Chapter 16

¹In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah reigned hath Ahaz son of Jotham king of Judah. ²A son of twenty years [is] Ahaz in his reigning, and sixteen years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and he hath not done that which [is] right in the eyes of Jehovah his God, like David his father, ³and he walketh in the way of the kings of Israel, and also his son he hath caused to pass over into fire, according to the abominations of the nations that Jehovah dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel, ⁴and he sacrificeth and maketh perfume in high places, and on the heights, and under every green tree. ⁵Then doth Rezin king of Aram go up, and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, to Jerusalem, to battle, and they lay siege to Ahaz, and they have not been able to fight. ⁶At that time hath Rezin king of Aram brought back Elath to Aram, and casteth out the Jews from Elath, and the Aramaeans have come in to Elath, and dwell there unto this day. ⁷And Ahaz sendeth messengers unto Tiglath-Pileser king of Asshur, saying, `Thy servant and thy son [am] I; come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.` ⁸And Ahaz taketh the silver and the gold that is found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the house of the king, and sendeth to the king of Asshur -- a bribe. ⁹And hearken unto him doth the king of Asshur, and the king of Asshur goeth up unto Damascus, and seizeth it, and removeth [the people of] it to Kir, and Rezin he hath put to death. ¹⁰And king Ahaz goeth to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Asshur [at] Damascus, and seeth the altar that [is] in Damascus, and king Ahaz sendeth unto Urijah the priest the likeness of the altar, and its pattern, according to all its work, ¹¹and Urijah the priest buildeth the altar according to all that king Ahaz hath sent from Damascus; so did Urijah the priest till the coming in of king Ahaz from Damascus. ¹²And the king cometh in from Damascus, and the king seeth the altar, and the king draweth near on the altar, and offereth on it, ¹³and perfumeth his burnt-offering, and his present, and poureth out his libation, and sprinkleth the blood of the peace-offerings that he hath, on the altar. ¹⁴As to the altar of brass that [is] before Jehovah -- he bringeth [it] near from the front of the house, from between the altar and the house of Jehovah, and putteth it on the side of the altar, northward. ¹⁵And king Ahaz commandeth him -- Urijah the priest -- saying, `On the great altar perfume the burnt-offering of the morning, and the present of the evening, and the burnt-offering of the king, and his present, and the burnt-offering of all the people of the land, and their present, and their libations; and all the blood of the burnt-offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice, on it thou dost sprinkle, and the altar of brass is to me to inquire [by].` ¹⁶And Urijah the priest doth according to all that king Ahaz commanded. ¹⁷And king Ahaz cutteth off the borders of the bases, and turneth aside from off them the laver, and the sea he hath taken down from off the brazen oxen that [are] under it, and putteth it on a pavement of stones. ¹⁸And the covered place for the sabbath that they built in the house, and the entrance of the king without, he turned [from] the house of Jehovah, because of the king of Asshur. ¹⁹And the rest of the matters of Ahaz that he did, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁰And Ahaz lieth with his fathers, and is buried with his fathers, in the city of David, and reign doth Hezekiah his son in his stead.