2 Chronicles 28

Ahaz Reigns in Judah

1 f Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done, 2 but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made g metal images for h the Baals, 3 and i he made offerings in the j Valley of the Son of Hinnom and k burned his sons as an offering, 1 according to l the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and i made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

Judah Defeated

5 m Therefore the Lord his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria, who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force. 6 For n Pekah the son of Remaliah killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valor, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. 7 And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king's son and Azrikam the commander of the palace and Elkanah the next in authority to the king.

8 The men of Israel took captive 200,000 o of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria. 9 But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded, and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, "Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, p was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage q that has reached up to heaven. 10 And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. Have you not sins of your own against the Lord your God? 11 Now hear me, and send back the captives o from your relatives whom you have taken, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you."

12 Certain chiefs also of the men of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who were coming from the war 13 and said to them, "You shall not bring the captives in here, for you propose to bring upon us guilt against the Lord in addition to our present sins and guilt. For our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel." 14 So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the assembly. 15 And r the men who have been mentioned by name rose and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them sandals, s provided them with food and drink, and anointed them, and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, t the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.

16 u At that time King Ahaz sent to the king 2 of Assyria for help. 17 For the Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried away captives. 18 v And the Philistines had made raids on w the cities in the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco x with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. And they settled there. 19 For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made y Judah act sinfully 3 and had been very unfaithful to the Lord. 20 So z Tiglath-pileser 4 king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. 21 a For Ahaz took a portion from the house of the Lord and the house of the king and of the princes, and gave tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him.

Ahaz's Idolatry

22 In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the Lord - this same King Ahaz. 23 For b he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, c "Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me." But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. 24 And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and d cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made himself e altars in every corner of Jerusalem. 25 In every city of Judah he made high places to f make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his fathers. 26 g Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 27 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for h they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

  1. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 28:1 - 4
    Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done.
    2 Kings 16:2 - 4
    Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done.
  2. Cross References
    Exodus 34:17
    You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.
  3. Cross References
    Judges 2:11
    And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.
  4. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 28:25
    In every city of Judah he made high places to make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his fathers.
  5. Cross References
    Joshua 15:8
    Then the boundary goes up by the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the southern shoulder of the Jebusite ( that is, Jerusalem). And the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the Valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim.
  6. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 33:6
    And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.
    Leviticus 18:21
    You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
  7. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 33:2
    And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.
    Deuteronomy 18:9
    When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations.
  8. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 28:3
    And he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.
  9. Cross References
    Isaiah 7:1
    In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it.
    2 Kings 16:5 - 6
    Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him.
  10. Cross References
    2 Kings 15:27
    In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years.
    2 Kings 16:5
    Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him.
  11. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 11:4
    Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.'" So they listened to the word of the Lord and returned and did not go against Jeroboam.
  12. Cross References
    Isaiah 47:6
    I was angry with my people; I profaned my heritage; I gave them into your hand; you showed them no mercy; on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.
    Ezekiel 25:12
    Thus says the Lord God : Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them.
    Ezekiel 25:15
    Thus says the Lord God : Because the Philistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity.
    Ezekiel 26:2
    "Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, 'Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,'
  13. Cross References
    Ezra 9:6
    Saying: "O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.
    Revelation 18:5
    For her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
  14. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 28:8
    The men of Israel took captive 200,000 of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria.
  15. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 28:12
    Certain chiefs also of the men of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who were coming from the war
    2 Chronicles 31:19
    And for the sons of Aaron, the priests, who were in the fields of common land belonging to their cities, there were men in the several cities who were designated by name to distribute portions to every male among the priests and to everyone among the Levites who was enrolled.
    Numbers 1:17
    Moses and Aaron took these men who had been named.
  16. Cross References
    2 Kings 6:22
    He answered, "You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.
    Proverbs 25:21 - 22
    If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
    Romans 12:20
    To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.
  17. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 34:3
    The Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.
    Judges 1:16
    And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad, and they went and settled with the people.
  18. Cross References
    2 Kings 16:7 - 8
    So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, "I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.
  19. Cross References
    Ezekiel 16:27
    Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand against you and diminished your allotted portion and delivered you to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior.
    Ezekiel 16:57
    Before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you have become an object of reproach for the daughters of Syria and all those around her, and for the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who despise you.
  20. Cross References
    Joshua 15:33 - 36
    And in the lowland, Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah.
  21. Cross References
    Numbers 21:25
    And Israel took all these cities, and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages.
  22. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 21:2
    He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.
  23. Cross References
    2 Kings 15:29
    In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria.
    2 Kings 16:7
    So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, "I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.
  24. Cross References
    2 Kings 16:8 - 9
    Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king's house and sent a present to the king of Assyria.
  25. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 25:14
    After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, he brought the gods of the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them.
  26. Cross References
    Jeremiah 44:17 - 18
    But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster.
  27. Cross References
    2 Kings 16:17
    And King Ahaz cut off the frames of the stands and removed the basin from them, and he took down the sea from off the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pedestal.
  28. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 30:14
    They set to work and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for burning incense they took away and threw into the Kidron Valley.
  29. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 28:3
    And he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.
  30. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 28:26 - 27
    Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
    2 Kings 16:19 - 20
    Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
  31. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 21:20
    He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one's regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
    2 Chronicles 24:25
    When they had departed from him, leaving him severely wounded, his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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