8. The men of Israel captured 200,000 wives, sons and daughters from their relatives in Judah. They also took a large amount of goods. They carried all of it back to Samaria.
9. But a prophet of the Lord was there. His name was Oded. When the army returned to Samaria, he went out to meet them. He said to them, "The Lord is the God of your people. He burned with anger against Judah. So he handed them over to you. But you have killed them. Your anger reached all the way to heaven.
10. "Now you are planning to make the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem your slaves. But aren't you also guilty of sins against the Lord your God?
11. Listen to me! You have taken your relatives from Judah as prisoners. The Lord's anger is burning against you. So send your relatives back."
12. Then some of the leaders in Ephraim stood up to those who were returning from the war. The leaders were Azariah, Berekiah, Jehizkiah and Amasa. Azariah was the son of Jehohanan. Berekiah was the son of Meshillemoth. Jehizkiah was the son of Shallum. And Amasa was the son of Hadlai.
13. "Don't bring those prisoners here," they said. "If you do, we'll be guilty in the sight of the Lord. Do you really want to add to our sin and guilt? We're already very guilty. The Lord's anger is burning against Israel."
14. So the soldiers gave up the prisoners and the goods they had taken. They did it in front of the officials and the whole community.
15. Azariah, Berekiah, Jehizkiah and Amasa received the prisoners. From the goods that had been taken they gave clothes to all those who were naked. They gave them clothes, sandals, food, drink and healing lotion. They put all of the weak people on donkeys. They took them back to their relatives at Jericho. Then they returned to Samaria. Jericho was also known as the City of Palm Trees.
16. At that time King Ahaz sent men to the king of Assyria to get help.
17. The men of Edom had come again and attacked Judah. They had carried prisoners away.
18. At the same time the Philistines had attacked towns in the western hills and in the Negev Desert of Judah. They had captured Beth Shemesh, Aijalon and Gederoth. They had also captured Soco, Timnah and Gimzo and the villages that were around them. They had settled down in all of them.
19. The Lord had brought Judah down because of Ahaz, their king. Ahaz had stirred up the people of Judah to do evil things. He hadn't been faithful to the Lord at all.
20. Tiglath-Pileser came to Ahaz. But he gave Ahaz trouble instead of help. Tiglath-Pileser was king of Assyria.
21. Ahaz took some things from the Lord's temple. He also took some from the royal palace and from the princes. He gave all of them to the king of Assyria. But that didn't help him.
22. When King Ahaz was in trouble, he became even more unfaithful to the Lord.
23. He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus. They had won the battle over him. He thought, "The gods of the kings of Aram have helped them. So I'll sacrifice to them. Then they'll help me." But they brought him down. In fact, they brought the whole nation of Israel down.
24. Ahaz gathered together everything that belonged to God's temple. He took all of it away. He shut the doors of the Lord's temple. He set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem.
25. In every town in Judah he built high places. Sacrifices were burned there to other gods. That made the Lord, the God of his people, very angry.
26. The other events of the rule of Ahaz and all of his evil practices from beginning to end are written down. They are written in the records of the kings of Judah and Israel.