Scriptures

New Living Translation (NLT)

2 Chronicles 27
⁴ He built towns in the hill country of Judah and constructed fortresses and towers in the wooded areas.
⁵ Jotham went to war against the Ammonites and conquered them. Over the next three years he received from them an annual tribute of 7,500 pounds of silver, 50,000 bushels of wheat, and 50,000 bushels of barley.
⁶ King Jotham became powerful because he was careful to live in obedience to the LORD his God.
⁷ The rest of the events of Jotham’s reign, including all his wars and other activities, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
⁸ He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years.
⁹ When Jotham died, he was buried in the City of David. And his son Ahaz became the next king.
2 Chronicles 28
¹ Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. He did not do what was pleasing in the sight of the LORD, as his ancestor David had done.
² Instead, he followed the example of the kings of Israel. He cast metal images for the worship of Baal.
³ He offered sacrifices in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, even sacrificing his own sons in the fire. In this way, he followed the detestable practices of the pagan nations the LORD had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites.
⁴ He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the pagan shrines and on the hills and under every green tree.
⁵ Because of all this, the LORD his God allowed the king of Aram to defeat Ahaz and to exile large numbers of his people to Damascus. The armies of the king of Israel also defeated Ahaz and inflicted many casualties on his army.