1 The seuenteenth yeere of Pekah the sonne of Remaliah, Ahaz the sonne of Iotham King of Iudah began to reigne. 2 Twentie yeere olde was Ahaz, when hee began to reigne, and he reigned sixteene yeere in Ierusalem, and did not vprightly in the sight of the Lord his God, like Dauid his father: 3 But walked in the way of ye kings of Israel, yea, and made his sonne to go through the fire, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 4 Also he offred and burnt incense in the hie places and on the hilles, and vnder euery greene tree. 5 Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah sonne of Remaliah King of Israel came vp to Ierusalem to fight: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not ouercome him. 6 At the same time Rezin king of Aram restored Elath to Aram, and droue the Iewes from Elath: so the Aramites came to Elath, and dwelt there vnto this day. 7 Then Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath Pileser king of Asshur, saying, I am thy seruant and thy sonne: come vp, and deliuer me out of the hand of the king of Aram, and out of the hand of the King of Israel which rise vp against me. 8 And Ahaz tooke the siluer and the golde that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the Kings house, and sent a present vnto the King of Asshur. 9 And the King of Asshur consented vnto him: and the King of Asshur went vp against Damascus. and when he had taken it, he caryed the people away to Kir, and slew Rezin. 10 And King Ahaz went vnto Damascus to meete Tiglath Pileser King of Asshur: and when King Ahaz sawe the altar that was at Damascus, he sent to Vriiah the Priest the paterne of the altar, and the facion of it, and all the workemanship thereof. 11 And Vriiah the Priest made an altar in al poyntes like to that which King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so did Vriiah the Priest against King Ahaz came from Damascus. 12 So when the King was come from Damascus, the King sawe the altar: and the King drewe neere to the altar and offered thereon. 13 And hee burnt his burnt offering, and his meate offring, and powred his drinke offring, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offrings besides the altar, 14 And set it by the brasen altar which was before the Lord, and brought it in farther before the house betweene the altar and the house of the Lord, and set it on the North side of the altar. 15 And King Ahaz commanded Vriiah the Priest, and sayde, Vpon the great altar set on fire in the morning the burnt offring, and in the euen the meate offring, and the Kings burnt offring and his meate offering, with the burnt offring of all the people of the lande, and their meate offring, and their drinke offrings: and powre thereby all the blood of the burnt offring, and all the blood of the sacrifice, and the brasen altar shalbe for me to inquire of God. 16 And Vriiah the Priest did according to all that King Ahaz had commanded. 17 And King Ahaz brake the borders of the bases, and tooke the caldrons from off them, and tooke downe the sea from the brasen oxen that were vnder it, and put it vpon a pauement of stones. 18 And the vaile for the Sabbath (that they had made in the house) and the Kings entrie without turned he to the house of the Lord, because of the King of Asshur. 19 Concerning the rest of the actes of Ahaz, which he did, are they not written in the booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Iudah? 20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buryed with his fathers in the citie of Dauid, and Hezekiah his sonne reigned in his steade.
King Ahaz of Judah
(2 Chronicles 28.1-27)1 In the seventeenth year of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah as king of Israel, Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah 2 at the age of twenty, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years. He did not follow the good example of his ancestor King David; instead, he did what was not pleasing to the Lord his God 3 and followed the example of the kings of Israel. He even sacrificed his own son as a burnt offering to idols, imitating the disgusting practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land as the Israelites advanced. 4 At the pagan places of worship, on the hills, and under every shady tree, Ahaz offered sacrifices and burned incense.
5 King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel attacked Jerusalem and besieged it, but could not defeat Ahaz. ( 6 At the same time the king of Edom regained control of the city of Elath and drove out the Judeans who lived there. The Edomites settled in Elath and still live there.) 7 Ahaz sent men to Tiglath Pileser, the emperor of Assyria, with this message: “I am your devoted servant. Come and rescue me from the kings of Syria and of Israel, who are attacking me.” 8 Ahaz took the silver and gold from the Temple and the palace treasury, and sent it as a present to the emperor. 9 Tiglath Pileser, in answer to Ahaz' plea, marched out with his army against Damascus, captured it, killed King Rezin, and took the people to Kir as prisoners.
10 When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Emperor Tiglath Pileser, he saw the altar there and sent back to Uriah the priest an exact model of it, down to the smallest details. 11 So Uriah built an altar just like it and finished it before Ahaz returned. 12 On his return from Damascus, Ahaz saw that the altar was finished, 13 so he burned animal sacrifices and grain offerings on it and poured a wine offering and the blood of a fellowship offering on it. 14 The bronze altar dedicated to the Lord was between the new altar and the Temple, so Ahaz moved it to the north side of his new altar. 15 Then he ordered Uriah: “Use this large altar of mine for the morning burnt offerings and the evening grain offerings, for the burnt offerings and grain offerings of the king and the people, and for the people's wine offerings. Pour on it the blood of all the animals that are sacrificed. But keep the bronze altar for me to use for divination.” 16 Uriah did as the king commanded.
17 King Ahaz took apart the bronze carts used in the Temple and removed the basins that were on them. He also took the bronze tank from the backs of the twelve bronze bulls and placed it on a stone foundation. 18 And in order to please the Assyrian emperor, Ahaz also removed from the Temple the platform for the royal throne and closed up the king's private entrance to the Temple.
19 Everything else that King Ahaz did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. 20 Ahaz died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Hezekiah succeeded him as king.