1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for sixteen years; he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, like David his father:
2 But he went in the ways of the kings of Israel and made images of metal for the Baals.
3 More than this, he had offerings burned in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and made his children go through fire, copying the disgusting ways of the nations whom the Lord had sent out of the land before the children of Israel.
4 And he made offerings and had perfumes burned in the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.
5 So the Lord his God gave him up into the hands of the king of Aram; and they overcame him, and took away a great number of his people as prisoners to Damascus. Then he was given into the hands of the king of Israel, who sent great destruction on him.
6 For Pekah, the son of Remaliah, in one day put to death a hundred and twenty thousand men of Judah, all of them good fighting-men; because they had given up the Lord, the God of their fathers.
7 And Zichri, a great fighting-man of Ephraim, put to death Maaseiah, the king's son, and Azrikam, the controller of his house, and Elkanah, who was second in authority to the king.
8 And the children of Israel took away as prisoners from their brothers, two hundred thousand, women and sons and daughters, and a great store of their goods, and took them to Samaria.
9 But a prophet of the Lord was there, named Oded; and he went out in front of the army which was coming into Samaria and said to them, Truly, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them up into your hands, and you have put them to death in an outburst of wrath stretching up to heaven.
10 And now your purpose is to keep the children of Judah and Jerusalem as men-servants and women-servants under your yoke: but are there no sins against the Lord your God to be seen among yourselves?
11 And now give ear to me, and send back the prisoners whom you have taken from your brothers: for the wrath of the Lord is burning against you.
12 Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah, the son of Johanan, Berechiah, the son of Meshillemoth Jehizkiah, the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, put themselves against those who had come from the war,
13 And said to them, You are not to let these prisoners come here; for what you are designing to do will be a cause of sin against the Lord to us, making even greater our sin and our wrongdoing, which now are great enough, and his wrath is burning against Israel.
14 So the armed men gave up the prisoners and the goods they had taken to the heads and the meeting of the people.
15 And those men who have been named went up and took the prisoners, clothing those among them who were uncovered, with things from the goods which had been taken in the war, and putting robes on them and shoes on their feet; and they gave them food and drink and oil for their bodies, and seating all the feeble among them on asses, they took them to Jericho, the town of palm-trees, to their people, and then went back to Samaria.
16 At that time King Ahaz sent for help to the king of Assyria.
17 For the Edomites had come again, attacking Judah and taking away prisoners.
18 And the Philistines, forcing their way into the towns of the lowlands and the south of Judah, had taken Beth-shemesh and Aijalon and Gederoth and Soco, with their daughter-towns, as well as Timnah and Gimzo and their daughter-towns, and were living there.
19 For the Lord made Judah low, because of Ahaz, king of Israel; for he had given up all self-control in Judah, sinning greatly against the Lord.
20 Then Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, came to him, but was a cause of trouble and not of strength to him.
21 For Ahaz took a part of the wealth from the house of the Lord, and from the house of the king and of the great men, and gave it to the king of Assyria; but it was no help to him.
22 And in the time of his trouble, this same King Ahaz did even more evil against the Lord.
23 For he made offerings to the gods of Damascus, who were attacking him, and said, Because the gods of the kings of Aram are giving them help, I will make offerings to them so that they may give me help. But they were the cause of his downfall, and of that of all Israel.
24 And Ahaz got together the vessels of the house of God, cutting up all the vessels of the house of God, and shutting the doors of the Lord's house; and he made altars in every part of Jerusalem.
25 And in every town of Judah he made high places where perfumes were burned to other gods, awaking the wrath of the Lord, the God of his fathers.
26 Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, first and last, are recorded in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
27 And Ahaz went to rest with his fathers, and they put his body into the earth in Jerusalem; but they did not put him in the resting-place of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son became king in his place.
1 Akas var tyve år gammel da han blev konge, og regjerte seksten år i Jerusalem. Han gjorde ikke hvad rett var i Herrens øine, som hans far David,
2 men vandret på Israels kongers veier og gjorde endog støpte billeder for Ba'alene.
3 Han brente røkelse i Hinnoms sønns dal og lot sine sønner gå igjennem ilden efter de vederstyggelige skikker hos de folk som Herren hadde drevet bort for Israels barn,
4 og han ofret og brente røkelse på haugene og bakkene og under hvert grønt tre.
