13. He burnt. Ahaz himself officiated as priest. Only a short time before, the priests had resisted Azariah when he endeavored to burn incense in the Temple, and the king was smitten with leprosy for his attempt to assume this priestly prerogative (2 Chron. 26:16-19). Now the priest made a heathen altar in response to the command of the king and he permitted the king to officiate as priest, as was the custom in heathen lands. The nation was rapidly declining.