2 Kings 16

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah.	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 came to the throne, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem.He did not do what Yahweh his God regards as right, as his ancestor David had done.	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 He followed the example of the kings of Israel, even causing his son to pass through the fire ofsacrifice, also copying the disgusting practices of the nations whom Yahweh had dispossessed for 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 He offered sacrifices and incense on the high places, on the hil s and under every luxuriant 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 it was that Razon king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, launched theircampaign against Jerusalem. They besieged it but could not reduce it.	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 that time, the king of Edom recovered Elath for Edom; he drove the Judaeans out of Elath, and theEdomites occupied it and have been there ever since.)	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 Ahaz then sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria to say, 'I am your servant and your son.Come and rescue me from the king of Aram and the king of Israel who are making war on 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 And Ahaz took what silver and gold was to be found in the Temple of Yahweh and in the palacetreasury, and sent this 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 The king of Assyria granted his request and, marching on Damascus, captured it; he deported itspopulation to Kir and put Razon 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 When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar whichwas in Damascus. King Ahaz then sent a picture and model of the altar, with details of its construction, to Uriahthe priest.	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 constructed the altar; al the instructions sent by King Ahaz from Damascus werecarried out by Uriah the priest before King Ahaz returned from Damascus.	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 When the king arrived from Damascus, he inspected the altar, he approached it and ascended 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 And on the altar he made his burnt offering and his oblation; he poured out his libation and sprinkledthe blood of his communion sacrifices.	13 And he offered libations, and he poured out the blood of the peace offerings, which he had offered, upon the altar.
14 The altar which used to stand before Yahweh he removed from the front of the Temple, where it hadstood between the new altar and the Temple of Yahweh, and placed it at the north side of the new 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 King Ahaz gave this order to Uriah the priest, 'In future you wil present the morning burnt offering, theevening oblation, the king's burnt offering and oblation, the burnt offering, the oblation and the libations of al thepeople of the country on the large altar; on it you will pour out al the blood of the burnt offerings and sacrifices.As regards the bronze altar, I shal see to that.'	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 everything that King Ahaz had ordered.	16 And so Uriah, the priest, acted in accord with all that king Ahaz had instructed to him.
17 King Ahaz broke up the wheeled stands; removed the crosspieces and the basins from them, andtook the bronze Sea off the oxen supporting it, and rested it on the 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 And from the Temple of Yahweh, in deference to the king of Assyria, he removed the dais for thethrone which had been built inside, and the royal entrance on the outside.	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 history of Ahaz, his entire career, is this not recorded in the Book of the Annals of theKings 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 Then Ahaz fel asleep with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David; his son Hezekiahsucceeded him.	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.