13. They said to the army, “Don’t bring the prisoners here. You’ll make us responsible for this sin against the Lord. Do you intend to add to all our sins? The Lord is very angry with Israel because we have already sinned.”
14. So the army left the prisoners and the loot in front of the leaders and the whole assembly.
15. Then the men who were mentioned by name took charge of the prisoners and gave clothes from the loot to all the prisoners who were naked. They provided clothes for them, gave them sandals, gave them something to eat and drink, and let them bathe. They put everyone who was exhausted on donkeys and brought them to Jericho (the City of Palms) near their own people. Then they returned to Samaria.
16. At that time King Ahaz sent for help from the kings of Assyria.
17. The Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and captured prisoners.
18. The Philistines had raided the foothills and the Negev in Judah. They captured and began living in Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco and its villages, Timnah and its villages, and Gimzo and its villages.
19. The Lord humbled Judah because of King Ahaz of Israel. Ahaz had spread sin throughout Judah and was unfaithful to the Lord.
20. King Tillegath Pilneser of Assyria attacked Ahaz. Instead of strengthening Ahaz, Tillegath Pilneser made trouble for him.
21. Ahaz took some of the things from the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and the princes, and he gave them to the king of Assyria. But that didn’t help him.
22. When he had this trouble, King Ahaz became more unfaithful to the Lord.
23. He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, the gods who had defeated him. He thought, “The gods of the kings of Aram are helping them. I’ll sacrifice to them so that they will help me.” But they ruined him and all Israel.
24. Ahaz collected the utensils in God’s temple, cut them up, and closed the doors to the Lord’s temple. He made altars for himself on every corner in Jerusalem.
25. And in each city of Judah, he made places of worship to sacrifice to other gods. So he made the Lord God of his ancestors angry.