⁵ Then ^(A)Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war; and they besieged Ahaz, ^(B)but could not ^[a]overcome him. ⁶ At that time Rezin king of Aram restored ^(C)Elath for Aram and cleared the Judeans out of ^[b]Elath entirely; and the ^[c]Arameans came to Elath and have lived there to this day.

Ahaz Sends for Help from Assyria

^7 (D)So Ahaz sent messengers to ^(E)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and save me from the ^[d]hand of the king of Aram and from the ^[e]hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.”

Judah Carried Away by Aram

⁵ So, ^(A)Yahweh his God gave him into the hand of the king of Aram; and they struck him and carried away from him a great number of captives and brought them to Damascus. And he was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with a great slaughter. ⁶ Indeed, ^(B)Pekah the son of Remaliah killed in Judah 120,000 in one day, all men of valor, because they had forsaken Yahweh, the God of their fathers.

^18 (A)And the Philistines also had raided the cities of the ^[a]Shephelah and of the ^[b]Negev of Judah, and had captured Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, and Soco with its towns, Timnah with its towns, and Gimzo with its towns, and they settled there. ¹⁹ For Yahweh humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of ^(B)Israel, for he had caused it to be out of control in Judah and was very unfaithful to Yahweh. ²⁰ So ^(C)Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came against him and distressed him instead of strengthening him. ^21 (D)Although Ahaz took a portion out of the house of Yahweh and out of the house of the king and of the princes, and gave it to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.

²² Now in the time of his distress this same King Ahaz ^(E)became yet more unfaithful to Yahweh. ^23 (F)Indeed, he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had struck him, and said, “^(G)Because the gods of the kings of Aram helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they became the stumbling of him and all Israel.

¹⁴ Moreover, I will make you a ^[a]ruin and a ^(A)reproach among the nations which are all around you, in the sight of all who pass by. ¹⁵ So ^[b]it will be a reproach, a reviling, a ^(B)chastisement, and a desecration to the nations who are all around you when I ^(C)execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and wrathful reproofs. I, Yahweh, have spoken.

⁴ You have become ^(A)guilty by ^[a]the blood which you have shed, and defiled by your idols which you have made. Thus you have brought your ^[b]day near and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a ^(B)reproach to the nations and a mocking to all the lands.