2 Chronicles 28 - Easy To Read Version

¹ Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king. He ruled 16 years in Jerusalem. Ahaz didn’t live right like David his ancestor. {\cf2\super [317]} Ahaz didn’t do the things the Lord wanted him to do.

² Ahaz followed the bad example of the kings of Israel. He used molds to make idols to worship the Baal gods.

³ Ahaz burned incense {\cf2\super [318]} in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. {\cf2\super [319]} He sacrificed {\cf2\super [320]} his own sons by burning them in the fire. He did the same terrible sins that the peoples living in that land did. The Lord had forced those people out when the people of Israel entered that land.

^4-6 Ahaz offered sacrifices {\cf2\super [321]} and burned incense in the high places, {\cf2\super [322]} on the hills, and under every green tree.

⁷ Zicri was a brave soldier from Ephraim. {\cf2\super [323]} Zicri killed Maaseiah, King Ahaz’s son, Azrikam the officer in charge of the king’s house, and Elkanah. Elkanah was second in command to the king.

⁸ The Israelite army captured 200,000 of their own relatives living in Judah. They took women, children, and many valuable things from Judah. The Israelites brought those captives and those things to the city of Samaria.

⁹ But one of the Lord’s prophets was there. This prophet was named Oded. Oded met the Israelite army that came back to Samaria. Oded said to the Israelite army, “The Lord God your ancestors {\cf2\super [324]} obeyed let you defeat the people of Judah because he was angry at them. You killed and punished the people of Judah in a very mean way. Now God is angry at you.

¹⁰ You plan to keep the people of Judah and Jerusalem as slaves. You also have sinned against the Lord your God.

¹¹ Now listen to me. Send back your brothers and sisters that you captured. Do this because the Lord’s terrible anger is against you.”

¹² Then some of the leaders in Ephraim {\cf2\super [325]} saw the Israelite soldiers coming home from war. Those leaders met the Israelite soldiers and warned them. Those leaders were Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berekiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai.

¹³ Those leaders said to the Israelite soldiers, “Don’t bring the prisoners from Judah here. If you do that, it will make us sin worse against the Lord. That will make our sin and guilt worse and the Lord will be very angry against Israel!”

¹⁴ So the soldiers gave the prisoners and valuable things to those leaders and to the people of Israel.

^15-17 The leaders (Azariah, Berekiah, Jehizkiah, and Amasa) stood up and helped the prisoners. These four men got the clothes that the Israelite army took and gave them to those people that were naked. Those leaders also gave shoes to those people. They gave the prisoners from Judah something to eat and drink. They rubbed oil on those people \{to soften and heal their wounds\}. Then those leaders from Ephraim put the weak prisoners on donkeys and took them back home to their families in Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then those four leaders went back home to Samaria.

¹⁸ The Philistine people also attacked the towns in the hills and in south Judah. The Philistines captured the towns of Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo. They also captured the villages near those towns. Then the Philistines lived in those towns.

¹⁹ The Lord gave troubles to Judah because King Ahaz of Judah encouraged the people of Judah to sin. He was very unfaithful to the Lord.

²⁰ Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria came and gave Ahaz trouble instead of helping him.

²¹ Ahaz took some valuable things from the Lord’s temple {\cf2\super [326]} and from the king’s house and from the prince’s house. Ahaz gave those things to the king of Assyria. But that didn’t help Ahaz.

²² In Ahaz’s troubles, he sinned worse and became more unfaithful to the Lord.

²³ He offered sacrifices {\cf2\super [327]} to the gods the people of Damascus worshiped. The people of Damascus had defeated Ahaz. So he thought to himself, “The gods the people of Aram worship helped them. So if I offer sacrifices to those gods, maybe they will help me also.” Ahaz worshiped those gods. In this way he sinned, and he made the people of Israel sin.

²⁴ Ahaz gathered the things from God’s temple {\cf2\super [328]} and broke them to pieces. Then he closed the doors of the Lord’s temple. He made altars {\cf2\super [329]} and put them on every street corner in Jerusalem.

²⁵ In every town in Judah Ahaz made high places {\cf2\super [330]} for burning incense {\cf2\super [331]} to worship other gods. Ahaz made the Lord God that his ancestors {\cf2\super [332]} obeyed very angry.

²⁶ The other things that Ahaz did, from the beginning to the end, are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

²⁷ Ahaz died and was buried with his ancestors. {\cf2\super [333]} The people buried Ahaz in the city of Jerusalem. But they didn’t bury Ahaz in the same burial place where the kings of Israel were buried. Hezekiah became the new king in Ahaz’s place. Hezekiah was Ahaz’s son.