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2 Kings 17

1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.

3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.ss4 And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.s

5 Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

7 For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,8 And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.9 And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.10 And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:s11 And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger:12 For they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.13 Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.s14 Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God.15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them.16 And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.19 Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.20 And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight.21 For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin.22 For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them;23 Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.

24 And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.25 And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of them.26 Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.28 Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth–el, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.29 Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.30 And the men of Babylon made Succoth–benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,31 And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.32 So they feared the Lord, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.33 They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.s34 Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;35 With whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:36 But the Lord, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice.37 And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods.38 And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods.39 But the Lord your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.40 Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner.41 So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.

2 Kings 17

King Hoshea of Israel

1 In Ahaz’s twelfth year as king of Judah, Hoshea, son of Elah, began to rule as king of Israel in Samaria. He ruled for nine years.

2 He did what the Lord considered evil, but he didn’t do what the kings of Israel before him had done.

The Fall of Samaria

3 King Shalmaneser of Assyria defeated Hoshea, who became his servant and was required to make annual payments to him.4 The king of Assyria found Hoshea to be a traitor. (Hoshea had sent messengers to King Dais of Egypt and had stopped making annual payments to the king of Assyria.) So the king of Assyria arrested him and put him in prison.5 Then the king of Assyria attacked the entire country. He attacked Samaria and blockaded it for three years.

6 In Hoshea’s ninth year as king of Israel, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and took the Israelites to Assyria as captives. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
7 The Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt and rescued them from the power of Pharaoh (the king of Egypt). They worshiped other gods8 and lived by the customs of the nations that the Lord had forced out of the Israelites’ way. They also did what their kings wanted them to do.

9 The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that weren’t right:
They built for themselves illegal places of worship in all of their cities, from the smallest watchtower to the largest fortified city.10 They set up sacred stones and poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah on every high hill and under every large tree.11 At all the illegal places of worship, they sacrificed in the same way as the nations that the Lord had removed from the land ahead of them.They did evil things and made the Lord furious.12 They served idols, although the Lord had said, “Never do this.”13 The Lord had warned Israel and Judah through every kind of prophet and seer,t “Turn from your evil ways, and obey my commands and decrees as I commanded your ancestors in all my teachings, the commands I sent to you through my servants the prophets.”14 But they refused to listen. They became as impossible to deal with as their ancestors who refused to trust the Lord their God.15 They rejected his decrees, the promiset he made to their ancestors, and the warnings he had given them. They went after worthless idols and became as worthless as the idols. They behaved like the nations around them, although the Lord had commanded them not to do that.

16 They abandoned all the commands of the Lord their God:
They made two calves out of cast metal.They made a pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah.They prayed to the entire army of heaven.They worshiped Baal.17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters by burning them alive.They practiced black magic and cast evil spells.They sold themselves by doing what the Lord considered evil, and they made him furious.18 The Lord became so angry with Israel that he removed them from his sight. Only the tribe of Judah was left.19 Even Judah didn’t obey the commands of the Lord their God but lived according to Israel’s customs.

20 So the Lord rejected all of Israel’s descendants, made them suffer, handed them over to those who looted their property, and finally turned away from Israel.
21 When he tore Israel away from the family of David, the people of Israel made Jeroboam (Nebat’s son) king. Jeroboam forced Israel away from the Lord and led them to commit a serious sin.22 The Israelites followed all the sins Jeroboam committed and never turned away from them.

23 Finally, the Lord turned away from Israel as he had said he would through all his servants, the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their land to Assyria as captives, and they are still there today.

Assyria Brings Foreign People to Settle in Israel

24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its cities.25 When they first came to live there, they didn’t worship the Lord. So the Lord sent lions to kill some of them.

26 Then someone said to the king of Assyria, “The people you took as captives and settled in the cities of Samaria don’t know the customs of the god of that country, so he sent lions. Now the lions are killing them because they don’t know the customs of the god of this country.”
27 The king of Assyria gave this command: “Bring one of the priests you captured from there. Let him go back to teach them the customs of the god of that country.”

28 So one of the priests who had been taken prisoner from Samaria went to live in Bethel. He taught them how to worship the Lord.
29 But each group that settled in Samaria continued to make its own gods. They put them at the illegal places of worship, which the people of Samaria had made. Each group did this in the cities where they lived:30 The people from Babylon made Succoth Benoth.The people from Cuth made Nergal.The people from Hamath made Ashima.31 The people from Avva made Nibhaz and Tartak.The people from Sepharvaim burned their children for Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.32 So while these people were worshiping the Lord, they also appointed all kinds of people to serve as priests for the shrines at their illegal places of worship.

33 They worshiped the Lord but also served their own gods according to the customs of the nations from which they had come.
34 Today they are still following their customs, as they’ve done from the beginning. They don’t fear the Lord or live by the decrees, customs, teachings, or commands that the Lord gave to the descendants of Jacob (whom he named Israel).35 When the Lord made a promise to Israel, he commanded, “Never worship other gods, bow down to them, serve them, or sacrifice to them.36 Instead, worship the Lord, who used his great power and a mighty arm to bring you out of Egypt. Bow down to the Lord, and sacrifice to him.37 Faithfully obey the laws, rules, teachings, and commands that he wrote for you: ‘Never worship other gods.38 Never forget the promise I made to you. Never worship other gods.

39 Instead, worship the Lord your God, and he will rescue you from your enemies.’ ”
40 The people of Israel had refused to listen and made up their own rules, as they had done from the beginning.

41 These other nations worshiped the Lord but also served their own idols. So did their children and their grandchildren. They still do whatever their ancestors did.