King Ahaz of Judah
(2 Kings 16.1-4)1 Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem for 16 years.
Ahaz was nothing like his ancestor David. Ahaz disobeyed the Lord 2 and was as sinful as the kings of Israel. He made idols of the god Baal, 3 and he offered sacrifices in Hinnom Valley. Worst of all, Ahaz sacrificed his own sons, which was a disgusting custom of the nations that the Lord had forced out of Israel. 4 Ahaz offered sacrifices at the local shrines, as well as on every hill and in the shade of large trees.
Syria and Israel Attack Judah
(2 Kings 16.52 6)5-6 Ahaz and the people of Judah sinned and turned away from the Lord, the God their ancestors had worshiped. So the Lord punished them by letting their enemies defeat them.
The king of Syria attacked Judah and took many of its people to Damascus as prisoners. King Pekah of Israel later defeated Judah and killed 120,000 of its bravest soldiers in one day. 7 During that battle, an Israelite soldier named Zichri killed three men from Judah: Maaseiah the king's son; Azrikam, the official in charge of the palace; and Elkanah, the king's second in command. 8 The Israelite troops captured 200,000 women and children and took them back to their capital city of Samaria, along with a large amount of their possessions. They did these things even though the people of Judah were their own relatives.
Oded the Prophet Condemns Israel
9 Oded lived in Samaria and was one of the Lord's prophets. He met Israel's army on their way back from Judah and said to them:
The Lord God of your ancestors let you defeat Judah's army only because he was angry with them. But you should not have been so cruel! 10 If you make slaves of the people of Judah and Jerusalem, you will be as guilty as they are of sinning against the Lord.
11 Send these prisoners back home—they are your own relatives. If you don't, the Lord will punish you in his anger.
12 About the same time, four of Israel's leaders arrived. They were Azariah son of Johanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai. They agreed with Oded that the Israelite troops were wrong, 13 and they said:
If you bring these prisoners into Samaria, that will be one more thing we've done to sin against the Lord. And he is already angry enough with us.
14 So in front of the leaders and the crowd, the troops handed over their prisoners and the property they had taken from Judah. 15 The four leaders took some of the stolen clothes and gave them to the prisoners who needed something to wear. They later gave them all a new change of clothes and shoes, then fixed them something to eat and drink, and cleaned their wounds with olive oil. They gave donkeys to those who were too weak to walk, and led all of them back to Jericho, the city known for its palm trees. The leaders then returned to Samaria.
Ahaz Asks the King of Assyria for Help
(2 Kings 16.7-9)16-18 Some time later, the Edomites attacked the eastern part of Judah again and carried away prisoners. And at the same time, the Philistines raided towns in the western foothills and in the Southern Desert. They conquered the towns of Beth-Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo, including the villages around them. Then some of the Philistines went to live in these places.
Ahaz sent a message to King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria and begged for help. 19 But God was punishing Judah with these disasters, because Ahaz had disobeyed him and refused to stop Judah from sinning. 20 So Tiglath Pileser came to Judah, but instead of helping, he made things worse. 21 Ahaz gave him gifts from the Lord's temple and the king's palace, as well as from the homes of Israel's other leaders. The Assyrian king still refused to help Ahaz.
The Final Sin of Ahaz and His Death
22 Even after all these terrible things happened to Ahaz, he sinned against the Lord even worse than before. 23 He said to himself, “The Syrian gods must have helped their kings defeat me. Maybe if I offer sacrifices to those gods, they will help me.” That was the sin that finally led to the downfall of Ahaz, as well as to the destruction of Judah.
24 Ahaz collected all the furnishings of the temple and smashed them to pieces. Then he locked the doors to the temple and set up altars to foreign gods on every street corner in Jerusalem. 25 In every city and town in Judah he built local shrines to worship foreign gods. All of this made the Lord God of his ancestors very angry.
26 Everything else Ahaz did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 27 Ahaz died and was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the royal tombs. His son Hezekiah then became king.
Mambo Ahazi we Juda
(2 Bomambo 16:1-4)1 Ahazi wakabe ana makole ali makumi mabili (20) tjibaka tjaakatangisa busa. Ngono wakabusa makole ali gumi lina kutathatu (16) mu Jerusalema. Wakathama mbipo mu mesho a Yahwe, kasitobele Yahwe nge buzhalo, sekwa batategulu babe Dafite bakabe bethama. 2 Koga wakatobela zila dzabo mambo be Iziraela ebuya ebezha zwifano zwa bo Bhaale, 3 kakale kapisa motsha ku nkuku we Bhenihinomi kabuya kapisa bakololo babe bali zwibhayilo zwinopisiwa etobela zwiyito zwakabipa zwe njudzi dzakabe dzatatiwa ndi Yahwe bedzitatila kutjena ne Baiziraela. 4 Kadusa zwibhayilo kakale kapisa motsha mu magalo apezhugwi, ne ku matuthu ne kusi kwe miti mimwe ne mimwe ye bgwelele.
Ngwa ye Siriya ne Iziraela
(2 Bomambo 16:5)5 Ndizo Yahwe Ndzimu uwe bakanlonga mu maboko a mambo we Aramu. Ngono Baaramu bakankunda bakatapa bathu babe bali banjinji ngono kabayisa ku Damasiko. Wakalongwa mu maboko a mambo we Iziraela kakale, mambo we Iziraela wakankunda kwakabangalala kubi, 6 ngoti Peka nkololo wa Ramaliya wakabe abulaya babhayani bali zwiwulu zwili zana lina makumu mabili (120 000) mu Juda mu zhuba ling'ompela bose ibaba bakabulawa bakabe bali babhayani bakasima koga yakabe kuli kuti bakafupatila Yahwe Ndzimu wa bobatategulu babo. 7 Ngono Zikiri nlume wakasima we Ifureimi iye kabulaya Maaseya nkololo wa mambo na Azirikamu nlauli we ng'umba ya mambo na Elikana iye wakabe etobela mambo nge mamo. 8 Baiziraela bakatapa bakanyi kwabo be bayisa kubusungwa bali zwiwulu zwili mazana mabili (200 000) bali bakadzi ne bakololo ne bakololokadzi ngono bakatapa thundu dzabo dzisishoma bakadziyisa ku Samariya.
