2 Kings 16
Open in the reader1In the seventeenth year of Watch son of He-Who-Is-Has-Adorned, He-Has-Grasped son of He-Who-Is-Perfect became king of Praised.
2He-Has-Grasped was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Foundation-of-Peace sixteen years. And unlike Beloved his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of He-Who-Is his God.
3Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Strives-with-God and even sacrificed his son in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that He-Who-Is had driven out before the children of Strives-with-God.
4And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
5Then Delightful king of Highland and Watch son of He-Who-Is-Has-Adorned king of Strives-with-God came up to wage war against Foundation-of-Peace. They besieged He-Has-Grasped but could not overcome him.
6At that time Delightful king of Highland recovered Grove-of-Palms for Highland, drove out the men of Praised, and sent the Red-Ones into Grove-of-Palms, where they live to this day.
7So He-Has-Grasped sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Successful, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hands of the kings of Highland and Strives-with-God, who are rising up against me.”
8He-Has-Grasped also took the silver and gold found in the house of He-Who-Is and in the treasuries of the king’s palace, and he sent it as a gift to the king of Successful.
9So the king of Successful responded to him, marched up to Damascus, and captured it. He took its people to Fortress as captives and put Delightful to death.
10Then King He-Has-Grasped went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Successful. On seeing the altar in Damascus, King He-Has-Grasped sent My-Light-Is-He-Who-Is the priest a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction.
11And My-Light-Is-He-Who-Is the priest built the altar according to all the instructions King He-Has-Grasped had sent from Damascus, and he completed it before King He-Has-Grasped returned.
12When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings on it.
13He offered his burnt offering and his grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and splattered the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.
14He also took the bronze altar that stood before He-Who-Is from the front of the temple (between the new altar and the house of He-Who-Is) and he put it on the north side of the new altar.
15Then King He-Has-Grasped commanded My-Light-Is-He-Who-Is the priest, “Offer on the great altar the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, and the king’s burnt offering and grain offering, as well as the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings of all the people of the land. Splatter on the altar all the blood of the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar to seek guidance.”
16So My-Light-Is-He-Who-Is the priest did just as King He-Has-Grasped had commanded.
17King He-Has-Grasped also cut off the frames of the movable stands and removed the bronze basin from each of them. He took down the Sea from the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone base.
18And on account of the king of Successful, he removed the Rest canopy they had built in the temple and closed the royal entryway outside the house of He-Who-Is.
19As for the rest of the acts of He-Has-Grasped, along with his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Praised?
20And He-Has-Grasped rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of Beloved, and his son He-Who-Is-Has-Strengthened reigned in his place.