2 Chronicles 28

1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. And unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD.

Ahaz was 20 years old when he became the king [of Judah]. He ruled from Jerusalem for 16 years. His ancestor King David was a good king, but Ahaz was not like David. He constantly disobeyed Yahweh

2 Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even made cast images of the Baals.

and was as sinful as the kings of Israel had been. He made idols of the god Baal.

3 Moreover, Ahaz burned incense in the Valley of Hinnom and sacrificed his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

He burned incense in Hinnom Valley. He even [killed some of] his own sons [and] offered [them] as sacrifices to be completely burned. That imitated the disgusting customs of the people-groups who previously lived there, people whom Yahweh had expelled as the Israelis advanced through the land.

4 And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

Ahaz offered sacrifices [to idols] at shrines on hilltops and under every big green tree.

5 So the LORD his God delivered Ahaz into the hand of the king of Aram, who attacked him and took many captives to Damascus. Ahaz was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force.

Therefore Yahweh his God allowed his army to be defeated by the army of the king of Syria. They captured many soldiers of Judah and took them as prisoners to Damascus. The army of the king of Israel also defeated the army of Judah and killed very many of their soldiers.

6 For in one day Pekah son of Remaliah killed 120,000 valiant men in Judah. This happened because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers.

In one day the army of Remaliah’s son, King Pekah [of Israel], killed 120,000 soldiers in Judah. That happened because [the people of] Judah had abandoned Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors [worshiped].

7 Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the son of the king, Azrikam the governor of the palace, and Elkanah the second to the king.

Zicri, a warrior from the tribe of Ephraim, killed king Ahaz’s son Maaseiah, Azrikam the officer in charge of the palace, and Elkanah, the king’s assistant.

8 Then the Israelites took 200,000 captives from their kinsmen—women, sons, and daughters. They also carried off a great deal of plunder and brought it to Samaria.

The soldiers of Israel captured 200,000 of the people of Judah, including many wives and sons and daughters [of the soldiers of Judah]. They also seized and took back to Samaria many valuable things.

9 But a prophet of the LORD named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army that returned to Samaria. “Look,” he said to them, “because of His wrath against Judah, the LORD, the God of your fathers, has delivered them into your hand. But you have slaughtered them in a rage that reaches up to heaven.

But a prophet of Yahweh whose name was Obed was there [in Samaria]. He went out of the city to meet the army when it returned to Samaria. He said to them, “Because Yahweh, the God whom your ancestors [belonged to], was angry with [the people of] Judah, he allowed you to defeat them. But God has seen the cruel way that you slaughtered them.

10 And now you intend to reduce to slavery the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem. But are you not also guilty before the LORD your God?

And now you want to [sin by] causing men and women from Judah to become your slaves, but you have certainly also sinned against Yahweh our God!

11 Now therefore, listen to me and return the captives you took from your kinsmen, for the fierce anger of the LORD is upon you.”

So listen to me! Send back [to Judah] your fellow-countrymen whom you have captured, because Yahweh is extremely angry with you [for what you did to them].”

12 Then some of the leaders of the Ephraimites —Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai—stood in opposition to those arriving from the war.

Then some of the leaders of [the tribe of] Ephraim—Azariah the son of Jehohanan, Berekiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai—rebuked those who were returning from the battle.

13 “You must not bring the captives here,” they said, “for you are proposing to bring guilt upon us from the LORD and to add to our sins and our guilt. For our guilt is great, and fierce anger is upon Israel.”

They said to them, “You must not bring those prisoners here! If you do that, Yahweh will consider that we are guilty of sinning. We are already guilty of committing many sins; do you want to cause us to be even more guilty by committing another sin? God is already very angry with [us people of] Israel!”

14 So the armed men left the captives and the plunder before the leaders and all the assembly.

So, while their leaders and others were watching, the soldiers released the prisoners, and also gave back to them the valuable things that they had captured.

15 Then the men who were designated by name arose, took charge of the captives, and provided from the plunder clothing for the naked. They clothed them, gave them sandals and food and drink, anointed their wounds, and put all the feeble on donkeys. So they brought them to Jericho, the City of Palms, to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.

The leaders who were selected took some of the clothes that the soldiers had taken from the prisoners and gave those clothes back to the people who were naked. They also gave to the prisoners sandals and other clothes and things to eat and drink, and they gave them olive oil to rub on their wounds. They gave donkeys to those who were very weak, in order that they could ride on them. Then they led them all to Jericho, the city that had many palm trees. Then those leaders [of Israel] returned to Samaria.

16 At that time King Ahaz sent for help from the king of Assyria.

About that time, King Ahaz sent [a message] to the king of Assyria requesting help.

17 The Edomites had again come and attacked Judah and carried away captives.

[He did that because the army from] the Edom people-group had come again and attacked Judah and taken away many of the people of Judah as prisoners.

18 The Philistines had also raided the cities of the foothills and the Negev of Judah, capturing and occupying Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, and Gederoth, as well as Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo with their villages.

At the same time, men from Philistia had raided/attacked towns in the foothills and in the southern desert of Judah. They had captured Beth-Shemesh, Aijalon, and Gederoth [cities], as well as Soco, Timnah and Gimzo [towns] and the nearby villages.

19 For the LORD humbled Judah because Ahaz king of Israel had thrown off restraint in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the LORD.

Yahweh [allowed those things to happen in order to] humble king Ahaz, because he had encouraged the people of Judah to do wicked things and had disobeyed Yahweh very much.

20 Then Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came to Ahaz but afflicted him rather than strengthening him.

Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria, sent [his army saying that they would] help Ahaz, but instead of helping him, they caused him to experience trouble.

21 Although Ahaz had taken a portion from the house of the LORD, from the royal palace, and from the princes and had presented it to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.

Ahaz’s [soldiers] took some of the [valuable] things from the temple and from the king’s palace and from other leaders of Judah and sent them to the king of Assyria [to pay him to help them], but the king of Assyria refused to help Ahaz.

22 In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD.

While King Ahaz was experiencing those troubles, he disobeyed Yahweh even more.

23 Since Damascus had defeated him, he sacrificed to their gods and said, “Because the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But these gods were the downfall of Ahaz and of all Israel.

He offered sacrifices to the gods that were worshiped in Damascus, whose [army] had defeated his [army]. He thought, “The gods that are worshiped by the kings of Syria have helped them, so I will offer sacrifices to those gods in order that they will help me.” But worshiping those gods caused Ahaz and all of Israel to be ruined.

24 Then Ahaz gathered up the articles of the house of God, cut them into pieces, shut the doors of the house of the LORD, and set up altars of his own on every street corner in Jerusalem.

Ahaz gathered all the furnishings [that were used] in the temple and broke them into pieces. He locked the doors of the temple and set up altars [for worshiping idols] at every street corner in Jerusalem.

25 In every city of Judah he built high places to offer incense to other gods, and so he provoked the LORD, the God of his fathers.

In every town in Judah, his workers built shrines to burn sacrifices to other gods, and that caused Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors [worshiped], to be very angry.

26 As for the rest of the acts of Ahaz and all his ways, from beginning to end, they are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

A record of the other things that Ahaz did while he was the king, from when he started to rule until he died, is written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel’.

27 And Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. And his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.

Ahaz died and was buried in Jerusalem, but he was not buried in the tombs where the other kings [had been buried]. Then his son Hezekiah became the king.