9 Koga kwakabe kuna nlebesambeli wa Yahwe wakabe edang'wa Odedi ikoko, ngono wakabhuda kanoshanganidza babhayani bakabe bebuya ku Samariya ngono kabadwa kati, “Ngoti Yahwe Ndzimu wa bobatategulu benyu babe bakagwadzilamoyo Juda bakailonga mu maboko enyu, ngono imwi makababulaya nge bushongola gwakadza gukaswika kudzimu. 10 Ngono ngwenu moshakathama balume ne bakadzi be Juda ne Jerusalema balanda benyu. Koga apa namwi amuzothamila Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu jinyo kene? 11 Ndizo ngwenu mundibhulutane kwazo! Bgwilizani basungwa bose ibaba, kusakajalo bushongola gwa Yahwe gowodelukila mu muli.”
12 Batungamili bamwe mubali kuli balume be Ifureimi Azariya nkololo wa Johanani na Bherekiya nkololo wa Meshilemoti na Jehizikiya nkololo wa Shalumu na Amasa nkololo wa Hadilayi bakamililana na ibabo bakabe bedwa ku ngwa, 13 ngono bakabadwa bakati, “Musizhise basungwa ibaba ngeno, ngoti mungadwa muthama kuti tibe ne nlandu pakati kwedu na Yahwe pezhugwi kwe zwibi ne nlandu zwatinazo kale ngwenu. Nlandu wedu nkulu kale, kakale bushongola gwakadelukila Iziraela kuli kale.”
14 Ndizo babhayani bakasiya basungwa ne thundu mbeli kwe makulukota ne gubungano lose. 15 Ngono balume ibabo bakalebgwa nge mazina bakatola basungwa, bakatola zwiambalo mu thundu yakabe yatapiwa ngono bakapa bakabe basakaambala kuti baambale. Bakabapa zwiambalo ne shangu ne zojiwa ne vula ne mafuta anozhogwa. Ngono bose ibabo bakabe bekong'wa bakatathisiwa madonki. Ndizo basungwa bakabgwiliziwa kuna bakanyi kwabo ku Jerikho nzi nkulu we milala. Ipapo Baiziraela bakabgwilila ku Samariya.
Ahazi unokumbila bhatsho ku Asiriya
(2 Bomambo 16:7-9)16 Mu tjibaka itjetjo Mambo Ahazi katuma bathu kuna mambo we Asiriya kuti wombhatsha. 17 Baedomu bakabe banginilila Juda kakale babayisa ku busungwa. 18 Bafilisitiya bakabe banginilila mizi mikulu ye kwakakungulukila mu Juda ne ye Negebu. Bakatola bakabuya bakagala mu Bhetishemeshi ne Aijaloni ne Gederoti ne Soko ne mizi yayo yakaipoteleka ne Timina ne mizi yayo yakaipoteleka ne Gimuzo ne mizi yayo yakaipoteleka. 19 Ngobe Yahwe bakabe beyisa Juda pasi ngekwa Ahazi mambo we Iziraela ngobe wakabe akwebela Juda ku tjibi kakale asingagalebgwe ndodwa muna Yahwe. 20 Ngono Tiligati Filineseri mambo we Asiriya kammukila ngono kan'zhisila mang'oni pana kuti ambhatshe. 21 Ngobe Ahazi wakabe akatola zwimwe zwija mu Ng'umba ya Yahwe ne ng'umba ye bushe ne ye makulukota ngono kadusila mambo we Asiriya zwipo koga ikoku akuzom'bhatsha nge tjimwe.
22 Mu tjibaka tjitje tje mang'oni iyawa kusagalikabgwe kwa Mambo Ahazi muna Yahwe kukakula, 23 ngobe wakadusila midzimu ye Damasiko zwibhayilo iyo yakabe yankunda ekumbula eti, “Ngoti midzimu ya bomambo be Siriya ndiyo yababhatsha, ndowoyidusila zwibhayilo kuti ndizo indibhatshe.” Koga yakabe bhelelo lile ne Baiziraela bose.
24 Ahazi kakubunganya zwishingisiwa zose zwe Ng'umba ye Ndzimu ngono kazwithubulila zwikasala zwili zwipithu pithu ngono kazhalila mikoba ye Ng'umba ya Yahwe, kazwithamila tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo ku ndzibo mmwe ne mmwe mu Jerusalema. 25 Mu nzi nkulu mmwe ne mmwe kabaka magalo a pezhugwi anopisigwa zwibhayilo kupisigwa midzimu ngono kabe atanga Yahwe Ndzimu wa bobatategulu babe.
26 Mimwe mishingo ye mbuso uwe nenge zila dzidze dzose kudwa mu kutangisa kunoti ku bupelo yakakwagwa mu Hwalo dza Bomambo be Juda ne Iziraela. 27 Ahazi kafa ngono kanobiganyiwa ku nzi nkulu we Jerusalema koga kusi ku zwikumbu zwa bomambo be Iziraela. Hezekiya nkololo uwe kan'gala thaka.