Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that King Ahaz commanded. ] Not only concerning the structure of the altar, but the sacrifices to be offered on it; like king like priest, both apostates and idolaters.
14
But the old bronze Altar that signaled the presence of God he displaced from its central place and pushed it off to the side of his new altar.
15
Then King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest: "From now on offer all the sacrifices on the new altar, the great altar: morning Whole-Burnt-Offerings, evening Grain-Offerings, the king's Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Grain-Offerings, the people's Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Grain-Offerings, and also their Drink-Offerings. Splash all the blood from the burnt offerings and sacrifices against this altar. The old bronze Altar will be for my personal use.
16
The priest Uriah followed King Ahaz's orders to the letter.
17
Then King Ahaz proceeded to plunder The Temple furniture of all its bronze. He stripped the bronze from The Temple furnishings, even salvaged the four bronze oxen that supported the huge basin, The Sea, and set The Sea unceremoniously on the stone pavement.
18
Finally, he removed any distinctive features from within The Temple that were offensive to the king of Assyria.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.