The Apostasy and Death of Ahaz^(A)

²² In the midst of his troubles, King Ahaz became more and more unfaithful to the Lord. ²³ He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him, reasoning, “The gods of the kings of Aram helped them, so I’ll sacrifice to them so they will help me!” But those gods^[a] brought about his downfall, and the downfall of all of Israel, too. ²⁴ Ahaz also collected the utensils of God’s Temple, cut them all into pieces, and closed the doors of the Lord’s Temple. Then he made altars to^[b] himself on every corner in Jerusalem ²⁵ and established high places in every city of Judah where incense was burned to other gods, thus provoking the Lord God of his ancestors to anger.