Ahaz did the same things the kings of Israel had done. He even made his son pass through fire. He did the same hateful sins as the nations had done whom the Lord had forced out of the land ahead of the Israelites.
He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the family of Ahab had done, because he married Ahab’s daughter. Jehoram did what the Lord said was wrong.
Jehoram also built places to worship gods on the hills in Judah. He led the people of Jerusalem to sin, and he led the people of Judah away from the Lord.
But you have lived as the kings of Israel lived, leading the people of Judah and Jerusalem to sin against God, as Ahab and his family did. You have killed your brothers, and they were better than you.
Where are the idols you made for yourselves? Let them come and save you when you are in trouble! People of Judah, you have as many idols as you have towns!
This is what the Lord says: “For the many crimes of Judah, I will punish them. They rejected the teachings of the Lord and did not keep his commands; they followed the same gods as their ancestors had followed.