2 Kings 16

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah, son of Remaliah, Ahaz, son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign.	1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah, the son of Remaliah: Ahaz, the son of Jotham, reigned as king of Judah.
2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not please the LORD, his God, like his forefather David,	2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord, his God, as his father David did.
3 but conducted himself like the kings of Israel, and even immolated his son by fire, in accordance with the abominable practice of the nations whom the LORD had cleared out of the way of the Israelites.	3 Instead, he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. Moreover, he even consecrated his son, making him pass through fire, in accord with the idols of the nations that the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel.
4 Further, he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on hills, and under every leafy tree.	4 Also, he was immolating victims, and burning incense, in the high places, and on the hills, and under every leafy tree.
5 Then Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to attack it. Although they besieged Ahaz, they were unable to conquer him.	5 Then Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, ascended to do battle against Jerusalem. And they besieged Ahaz, but they were not able to overcome him.
6 At the same time the king of Edom recovered Elath for Edom, driving the Judeans out of it. The Edomites then entered Elath, which they have occupied until the present.	6 At that time, Rezin, the king of Syria, restored Elath to Syria, and he expelled the Judeans from Elath. And the Idumeans went into Elath, and they have lived there, even to this day.
7 Meanwhile, Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, with the plea: "I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the clutches of the king of Aram and the king of Israel, who are attacking me."	7 Then Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser, the king of the Assyrians, saying: “I am your servant, and I am your son. Ascend and accomplish my salvation from the hand of the king of Syria, and from the hand of the king of Israel, who have risen up together against me.”
8 Ahaz took the silver and gold that were in the temple of the LORD and in the palace treasuries and sent them as a present to the king of Assyria,	8 And when he had collected the silver and the gold that could be found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king, he sent it as a gift to the king of the Assyrians.
9 who listened to him and moved against Damascus, which he captured. He deported its inhabitants to Kir and put Rezin to death.	9 And he agreed to his will. For the king of the Assyrians ascended against Damascus, and he laid waste to it. And he carried away its inhabitants to Cyrene. But Rezin he killed.
10 King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria. When he saw the altar in Damascus, King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a model of the altar and a detailed design of its construction.	10 And king Ahaz traveled to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser, the king of the Assyrians. And when he had seen the altar of Damascus, king Ahaz sent to Uriah, the priest, its pattern and likeness, according to all of its work.
11 Uriah the priest built an altar according to the plans which King Ahaz sent him from Damascus, and had it completed by the time the king returned home.	11 And Uriah, the priest, constructed an altar in accord with all that king Ahaz had commanded from Damascus. Uriah, the priest, did so, until king Ahaz arrived from Damascus.
12 On his arrival from Damascus, the king inspected this altar, then went up to it and offered sacrifice on it,	12 And when the king had arrived from Damascus, he saw the altar, and he venerated it. And he went up and immolated holocausts, with his own sacrifice.
13 burning his holocaust and cereal-offering, pouring out his libation, and sprinkling the blood of his peace-offerings on the altar.	13 And he offered libations, and he poured out the blood of the peace offerings, which he had offered, upon the altar.
14 The bronze altar that stood before the LORD he brought from the front of the temple--that is, from the space between the new altar and the temple of the LORD--and set it on the north side of his altar.	14 But the altar of brass, which was before the Lord, he took away from the face of the temple, and from the place of the altar, and from the place of the temple of the Lord. And he positioned it at the side of the altar, toward the north.
15 "Upon the large altar," King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, "burn the morning holocaust and the evening cereal offering, the royal holocaust and cereal offering, as well as the holocausts, cereal offerings, and libations of the people. You must also sprinkle on it all the blood of holocausts and sacrifices. But the old bronze altar shall be mine for consultation."	15 Also, king Ahaz instructed Uriah, the priest, saying: “Upon the great altar, offer the morning holocaust, and the evening sacrifice, and the holocaust of the king, and his sacrifice, and the holocaust of the entire people of the land, and their sacrifices. But their libations, and all the blood of the holocaust, and all the blood of the victim, you shall pour out upon it. Then truly, the altar of brass shall be prepared for use at my will.”
16 Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had commanded.	16 And so Uriah, the priest, acted in accord with all that king Ahaz had instructed to him.
17 King Ahaz detached the frames from the bases and removed the lavers from them; he also took down the bronze sea from the bronze oxen that supported it, and set it on a stone pavement.	17 Then king Ahaz took away the engraved bases, and the basin that was upon them. And he took down the sea from the bronze oxen, which were holding it up. And he positioned it upon a layer of pavement stone.
18 In deference to the king of Assyria he removed from the temple of the LORD the emplacement which had been built in the temple for a throne, and the outer entrance for the king.	18 Also, the canopy for the Sabbath, which he had built in the temple, and the exterior entrance of the king, he converted into the temple of the Lord, because of the king of the Assyrians.
19 The rest of the acts of Ahaz are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.	19 Now the rest of the words of Ahaz that he did, have these not been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah?
20 Ahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. His son Hezekiah succeeded him as king.	20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and he was buried with them in the city of David. And Hezekiah, his son, reigned in his place.