King Ahaz of Judah begins his reign at age twenty. Unlike his ancestor David, he follows the sinful practices of the kings of Israel, even burning his son as a sacrifice and worshiping idols.
When Syria and Israel attack Judah, Ahaz seeks help from Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, sending him treasures from the temple and palace as tribute. Assyria defeats Damascus, capturing its people.
While in Damascus, Ahaz sees a pagan altar and orders Uriah the priest to build one like it in Jerusalem. He then replaces the bronze altar of the Lord with this new altar, offering sacrifices on it and relegating the original altar to secondary use. Ahaz also makes changes to the temple furnishings to please the Assyrian king.
The chapter ends by noting that the rest of Ahaz’s deeds are recorded in the chronicles of Judah’s kings. After his death, his son Hezekiah succeeds him.
