an offering. 13 The king presented a burnt offering and a grain offering, poured a drink offering over it, and sprinkled the blood of peace offerings upon it. 14 Then he removed the old bronze altar from the front of the Temple (it had stood between the Temple entrance and the new altar), and placed it on the north side of the new altar. 15 He instructed Uriah the priest to use the new altar for the sacrifices of burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and grain offering, and the offerings of the people, including their drink offerings. The blood from the burnt offerings and sacrifices was also to be sprinkled over the new altar. So the old altar was used only for purposes of divination.
“The old bronze altar,” he said, “will be only for my personal use.”
16 Uriah the priest did as King Ahaz instructed him. 17 Then the king dismantled the wheeled stands in the Temple, removed their crosspieces and the water vats they supported, and removed the great tank from the backs of the bronze oxen and placed it upon the stone pavement. 18 In deference to the king of Assyria he also removed the festive passageway he had constructed between the palace and the Temple.[c]
19 The rest of the history of the reign of King Ahaz is recorded in The Annals of the Kings of Judah. 20 When Ahaz died he was buried in the royal cemetery, in the City of David sector of Jerusalem, and his son Hezekiah became the new king.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 16:7 begging him to . . . fight . . . Syria and Israel, literally, “saying, ‘I am your servant and your son. Come and rescue me.’”
- 2 Kings 16:10 an unusual altar in a heathen temple, literally, “he saw the altar that was at Damascus.”
- 2 Kings 16:18 The Hebrew is unclear.
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