Second Book of Chronicles 28

¹ Ahaz was twenty years old when he came to the throne and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what is pleasing to Yahweh, as his ancestor David had done.

² He followed the example of the kings of Israel, even having idols cast for the Baals;

³ he offered incense in the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom[*a] and caused his sons to pass through fire, copying the shameful practices of the nations which Yahweh had dispossessed for the sons of Israel.

⁴ He offered sacrifices and incense on the high places, on the hills and under every spreading tree.

⁵ Yahweh his God delivered him into the power of the king of the Aramaeans who defeated him and took great numbers of his people captive, carrying them off to Damascus. He was also delivered into the power of the king of Israel, who inflicted a crushing defeat on him.

⁶ In a single day, Pekah son of Remaliah killed a hundred and twenty thousand in Judah, all stout fighting men; this was because they had deserted Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.

⁷ Zichri, an Ephraimite champion, killed Maaseiah, son of the king, Azrikam the controller of the palace, and Elkanah the king’s second-in-command.

⁸ The Israelites took two hundred thousand of their brothers captive, with wives, sons, daughters; they also took quantities of booty, carrying everything off to Samaria.

⁹ A prophet of Yahweh was there named Oded, who went out to meet the troops returning to Samaria and said, ‘Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah and so he delivered them into your power, but you have slaughtered with such fury as reaches to heaven.

¹⁰ And now you propose to reduce these children of Judah and Jerusalem to being your serving men and women! And are you not all the while the ones who are guilty before Yahweh your God?

¹¹ Now listen to me: release the prisoners you have taken of your brothers, for the fierce anger of Yahweh hangs over you.’

¹² Some of the Ephraimite chieftains then protested to those who were returning from the expedition: Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum and Amasa son of Hadlai.

¹³ ‘You must not bring the captives in here,’ they said ‘or we should be guilty before Yahweh. You are proposing to add to our sins and to our guilt, but our guilt is already heavy and the fierce anger of Yahweh is hanging over Israel.’

¹⁴ So in the presence of the officials and of the whole assembly the army gave up the captives and the booty.

¹⁵ Men expressly nominated for the purpose saw to the relief of the prisoners. From the booty they clothed all those of them who were naked; they gave them clothing and sandals and provided them with food, drink and shelter. They mounted all those who were infirm on donkeys and took them back to their kinsmen at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.

¹⁶ It was then that King Ahaz sent asking the kings of Assyria to come to his assistance.

¹⁷ The Edomites once again invaded and defeated Judah, and carried off prisoners.

¹⁸ The Philistines encroached on the towns in the lowlands and in the Negeb of Judah. They took Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, and Soco with its outlying villages, Timnah with its outlying villages, Gimzo with its outlying villages, and they settled in them.

¹⁹ For Yahweh humbled Judah on account of Ahaz king of Israel, since he neglected Judah and was unfaithful to Yahweh.

²⁰ Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria attacked and besieged him but could not overcome him.

²¹ Ahaz however had to take part of the goods in the Temple of Yahweh and in the palaces of the king and princes, to hand over to the king of Assyria, yet he received no help from him.

²² During the time he was under siege he made his faithlessness graver still, this King Ahaz,

²³ by offering sacrifices to the gods of Damascus who had defeated him. ‘Since the gods of the kings of Aram’ he said ‘have been of help to them, I will sacrifice to them in the hope that they may be of help to me.’ But they proved his downfall and that of Israel.

²⁴ Ahaz collected a number of the furnishings of the Temple of God, and dismantled others; he closed the doors of the Temple of Yahweh and put up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem;

²⁵ he set up high places in every town of Judah to offer incense to other gods, and so provoked the anger of Yahweh, the God of his ancestors.

²⁶ The rest of his history, his whole policy, from first to last, is recorded in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

²⁷ Then Ahaz slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the Citadel, in Jerusalem, though he was not taken into the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah succeeded him.