| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1During the seventeenth year of the reign of Remaliah's son Pekah, Jotham's son Ahaz became king of Judah. | 1In the seventeenth year of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah, Jotham's son Ahaz became king over Judah. |
| 2Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years. He did not practice what the LORD considered to be right, as had his ancestor David. | 2Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what pleased the LORD his God, in contrast to his ancestor David. |
| 3Instead, he behaved like the kings of Israel did by making his son pass through fire, the very same abomination that the heathen practiced, whom the LORD evicted from the land right in front of the Israelis. | 3He followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel. He passed his son through the fire, a horrible sin practiced by the nations whom the LORD drove out from before the Israelites. |
| 4Furthermore, Ahaz sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on top of hills, and under every green tree. | 4He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree. |
| 5Later, King Rezin of Aram and Remaliah's son Pekah, king of Israel, approached Jerusalem to attack it. They besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him. | 5At that time King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel attacked Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz, but were unable to conquer him. |
| 6But at that time, King Rezin of Aram recovered Elath for Aram, completely removing the Judeans from Elath. Then the Arameans returned to Elath and have remained there to this day. | 6(At that time King Rezin of Syria recovered Elat for Syria; he drove the Judahites from there. Syrians arrived in Elat and live there to this very day.) |
| 7So Ahaz sent envoys to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, to tell him, "I am your servant and son. Save me from the king of Aram and the king of Israel, who are attacking me." | 7Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, saying, "I am your servant and your dependent. March up and rescue me from the power of the king of Syria and the king of Israel, who have attacked me." |
| 8Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that was in the LORD's Temple and in the palace treasuries and sent them as a gift to the king of Assyria, | 8Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that were in the LORD's temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as tribute to the king of Assyria. |
| 9so the king of Assyria listened to Ahaz. He attacked Damascus, captured it, sent its people away into exile to Kir, and executed Rezin. | 9The king of Assyria responded favorably to his request; he attacked Damascus and captured it. He deported the people to Kir and executed Rezin. |
| 10King Ahaz traveled to Damascus and met with King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, where he observed the altar at Damascus. So King Ahaz sent a set of construction patterns of this altar to Uriah the priest. | 10When King Ahaz went to meet with King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria in Damascus, he saw the altar there. King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a drawing of the altar and a blueprint for its design. |
| 11Uriah the priest built an altar, following the plans that King Ahaz had sent him from Damascus and finishing the altar before King Ahaz returned from Damascus. | 11Uriah the priest built an altar in conformity to the plans King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. Uriah the priest finished it before King Ahaz arrived back from Damascus. |
| 12When the king returned from Damascus, as soon as he saw the altar, he approached it and offered sacrifices on it. | 12When the king arrived back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and offered a sacrifice on it. |
| 13He presented a burnt offering, a meat offering, poured out a drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of a peace offering on his altar. | 13He offered his burnt sacrifice and his grain offering. He poured out his libation and sprinkled the blood from his peace offerings on the altar. |
| 14Then he took the bronze altar that stood in the LORD's presence from in front of the Temple, moved it to the north side of his altar, | 14He moved the bronze altar that stood in the LORD's presence from the front of the temple (between the altar and the LORD's temple) and put it on the north side of the new altar. |
| 15and issued these orders to Uriah the priest: "Burn the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king's burnt offering and grain offering, the whole burnt offering, the grain offering, and the drink offering on behalf of all the people of the land on the large altar. And sprinkle all the blood from the burnt offering and from the sacrifice. But I will use the bronze altar to ask God questions." | 15King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest, "On the large altar offer the morning burnt sacrifice, the evening grain offering, the royal burnt sacrifices and grain offering, the burnt sacrifice for all the people of Israel, their grain offering, and their libations. Sprinkle all the blood of the burnt sacrifice and other sacrifices on it. The bronze altar will be for my personal use." |
| 16So Uriah the priest did precisely what King Ahaz ordered. | 16So Uriah the priest did exactly as King Ahaz ordered. |
| 17Later, King Ahaz ordered the side panels removed from the bases, along with the washing bowls that had stood on top of the bases. He also removed the large bowl that was called the Sea from on top of the bronze bulls that supported it, and put it on a stone base. | 17King Ahaz took off the frames of the movable stands, and removed the basins from them. He took "The Sea" down from the bronze bulls that supported it and put it on the pavement. |
| 18Then Ahaz removed the covered walkway for use on the Sabbath that they had built in the Temple. Because of the king of Assyria, he also removed the outside entrance from the LORD's Temple that had been built exclusively for the king. | 18He also removed the Sabbath awning that had been built in the temple and the king's outer entranceway, on account of the king of Assyria. |
| 19Now the rest of Ahaz's activities are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? | 19The rest of the events of Ahaz's reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. |
| 20Later, Ahaz died, as did his ancestors, and was buried alongside his ancestors in the City of David. His son Hezekiah reigned in his place. | 20Ahaz passed away and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His son Hezekiah replaced him as king. |
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