Ahaz King of Judah
1In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. 2Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 4He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.
5Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz, but they could not overpower him. 6At that time, Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram by driving out the people of Judah. Edomites then moved into Elath and have lived there to this day.
7Ahaz sent messengers to say to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, “I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” 8And Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria. 9The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus and capturing it. He deported its inhabitants to Kir and put Rezin to death.
10Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction. 11So Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus and finished it before King Ahaz returned. 12When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings16:12 Or and went up on it. 13He offered up his burnt offering and grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and splashed the blood of his fellowship offerings against the altar. 14As for the bronze altar that stood before the Lord, he brought it from the front of the temple—from between the new altar and the temple of the Lord—and put it on the north side of the new altar.
15King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest: “On the large new altar, offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Splash against this altar the blood of all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance.” 16And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered.
17King Ahaz cut off the side panels and removed the basins from the movable stands. He removed the Sea from the bronze bulls that supported it and set it on a stone base. 18He took away the Sabbath canopy16:18 Or the dais of his throne (see Septuagint) that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entryway outside the temple of the Lord, in deference to the king of Assyria.
19As for the other events of the reign of Ahaz, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 20Ahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king.
Kong Ahaz af Juda
1I kong Peka af Israels 17. regeringsår blev Ahaz, Jotams søn, konge i Juda. 2Han var 20 år gammel, og han regerede i Jerusalem i 16 år.
I modsætning til sin forfar David gjorde han ikke, hvad der var ret i Herrens øjne. 3Han var ikke bedre end Israels onde konger, ja, han gik tilmed så vidt, at han ofrede sin egen søn på bålet. Derved fulgte han de afskyelige skikke, som fandtes hos de folk, Herren i sin tid jog ud af landet for at lade israelitterne bosætte sig der. 4Han bragte slagtofre og røgelsesofre til afguderne på offerstederne rundt omkring i landet, både på højene og under de store træer.
5Kong Retzin af Aram og kong Peka af Israel gik nu til angreb på Ahaz. De belejrede Jerusalem, men de måtte opgive at indtage byen. 6Samtidig tilbageerobrede Edoms konge Eilat og fordrev Judas folk fra byen, hvorefter edomitterne flyttede ind igen, og der bor de den dag i dag.
7Kong Ahaz sendte bud til kong Tiglat-Pileser af Assyrien og bad ham om hjælp mod Arams og Israels konger. 8Ahaz tog alt det guld og sølv, som var tilbage i templets og paladsets skatkamre, og sendte det som gave til den assyriske konge. 9Assyrerkongen opfyldte hans ønske, gik til angreb på Damaskus og indtog byen. Indbyggerne blev taget til fange og bortført til Kir, og kong Retzin selv blev dræbt.
10Kong Ahaz tog nu til Damaskus for at møde kong Tiglat-Pileser. Under sit ophold i byen bemærkede Ahaz et usædvanligt imponerende alter i et hedensk tempel, og han lavede en tegning af alteret og sendte tegningen til præsten Urija med en detaljeret beskrivelse af dets dimensioner. 11-12Urija sørgede straks for at bygge et alter i overensstemmelse med Ahaz’ beskrivelse. Da kongen kom tilbage fra Damaskus, stod alteret klar til indvielsen og den første offerceremoni. 13Kongen foretog indvielsen ved først at ofre et brændoffer og dernæst et afgrødeoffer. Han bragte også et drikoffer og et takoffer, hvor offerdyrets blod blev stænket på alteret. 14Så fjernede han det gamle bronzealter, der hidtil havde stået foran templet (mellem indgangen og det nye alter), og anbragte det i stedet nord for det nye alter. 15For fremtiden skulle præsten Urija bruge det nye alter til følgende ofre: Brændofferet om morgenen, afgrødeofferet om aftenen, kongens og folkets egne brændofre og afgrødeofre, og endelig folkets drikofre. Blodet fra offerdyrene skulle stænkes på det nye alter. „Det gamle bronzealter må jeg overveje, hvad jeg skal gøre ved,” sagde kongen.
16Præsten Urija gjorde, som kongen havde befalet. 17Så tog kongen pladerne af rullebordene, som stod ved templets langsider, og han fjernede de store bronzebaljer fra dem. Han fjernede også bronzehavet, der hvilede oven på de 12 okser af bronze, og satte det på et fundament af sten på jorden. 18I sit forsøg på at behage den assyriske konge fjernede Ahaz tilmed sabbatsbaldakinen i templets forgård samt den kongelige indgang til templet.
19Resten af Ahaz’ liv og virke er beskrevet i Judas kongers krønikebog. 20Da Ahaz døde, blev han begravet blandt sine forfædre i Davidsbyen. Hans søn Hizkija blev konge efter ham.
