1. Ahaz was 20 years old when he began to rule. He ruled for 26 years in Jerusalem. He didn’t do what the Lord considered right, as his ancestor David had done.
2. He followed the example of the kings of Israel and even made metal idols for worshiping other gods—the Baals.
3. He burned sacrifices in the valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his son by burning him alive, one of the disgusting things done by the nations that the Lord had forced out of the Israelites’ way.
4. He offered sacrifices and burned incense as an offering at the illegal worship sites, which were on hills and under every large tree.
5. So the Lord his God handed him over to the king of Aram, who defeated him, captured many prisoners, and brought them to Damascus. He also handed him over to the king of Israel, who decisively defeated him.
6. In one day Pekah, son of Remaliah, killed 120,000 soldiers in Judah because they had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors.
7. Zichri, a fighting man from Ephraim, killed Maaseiah, who was the king’s son, Azrikam, who was in charge of the palace, and Elkanah, who was the king’s second-in-command.
8. The Israelites captured 200,000 women, boys, and girls from their relatives ⌊the Judeans⌋. They also took a lot of goods from Judah and brought them to Samaria.
9. A prophet of the Lord named Oded was there. He went to meet the army coming home to Samaria. He said to them, “The Lord God of your ancestors handed Judah over to you in his anger. You killed them in a rage that reaches up to heaven.
10. Now you intend to enslave the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem. But aren’t you also guilty of sinning against the Lord your God?
11. Listen to me. Return these prisoners you have captured from your relatives, because the Lord is very angry with you.”