2. and was as sinful as the kings of Israel. He made idols of the god Baal,
3. and he offered sacrifices in Hinnom Valley. Worst of all, Ahaz sacrificed his own sons, which was a disgusting custom of the nations that the Lord had forced out of Israel.
4. Ahaz offered sacrifices at the local shrines, as well as on every hill and in the shade of large trees.
7. During that battle, an Israelite soldier named Zichri killed three men from Judah: Maaseiah the king's son; Azrikam, the official in charge of the palace; and Elkanah, the king's second in command.
8. The Israelite troops captured two hundred thousand women and children and took them back to their capital city of Samaria, along with a large amount of their possessions. They did these things even though the people of Judah were their own relatives.
9. Oded lived in Samaria and was one of the Lord's prophets. He met Israel's army on their way back from Judah and said to them:The Lord God of your ancestors let you defeat Judah's army only because he was angry with them. But you should not have been so cruel!
16-18. Some time later, the Edomites attacked the eastern part of Judah again and carried away prisoners. And at the same time, the Philistines raided towns in the western foothills and in the Southern Desert. They conquered the towns of Beth-Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo, including the villages around them. Then some of the Philistines went to live in these places.Ahaz sent a message to King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria and begged for help.
19. But God was punishing Judah with these disasters, because Ahaz had disobeyed him and refused to stop Judah from sinning.
20. So Tiglath Pileser came to Judah, but instead of helping, he made things worse.
21. Ahaz gave him gifts from the Lord's temple and the king's palace, as well as from the homes of Israel's other leaders. The Assyrian king still refused to help Ahaz.
22. Even after all these terrible things happened to Ahaz, he sinned against the Lord even worse than before.
23. He said to himself, “The Syrian gods must have helped their kings defeat me. Perhaps if I offer sacrifices to those gods, they will help me.” That was the sin that finally led to the downfall of Ahaz, as well as to the destruction of Judah.