5 Så gav Herren hans Gud ham i syrerkongens hånd, og de slo ham og førte mange av hans folk bort som fanger til Damaskus. Han blev også gitt i Israels konges hånd, som vant en stor seier over ham.
6 Pekah, Remaljas sønn, drepte på en dag hundre og tyve tusen mann i Juda, alle sammen djerve menn, fordi de hadde forlatt Herren, sine fedres Gud.
7 Og Sikri, en stor stridsmann fra Efra'im, drepte kongesønnen Ma'aseja og slottshøvdingen Asrikam og Elkana, som var den næste efter kongen.
8 Israels barn førte bort med sig to hundre tusen fanger fra sine brødre - deres hustruer, sønner og døtre; de tok også meget hærfang blandt dem og førte det til Samaria.
9 Der var det en Herrens profet som hette Oded; han gikk ut imot hæren da den kom til Samaria, og sa til dem: Hør, Herren, eders fedres Gud, har i sin harme over Juda gitt dem i eders hånd, men I har hugget ned iblandt dem med slik vrede at det er nådd like til himmelen.
10 Og nu tenker I på å tvinge Judas og Jerusalems barn til å være træler og trælkvinner for eder; har I ikke selv skyld nok på eder for Herren eders Gud?
11 Så hør nu på mig og send fangene tilbake som I har bortført fra eders brødre! For Herrens brennende vrede er over eder.
12 Da var det nogen menn blandt overhodene for Efra'ims barn som trådte frem for dem som kom fra krigen - det var Asarja, Johanans sønn, Berekja, Mesillemots sønn, og Hiskias, Sallums sønn, og Amasa, Hadlais sønn -
13 og de sa til dem: I skal ikke føre fangene her inn; I tenker vel på å øke våre synder og vår brøde og således riktig føre skyld over oss for Herren; men vår skyld er alt stor nok, og der er brennende vrede over Israel.
14 Da gav krigsfolket fra sig fangene og hærfanget for høvdingenes og hele folkemengdens øine.
15 Og de menn som nettop er nevnt, kom og tok fangene og klædde alle som var nakne iblandt dem, med klær som de tok av hærfanget; de gav dem både klær og sko, både mat og drikke, og salvet dem, og alle de skrøpelige iblandt dem satte de op på asener og førte dem til Jeriko, Palmestaden, til deres brødre; så vendte de selv hjem igjen til Samaria.
16 På denne tid sendte kong Akas bud til kongene i Assyria og bad dem om hjelp.
17 For også edomittene kom og slo Juda og førte bort fanger,
18 og filistrene falt inn i byene i Juda, både i lavlandet og i sydlandet, og inntok Bet-Semes og Ajalon og Gederot, likeledes Soko med tilhørende småbyer og Timna med tilhørende småbyer og Gimso med tilhørende småbyer og bosatte sig der.
19 For Herren vilde ydmyke Juda for Israels konge Akas' skyld, fordi han hadde forført Juda til tuktløshet og båret sig så troløst at mot Herren.
20 Så kom kongen i Assyria Tilgat-Pilneser mot ham og fór fiendtlig frem mot ham istedenfor å støtte ham.
21 For enda Akas plyndret Herrens hus og kongens hus og høvdingene og gav det til Assyrias konge, så hjalp det ham ikke.
22 Og på den tid han var stedt i nød, bar han sig ennu mere troløst at mot Herren - han, kong Akas;
23 han ofret til gudene i Damaskus, som hadde slått ham, og sa: Siden syrerkongenes guder har hjulpet dem, så vil jeg ofre til dem, forat de skal hjelpe mig. Men de blev til fall for ham og for hele Israel.
24 Akas samlet også karene i Guds hus og brøt gullet av dem og stengte dørene til Herrens hus og gjorde sig alter ved hvert hjørne i Jerusalem.
25 Og i hver eneste by i Juda gjorde han hauger til å brenne røkelse på for fremmede guder og vakte således harme hos Herren, sine fedres Gud.
26 Hvad som ellers er å fortelle om ham og om alt det han tok sig fore, både i sine første og i sine senere dager, det er opskrevet i boken om Judas og Israels konger.
27 Og Akas la sig til hvile hos sine fedre, og de begravde ham i staden - i Jerusalem, men de vilde ikke legge ham i Israels kongers graver. Og hans sønn Esekias blev konge i hans sted.