¹In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah , Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign .

²Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign , and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem . He didn’t do that which was right in the LORD his God ’s eyes , like David his father .

³But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel , and even made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel .

⁴He sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places , on the hills , and under every green tree .

⁵Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war . They besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him .

⁶At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drove the Jews from Elath; and the Syrians came to Elath, and lived there to this day .

⁷So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son . Come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria and out of the hand of the king of Israel , who rise up against me .”

⁸Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the LORD ’s house , and in the treasures of the king ’s house , and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.

⁹The king of Assyria listened to him ; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and took it , and carried its people captive to Kir , and killed Rezin .

¹⁰King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar that was at Damascus ; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest a drawing of the altar and plans to build it .

¹¹Urijah the priest built an altar . According to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus , so Urijah the priest made it for the coming of King Ahaz from Damascus .

¹²When the king had come from Damascus , the king saw the altar ; and the king came near to the altar , and offered on it .

¹³He burnt his burnt offering and his meal offering , poured his drink offering , and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar .

¹⁴The bronze altar , which was before the LORD , he brought from the front of the house , from between his altar and the LORD ’s house , and put it on the north side of his altar .

¹⁵King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest , saying, “On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering , the evening meal offering , the king ’s burnt offering and his meal offering , with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their meal offering , and their drink offerings ; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering , and all the blood of the sacrifice ; but the bronze altar will be for me to enquire by .”

¹⁶Urijah the priest did so , according to all that King Ahaz commanded .

¹⁷King Ahaz cut off the panels of the bases , and removed the basin from off them , and took down the sea from off the bronze oxen that were under it , and put it on a pavement of stone.

¹⁸He removed the covered way for the Sabbath that they had built in the house , and the king ’s outer entrance to the LORD ’s house , because of the king of Assyria.

¹⁹Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did , aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ?

²⁰Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in David ’s city ; and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place .