2 Kings 16:7-18
16:7 Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your dependent.
March up and rescue me from the power
of the king of Syria and the king of Israel, who have attacked
me.”
16:8 Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that were
in the
Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as tribute
to the king of Assyria.
16:9 The king of Assyria responded favorably to his request;
he
attacked Damascus and captured it. He deported the people
to Kir and executed Rezin.
16:10 When King Ahaz went to meet with King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria in Damascus, he saw the altar there. King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a drawing of the altar and a blueprint for its design.
16:11 Uriah the priest built an altar in conformity to the plans King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. Uriah the priest finished it before King Ahaz arrived back from Damascus.
16:12 When the king arrived back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and offered a sacrifice on it.
16:13 He offered his burnt sacrifice and his grain offering. He poured out his libation and sprinkled the blood from his peace offerings on the altar.
16:14 He moved the bronze altar that stood in the Lord’s presence from the front of the temple (between the altar and the Lord’s temple) and put it on the north side of the new altar.
16:15 King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest, “On the large altar offer the morning burnt sacrifice, the evening grain offering, the royal burnt sacrifices and grain offering, the burnt sacrifice for all the people of Israel, their grain offering, and their libations. Sprinkle all the blood of the burnt sacrifice and other sacrifices on it. The bronze altar will be for my personal use.”
16:16 So Uriah the priest did exactly as King Ahaz ordered.
16:17 King Ahaz took off the frames of the movable stands, and removed the basins from them. He took “The Sea” down from the bronze bulls that supported it and put it on the pavement.
16:18 He also removed the Sabbath awning that had been built in the temple and the king’s outer entranceway, on account of the king of Assyria.