King James Version

1 Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD, like David his father. 2 And he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and also made images for the Baals. 3 And he burned in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and sacrificed his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations which the Lord dispossessed before the children of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree. 5 And the Lord my God delivered him into the hand of the king of Aram, and they struck him, and they captured from him a great captivity, and they brought [it] to Damascus; and also into the hand of the king of Israel it was given, and he struck him with a great blow. 6 And Pekah son of Remaliah killed one hundred twenty thousand in Judah in one day, all mighty men, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. 7 And Jehoram killed Zichri, the mighty man of Ephraim, and Maaseiah the son of the king, and Azrikam, the chief of the house, and Elkanah, the second to the king. 8 And the sons of Israel dwelt from their brothers two hundred thousand women, sons, and daughters, and also a great spoil they plundered from them, and they brought the spoil to Samaria. 9 And there was a prophet of the LORD, named Oded, and he went out to meet the army that was coming to Samaria, and he said to them, "Behold, by the wrath of the LORD, the God of your fathers, He has given Judah into your hand, and you have killed them in rage that has reached up to heaven." 10 And now, you sons of Judah and Jerusalem, you say to crush the servants and the maids for yourselves; are you not only yourselves guilty before the Lord your God? 11 And now listen to me and return the captives that you have taken from your brothers, for the anger of the Lord is against you. 12 And men arose from the leaders of the sons of Ephraim: Azariah the son of Jehohanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Hezekiah the son of Shallum, and Amassah the son of Hadlai, over the coming ones from the army. 13 And they said to them, "Do not bring the captive here, for it is for the guilt of the LORD against us that you are saying to add to our sins and to our guilt, for our guilt is great against us, and the anger of the LORD is against Israel." 14 And the soldier left the captive and the plunder before the rulers and all the congregation. 15 And the men who were named by names got up and took the captives, and they dressed them from the spoils, and they clothed them and put sandals on them and fed them and gave them drink and sheltered them, and they led them on donkeys to all the stumbling, and they brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brothers, and they returned to Samaria. 16 At that time, King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria to help him. 17 And still the Edomites came and struck Judah and took captives. 18 The Philistines spread out in the cities of the Shephelah and the Negev of Judah, and they captured Beth Shemesh and Aijalon and the villages and Socoh and its daughters and Timnah and its daughters and Gimzo and its daughters, and they settled there. 19 For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had acted treacherously against the Lord. 20 And Tilgath-Pilneser, king of Assyria, came upon me and besieged me, but he did not strengthen himself against me. 21 For Ahaz divided the house of the Lord and the house of the king and the princes, and he gave to the king of Assyria, but he did not assist him. 22 And at the time of his distress, he added to trespass against the Lord; he was King Ahaz. 23 And he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, the ones striking him, and he said, "For the gods of the kings of Aram, they are helping them; I will sacrifice to them, and they will help me." And they were a hindrance to him and to all of Israel. 24 And Ahaz gathered the vessels of the house of God and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God and shut the doors of the house of the LORD and made for himself altars in every corner in Jerusalem. 25 And in every city and town of Judah, he made high places to burn incense to other gods and provoked Yahweh, the God of his fathers, to anger. 26 And the rest of my words, and all my ways, the first and the last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 27 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of Jerusalem, for they did not bring him to the graves of the kings of Israel; and his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.