The Pillars of Three Faiths: Tanakh, Bible & Qu'ran. Various Authors

Lord. ³⁶Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ³⁷In those days the Lord began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Aram, and Pekah the son of Remaliah. ³⁸And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

      16In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. ²Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not that which was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, like David his father. ³But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel. ⁴And he sacrificed and offered in the high places, and on the hills, and under every leafy tree.

⁵Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war; and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. ⁶At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath to Aram, and drove the Jews from ³Elath; and the Edomites came to Elath, and dwelt there, unto this day.

      ⁷So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying: 'I am thy servant and thy son; come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me.' ⁸And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. ⁹And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.

      ¹⁰And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar that was at Damascus; and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof. ¹¹And Urijah the priest built an altar; according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so did Urijah the priest make it against the coming of king Ahaz from Damascus. ¹²And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar; and the king drew near unto the altar, and offered thereon. ¹³And he offered his burnt-offering and his meal-offering, and poured his drink-offering, and dashed the blood of his peace-offerings against the altar. ¹⁴And the brazen altar, which was before the Lord, he brought from the forefront of the house, from between his altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of his altar. ¹⁵And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying: 'Upon the great altar offer the morning burnt-offering, and the evening meal-offering, and the king's burnt-offering, and his meal-offering, with the burnt-offering of all the people of the land, and their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings; and dash against it all the blood of the burnt-offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice; but the brazen altar shall be for me to look to.' ¹⁶Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.

      ¹⁷And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brazen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stone. ¹⁸And the covered place for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he unto the house of the Lord, because of the king of Assyria. ¹⁹Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁰And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

      17In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel, and reigned nine years. ²And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel that were before him. ³Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and brought him presents. ⁴And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. ⁵Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. ⁶In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away unto Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and in Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

      ⁷And it was so, because the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, ⁸and walked in the statutes of the nations, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they practised; ⁹and the children of Israel did impute things that were not right unto the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city; ¹⁰and they set them up pillars and Asherim upon every high hill, and under every leafy tree; ¹¹and there they offered in all the high places, as did the nations whom the Lord carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord; ¹²and they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them: 'Ye shall not do this thing'; ¹³yet the Lord forewarned Israel, and Judah, by the hand of every prophet, and of every seer, saying: 'Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by the hand of My servants the prophets'; ¹⁴notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their neck, like to the neck of their fathers, who believed not in the Lord their God; ¹⁵and they rejected His statutes, and His covenant that He made with their fathers, and His testimonies wherewith He testified against them; and they went after things of nought, and became nought, and after the nations that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them; ¹⁶and they forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal; ¹⁷and they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and gave themselves over to do that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him; ¹⁸that the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. ¹⁹Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they practised. ²⁰And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until He had cast them out of His sight. ²¹For He rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king; and Jeroboam drew Israel away from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin. ²²And the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; ²³until the Lord removed Israel out of His sight, as He spoke by the hand of all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria, unto this day.

      ²⁴And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof. ²⁵And so it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. ²⁶Wherefore they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying: 'The nations which thou hast carried away, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land; therefore He hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.'

      ²⁷Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying: 'Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.' ²⁸So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth-el, and taught them how they should fear the Lord. ²⁹Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt. ³⁰And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and