1. Ahaz was twenty years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what is right in the sight of the Lord, as his father David did.
2. Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. Moreover, he also cast statues for the Baals.
3. It is he who burned incense in the Valley of the son of Hinnom. And he purified his sons by fire, in accord with the ritual of the nations that the Lord put to death at the advent of the sons of Israel.
4. Also, he was sacrificing and burning incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every leafy tree.
5. And so the Lord, his God, delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria, who struck him and took great plunder from his kingdom. And he carried it away to Damascus. Also, he was delivered into the hands of the king of Israel, and he struck him with great affliction.
6. And Pekah, the son of Remaliah, killed, on one day, one hundred twenty thousand, all of them men of war from Judah, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers.
7. In the same time, Zichri, a powerful man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah, the son of the king, and Azrikam, the governor of his house, and also Elkanah, who was second to the king.
8. And the sons of Israel seized, from their brothers, two hundred thousand women, boys, and girls, and immense plunder. And they took it away to Samaria.
9. At that time, there was a prophet of the Lord there, named Oded. And going out to meet the army arriving in Samaria, he said to them: "Behold, the Lord, the God of your fathers, having become angry against Judah, has delivered them into your hands. But you have killed them by atrocities, so that your cruelty has reached up to heaven.
10. Moreover, you wanted to subjugate the sons of Judah and Jerusalem as your men and women servants, which is a work that should never be done. And so you sinned in this matter against the Lord your God.
11. But listen to my counsel, and release the captives, whom you have brought from your brothers. For a great fury of the Lord is hanging over you."
12. And so, some of the leaders of the sons of Ephraim, Azariah, the son of Johanan, Berechiah, the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah, the son of Shallum, and Amasa, the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who were arriving from the battle.
13. And they said to them: "You shall not lead back captives to here, lest we sin against the Lord. Why are you willing to add to our sins, and to build upon our old offenses? For indeed, the sin is great, and the furious anger of the Lord is hanging over Israel."
14. And the warriors released the spoils and all that they had seized, in the sight of the leaders and the entire multitude.