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.