Ahaz Is King of Judah
4 Kingdoms 16, verse 1. In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham became king of Judah. 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 2. Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he ruled for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, and he was not faithful as was his father David. 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 3. But he walked in the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, king of Israel; indeed, he made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the sons of Israel. 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 4. And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every tree growing in the woods. 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 5. Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to make war. They began to besiege Ahaz, but they could not sustain the war. 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 6. At that time, Rezin king of Syria returned Elath to Syria and drove the men of Judah from Elath. Then the Edomites went to Elath, where they continue to dwell to this day. 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 7. So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel. They have risen up against me.” 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 8. And Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the house of the king, and delivered it as a gift to the king. 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 9. So the king of Assyria heeded him, and he went up against Damascus and took it. He removed the inhabitants and killed Rezin. 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 10. Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. There in Damascus, he saw an altar. And King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the design of the altar and its pattern, according to all its workmanship. 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 11. Then Urijah the priest built an altar according to the design plans King Ahaz sent from Damascus. 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 12. When the king saw the altar, he went up to it 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 13. and offered his burnt offering on it, and his sacrifice and his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 14. He also relocated the bronze altar, which was before the Lord, forward from between the new altar and the house of the Lord. He put it on the north side of the new altar. 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 15. Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “On the large altar, offer the morning burnt offering, the evening sacrifice, the king's whole burnt offering with his sacrifice, and the whole burnt offering of all the people with their sacrifice, and their drink offerings. And sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. The bronze altar shall be mine for the early morning.” 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 16. And Urijah the priest did everything King Ahaz commanded. 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 17. Then King Ahaz cut off the embossments of the bases and removed the lavers from them. He took down the Sea from the bronze oxen under it and put it on a stone base. 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 18. And he built the foundation for the throne in the house of the Lord, and he brought the king's entrance back into the house of the Lord, which had been outside because of the king of Assyria. 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 19. And the rest of the acts of Ahaz, even all he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? 4 Kingdoms 16, verse 20. So Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. His son Hezekiah reigned in his place.