2 Kings 16

NEW JERUSALEM	Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
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, king of Judah, began to reign.
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 began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God, as his father David had done,
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 but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.
4 He offered sacrifices and incense on the high places, on the hil s and under every luxuriant tree.	4 And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, and on the hills, and under every green 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 king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz but could not conquer 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 the king of Edom recovered Elath for Edom, and drove the men of Judah from Elath; and the Edomites came to Elath, where they dwell 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 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, "I am your servant and your son. Come up, and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking 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 Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria.
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 the king of Assyria hearkened to him; the king of Assyria marched up against Damascus, and took it, carrying its people captive to Kir, and he killed Rezin.
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 When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details.
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 built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before 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 came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar. Then the king drew near to the altar, and went up on it,
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 burned his burnt offering and his cereal offering, and poured his drink offering, and threw the blood of his peace offerings 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 And the bronze altar which was before the LORD he removed from the front of the house, from the place between his altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of his altar.
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 And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, "Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening cereal offering, and the king's burnt offering, and his cereal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their cereal offering, and their drink offering; and throw upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice; but the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by."
16 Uriah the priest did everything that King Ahaz had ordered.	16 Uriah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded.
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 And King Ahaz cut off the frames of the stands, and removed the laver from them, and he took down the sea from off the bronze oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pediment of 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 And the covered way for the sabbath which had been built inside the palace, and the outer entrance for the king he removed from the house of the LORD, because of the king of Assyria.
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 acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles 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 was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.