16In the seventeenth year of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah as king of Israel, Ahaz son of Jotham became king of JudahH7651H6240H8141H8141H6492H1121H7425H271H1121H3147H4428H3063H44272at the age of twenty, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years. He did not follow the good example of his ancestor King David; instead, he did what was not pleasing to the LORD his GodH6242H8141H1121H271H4427H4427H8337H6240H8141H3389H6213H3477H5869H3068H430H1732H13and followed the example of the kings of Israel. He even sacrificed his own son as a burnt offering to idols, imitating the disgusting practice of the people whom the LORD had driven out of the land as the Israelites advanced.H3212H1870H4428H3478H1121H5674H784H8441H1471H3068H3423H6440H1121H34784At the pagan places of worship, on the hills, and under every shady tree, Ahaz offered sacrifices and burned incense.H2076H6999H1116H1389H7488H60865King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel attacked Jerusalem and besieged it, but could not defeat Ahaz.H7526H4428H758H6492H1121H7425H4428H3478H5927H3389H4421H6696H271H3201H38986(At the same time the king of Edom regained control of the city of Elath and drove out the Judeans who lived there. The Edomites settled in Elath and still live there.)H6256H7526H4428H758H7725H359H758H130H5394H3064H359H726H935H359H3427H31177Ahaz sent men to Tiglath Pileser, the emperor of Assyria, with this message: "I am your devoted servant. Come and rescue me from the kings of Syria and of Israel, who are attacking me."H271H7971H4397H8407H4428H804H559H5650H1121H5927H3467H3709H4428H758H3709H4428H3478H69658Ahaz took the silver and gold from the Temple and the palace treasury, and sent it as a present to the emperor.H271H3947H3701H2091H4672H1004H3068H214H4428H1004H7971H7810H4428H8049Tiglath Pileser, in answer to Ahaz' plea, marched out with his army against Damascus, captured it, killed King Rezin, and took the people to Kir as prisoners.H4428H804H8085H4428H804H5927H1834H8610H1540H7024H4191H752610When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Emperor Tiglath Pileser, he saw the altar there and sent back to Uriah the priest an exact model of it, down to the smallest details.H4428H271H3212H1834H7125H8407H4428H804H7200H4196H1834H4428H271H7971H223H3548H1823H4196H8403H463911So Uriah built an altar just like it and finished it before Ahaz returned.H223H3548H1129H4196H4428H271H7971H1834H223H3548H6213H4428H271H935H183412On his return from Damascus, Ahaz saw that the altar was finished,H4428H935H1834H4428H7200H4196H4428H7126H4196H592713so he burned animal sacrifices and grain offerings on it and poured a wine offering and the blood of a fellowship offering on it.H6999H5930H4503H5258H5262H2236H1818H8002H419614The bronze altar dedicated to the LORD was between the new altar and the Temple, so Ahaz moved it to the north side of his new altar.H7126H5178H4196H6440H3068H6440H1004H4196H1004H3068H5414H6828H3409H419615Then he ordered Uriah: "Use this large altar of mine for the morning burnt offerings and the evening grain offerings, for the burnt offerings and grain offerings of the king and the people, and for the people's wine offerings. Pour on it the blood of all the animals that are sacrificed. But keep the bronze altar for me to use for divination."H4428H271H6680H223H3548H559H1419H4196H6999H1242H5930H6153H4503H4428H5930H4503H5930H5971H776H4503H5262H2236H1818H5930H1818H2077H5178H4196H123916Uriah did as the king commanded.H6213H223H3548H4428H271H668017King Ahaz took apart the bronze carts used in the Temple and removed the basins that were on them. He also took the bronze tank from the backs of the twelve bronze bulls and placed it on a stone foundation.H4428H271H7112H4526H4350H5493H3595H3381H3220H5178H1241H5414H4837H6818And in order to please the Assyrian emperor, Ahaz also removed from the Temple the platform for the royal throne and closed up the king's private entrance to the Temple.H4329H4329H7676H1129H1004H4428H3996H2435H5437H1004H3068H6440H4428H80419Everything else that King Ahaz did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.H3499H1697H271H6213H3789H5612H1697H3117H4428H306320Ahaz died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Hezekiah succeeded him as king.H271H7901H1H6912H1H5892H1732H2396H1121H4427