Study Desk

King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, "On the large altar burn the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king's burnt offering and grain offering, and the whole burnt offering, the grain offering, and the drink offering for all the people of the land. Sprinkle on the altar all the blood of the burnt offering and of the sacrifice. But I will use the bronze altar to ask questions of God."

He did what the Lord said was wrong, but he was not as bad as the kings of Israel who had ruled before him.

But the king of Assyria found out that Hoshea had made plans against him by sending messengers to So, the king of Egypt. Hoshea had also stopped giving Shalmaneser the payments, which he had paid every year in the past. For that, the king put Hoshea in prison.

All these things happened because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God. He had brought them out of Egypt and had rescued them from the power of the king of Egypt, but the Israelites had honored other gods.

But the people would not listen. They were stubborn, just as their ancestors had been who did not believe in the Lord their God.

But even Judah did not obey the commands of the Lord their God. They did what the Israelites had done,

But each nation made gods of its own and put them in the cities where they lived and in the temples where gods were worshiped. These temples had been built by the Samaritans.

They also honored the Lord , but they chose priests for the places where gods were worshiped. The priests were chosen from among themselves, and they made sacrifices for the people.

The people honored the Lord but also served their own gods, just as the nations did from which they had been brought.

But the Israelites did not listen. They kept on doing the same things they had done before.

So these nations honored the Lord but also worshiped their idols, and their children and grandchildren still do as their ancestors did.

He removed the places where gods were worshiped. He smashed the stone pillars and cut down the Asherah idols. Also the Israelites had been burning incense to Nehushtan, the bronze snake Moses had made. But Hezekiah broke it into pieces.

Hezekiah stripped all the gold that covered the doors and doorposts of the Temple of the Lord . Hezekiah had put gold on these doors himself, but he gave it all to the king of Assyria.

You say you have battle plans and power for war, but your words mean nothing. Whom are you trusting for help so that you turn against me?

Look, you are depending on Egypt to help you, but Egypt is like a splintered walking stick. If you lean on it for help, it will stab your hand and hurt you. The king of Egypt will hurt all those who depend on him.

You might say, "We are depending on the Lord our God," but Hezekiah destroyed the Lord 's altars and the places of worship. Hezekiah told Judah and Jerusalem, "You must worship only at this one altar in Jerusalem."

They told Isaiah, "This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of sorrow and punishment and disgrace, as when a child should be born, but the mother is not strong enough to give birth to it.

They have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire, but they were only wood and rock statues that people made. So the kings have destroyed them.

"Then the Lord said, ‘Hezekiah, I will give you this sign: This year you will eat the grain that grows wild, and the second year you will eat what grows wild from that. But in the third year, plant grain and harvest it. Plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

At that time Hezekiah became so sick he almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and told him, "This is what the Lord says: Make arrangements because you are not going to live, but die."