1 In the seventeenth year {shva-‘esreh: seven plus ten} of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham took up rule {malakh: commenced kingship} over Judah.
2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he ruled sixteen years in Jerusalem; yet he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD {YHWH, Moral Judge} his God {Elohim, Covenant Custodian}, as David his father had done.
3 He walked in the way of the kings of Israel and also made his son pass through the fire like the abominations {toavot: loathsome rites} of the nations whom the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge} had driven out before the sons of Israel.
4 He also sacrificed and burned incense at the high places {bamot: worship sites}, on the hills {hagvaot: elevated altars}, and beneath every green tree.
5 Then Retsin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel went up to Jerusalem to make war {milchamah: organized campaign}, and they besieged Ahaz {yatsuru: blockade action}, but they were not able to fight him.
6 At that time, Rezin, king of Aram, restored Eilat {Eilat: strategic port city} to Aram and expelled the Judeans {Yehudim: subjects of Judah’s kingdom} from Eilat. Then the Arameans and the Edomites came to Eilat and dwelt there until this day.
7 Ahaz dispatched envoys to Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, pleading, “I am your servant {eved: vassal subordinate} and your son. Rise up and save me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rebelling {ha-komim: actively rebelling} against me.”
8 Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the house of the LORD {YHWH, Sanctuary Owner} and in the royal storerooms, and sent it as a present {shochad: official payment} to the king of Assyria.
9 The king of Assyria {Ashur: imperial conqueror} gave heed to him; he marched on Damascus, took the city, deported its inhabitants to Kir, and put Rezin {Reẓin: Aramean ruler} to death.
10 The king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria, and he saw the altar that was in Damascus. And the king Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest the likeness {demut: model depiction} of the altar and its pattern {tavnito: measured plan}, according to all its workmanship.
11 Thus Uriah the priest built the altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent {shalach: royal directives} from Damascus. Uriah the priest did so before the king’s return {ad-bo: temporal limit} from Damascus.
12 And the king came from Damascus and saw the altar; then he advanced {vayikrav: deliberate approach} to it, ascended {vayaal: went up} onto it, and offered upon it.
13 And he offered up in smoke his burnt offering and his grain offering, and he poured out his drink offering, and he dashed the blood of the fellowship offerings {shelamim: community offering} that belonged to him on the altar {mizbeach: place of sacrifice}.
14 He moved the bronze altar{nekhoshet: copper alloy} that was before the LORD{YHWH, Sanctuary Lord} away from the front of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and set it on the north side of the altar.
15 King Ahaz {Achaz: Royal Authority} commanded Uriah the priest, saying, “Offer on the great altar the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, with their grain offering and their drink offerings. You shall sprinkle all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice on it. But the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire {levaker: seek guidance}.”
16 Uriah the priest carried out all that King {hamelekh: sovereign authority} Ahaz commanded {tsivvah: gave authoritative orders}.
17 And King Ahaz cut off the frames {misgerot: structural supports} of the stands, and he removed the basin from upon them, and he brought down the Sea from on top of the bronze oxen which were under it, and he placed it upon a pavement {martsefet: stone flooring} of stones.
18 And the Sabbath covered way {musakh: sheltered walkway} that they had built in the house, and the king’s outer entrance, he diverted from the house of the LORD {YHWH, Consecrated Householder} because of the king of Assyria.
19 Now the remaining acts of Ahaz, what he did—are they not written in the book of the chronicles {divrei: official register} of the kings of Judah {Yehudah: Davidic dynasty}?
20 Ahaz completed his days, lay down with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Hezekiah {khizqiyahu: God Strengthens} was enthroned {vayimlokh: Royal Succession} in his place.