18. And the Philistines had raided towns located in the foothills of Judah and in the Negev of Judah. They had already captured and occupied Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages.
19. The lord was humbling Judah because of King Ahaz of Judah, for he had encouraged his people to sin and had been utterly unfaithful to the lord.
20. So when King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria arrived, he attacked Ahaz instead of helping him.
21. Ahaz took valuable items from the lord’s Temple, the royal palace, and from the homes of his officials and gave them to the king of Assyria as tribute. But this did not help him.
22. Even during this time of trouble, King Ahaz continued to reject the lord.
23. He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus who had defeated him, for he said, “Since these gods helped the kings of Aram, they will help me, too, if I sacrifice to them.” But instead, they led to his ruin and the ruin of all Judah.
24. The king took the various articles from the Temple of God and broke them into pieces. He shut the doors of the lord’s Temple so that no one could worship there, and he set up altars to pagan gods in every corner of Jerusalem.