2 Chronicles 28
1 Achaz was five and twenty years old
when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and he did
not that which was right in the sight of the Lord, as David his father.
2 But he walked in the ways of the
kings of Israel, for he made graven images.
3 And
he sacrificed to their idols in the valley of
Benennom, and passed his children through the fire, according to the
abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children
of Israel. 4 And he burnt incense upon
the high places, and upon the roofs, and under every shady tree.
5 And the Lord his God delivered him
into the hand of the king of Syria; and he smote him, and took captive of them
a great band of prisoners, and carried him to Damascus. Also
God delivered him into the hands of the king of
Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.
6 And Phakee the son of Romelias king
of Israel, slew in Juda in one day a hundred and twenty thousand mighty men;
because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers.
7 And Zechri, a mighty man of Ephraim,
slew Maasias the king's son, and Ezrican the chief of his house, and Elcana
the king's deputy. 8 And the children
of Israel took captive of their brethren three hundred thousand, women, and
sons, and daughters, and they spoiled them of much property, and brought the
spoils to Samaria.
9 And there was there a prophet of the
Lord, his name was Oded: and he went out to meet the
host that were coming to Samaria, and said to them, Behold, the wrath of the
Lord God of your fathers is upon Juda, and he has
delivered them into your hands, and ye have slain them in wrath, and it has
reached even to heaven. 10 And now ye
talk of keeping the children of Juda and Jerusalem for servants and
handmaidens. Lo, am I not with you to testify for the Lord your God?
11 And now hearken to me, and restore
the prisoners of your brethren whom ye have taken: for the fierce anger of the
Lord is upon you.
12 And the chiefs of the sons of
Ephraim rose up, Udias the son of Joanas, and Barachias the son of Mosolamoth,
and Ezekias the son of Sellem, and Amasias the son of Eldai, against those
that came from the war, 13 and said
to them, Ye shall not bring in hither the prisoners to us, for whereas sin
against the Lord is upon us, ye mean to add to our
sins, and to our trespass: for our sin is great, and
the fierce anger of the Lord is upon Israel.
14 So the warriors left the prisoners
and the spoils before the princes and all the congregation.
15 And the men who were called by
name rose up, and took hold of the prisoners, and clothed all the naked from
the spoils, and gave them garments and shoes, and gave them
food to eat, and oil to
anoint themselves with, and they helped also every
one that was weak with asses, and placed them in Jericho, the city of
palm-trees, with their brethren; and they returned to Samaria.
16 At that time king Achaz sent to
the king of Assyria to help him, and on this occasion,
17 because the Idumæans had attacked
him, and smitten Juda, and taken a number of
prisoners. 18 Also the Philistines
had made an attack on the cities of the plain country, and the cities of the
south of Juda, and taken Bæthsamys, and [the things in the house of the Lord,
and the things in the house of the king, and of the princes: and they gave to
the king] Ælon, and Galero, and Socho and her villages, and Thamna and her
villages, and Gamzo and her villages: and they dwelt there.
19 For the Lord humbled Juda because
of Achaz king of Juda, because he grievously departed from the Lord.
20 And there came against him
Thalgaphellasar king of Assyria, and he afflicted him.
21 And Achaz took the things
that were in the house of the Lord, and the things in
the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave them to the king of
Assyria: but he was no help to him,
22 but only
troubled him in his affliction: and he departed yet
more from the Lord, and king Achaz said,
23 I will seek after the gods of
Damascus that smite me. And he said, Forasmuch as the gods of the king of
Syria themselves strengthen them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, and they
will help me. But they became a stumbling-block to him, and to all Israel.
24 And Achaz removed the vessels of
the house of the Lord, and cut them in pieces, and shut the doors of the house
of the Lord, and made to himself altars in every corner in Jerusalem:
25 and in each several city in Juda
he made high places to burn incense to strange gods: and they provoked the
Lord God of their fathers. 26 And the
rest of his acts, and his deeds, the first and the last, behold,
they are written in the book of the kings of Juda and
Israel. 27 And Achaz slept with his
fathers, and was buried in the city of David; for they did not bring him into
the sepulchres of the kings of Israel: and Ezekias his son reigned in his
stead.