1 Ahaz ascended the throne at twenty years of age and reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem; yet he failed to act uprightly before the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge}, as David his father {aviv: ancestor, direct forebear} had done.
2 And he walked in the ways {dar-khei: patterned conduct} of the kings of Israel, and he also made cast images for the Baals {baalim: local deities}.
3 And he burned incense {hiqṭir: illicit offering} in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and made his sons pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD {YHWH, Nations Expeller} had driven out from before the sons of Israel.
4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places {babamot: elevated sanctuaries}, on the hills, and beneath every green tree {raanan: abundant foliage}.
5 And the LORD his God {YHWH Elohav, Disciplining Sovereign} delivered him into the hand of the king of Aram, and they struck him and carried off from him a great captivity {shivyah: mass of prisoners}, and brought them to Damascus. He was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with a great blow.
6 And Pekah son of Remaliah killed in Judah one hundred and twenty thousand in one day—valiant men {benei chayil: renowned fighters}—because they had forsaken {beazvam: willful renunciation} the LORD {YHWH, Just Judge and Avenger}, the God {Elohei, Covenant Guardian} of their fathers.
7 And Zikri, a mighty warrior of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, and Azrikam, the officer of the palace {bayit: royal household}, and Elkanah, the second to the king {mishneh: deputy or second-in-command}.
8 And the sons of Israel took captive {vayishbu: forced removal} from their brothers two hundred thousand—women, sons, and daughters—and they also took much spoil from them and carried the spoil to Samaria {Shomron: capital of the northern kingdom}.
9 But a prophet to the LORD {YHWH, Divine Messenger} was there, named Oded; he went out before the army coming to Samaria and said to them, “Look—because the LORD, the God {Elohei-avoteichem: Ancestral Deity} of your fathers was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand; yet you killed them in a rage {bezaaf: destructive fury} that has risen to heaven.”
10 And now you are saying that you will subdue{khavash: forced service} the sons of Judah and Jerusalem as male slaves and female slaves for yourselves; is it not that you yourselves have guilt against the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikhem, Holy Judge}?
11 And now, listen to me, and send back the captives {shivyah: those taken in war} whom you captured from your brothers, for the burning anger of the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Avenger} is upon you.
12 Then men from the leaders {merashei: tribal chiefs} of the sons of Ephraim—Azariah son of Yehohanan, Berekiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai—rose up against those arriving {haba’im: returning contingent} from the army.
13 And they said to them, “You shall not bring the captives here, for guilt {ashmah: legal responsibility} before the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge} is upon us. You are proposing to increase our sins and our guilt, for great is the guilt upon us, and wrath and anger is upon Israel.”
14 Then the warriors {chaluts: seasoned fighters} left the captives and the plunder before the officials and the assembly {kahal: gathered assembly}.
15 And the men who were designated by names rose up and took hold of the captives; from the spoil they clothed all who had been stripped. They clothed them, put sandals on them, fed them, gave them drink, and anointed{vayesukkum: healing oil} them, and led them on donkeys for everyone who was stumbling{koshel: weak walker}. They brought them to Jericho, the city of the palms, beside their brothers, and returned to Samaria.
16 At that time {ba'et: fixed chronological marker}, King Ahaz sent messengers to the kings of Assyria to help {la'zor: to grant assistance} him.
17 And again the Edomites {ʾă-dō-mîm: descendants of Esau} struck in Judah and took captives {še-vî: war prisoners}.
18 And the Philistines made raids on the towns of the Shephelah {shefela: foothill belt} and the Negev of Judah, and they took Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, and Sokho with its villages {benot: dependent towns}, and Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo and its villages, and they settled there.
19 For the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Humiliator} humbled Judah on account of Ahaz, king of Israel, for he let restraint go in Judah and committed unfaithfulness {ma'al: serious betrayal} against the LORD.
20 And Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came against him and distressed {yatzar: inflicted harm} him, but did not strengthen {chazako: provide support} him.
21 For Ahaz took a portion from the house of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Guardian}, from the house of the king, and from the officials {sarim: senior administrators}, and he gave it to the king of Assyria; but it did not provide help for him.
22 And in the time of his distress he increased his act of treachery {ma‘al: covenant breach} against the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge}; this was King Ahaz.
23 And he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus—the deities that had struck him—and said, “Because the gods of the kings of Aram are aiding them, I will sacrifice to them so they may aid me.” But they became a cause for his stumbling {lehakhshil: cause to fall} and for all Israel {yisra’el: Jacob’s descendants}.
24 And Ahaz gathered the vessels of the house of God {Elohim, Sanctuary Guardian} and cut them into pieces, and he shut the doors of the house of the LORD {YHWH, Temple Sovereign}, and he set up altars for himself in every corner of Jerusalem.
25 And in every city of Judah he established high places {bamot: elevated cult platforms} for burning incense to other gods and provoked the anger of the LORD God {YHWH Elohei, Covenant Judge} of his fathers.
26 And the remainder of his acts and all his ways {derakhav: moral conduct}, the former and the latter, are written in the book {sefer: official record} of the kings of Judah and Israel.
27 And Ahaz {achaz: king of Judah} rested with his fathers {avotav: ancestral predecessors}, and they buried him in the city of Jerusalem, for they did not bring him to the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.