1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem for sixteen years.Ahaz was nothing like his ancestor David. Ahaz disobeyed the Lord
2 and was as sinful as the kings of Israel. He made idols of the god Baal,
3 and he offered sacrifices in Hinnom Valley. Worst of all, Ahaz sacrificed his own sons, which was a disgusting custom of the nations that the Lord had forced out of Israel.
4 Ahaz offered sacrifices at the local shrines, as well as on every hill and in the shade of large trees.
5-6 Ahaz and the people of Judah sinned and turned away from the Lord, the God their ancestors had worshipped. So the Lord punished them by letting their enemies defeat them.The king of Syria attacked Judah and took many of its people to Damascus as prisoners. King Pekah of Israel later defeated Judah and killed one hundred and twenty thousand of its bravest soldiers in one day.
7 During that battle, an Israelite soldier named Zichri killed three men from Judah: Maaseiah the king's son; Azrikam, the official in charge of the palace; and Elkanah, the king's second in command.
8 The Israelite troops captured two hundred thousand women and children and took them back to their capital city of Samaria, along with a large amount of their possessions. They did these things even though the people of Judah were their own relatives.