II Kings 17

¹In the twelfth year of Ahaz, king of Judah, Hoshea, the son of Elah, became king over Israel in Samaria, ruling for nine years.

²He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, though not like the kings of Israel before him.

³Against him came up Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, and Hoshea became his servant and sent him offerings.

⁴But Hoshea's broken faith became clear to the king of Assyria because he had sent representatives to So, king of Egypt, and did not send his offering to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: so the king of Assyria had him shut up in prison and put in chains.

⁵Then the king of Assyria went through all the land and came up to Samaria, shutting it in with his forces for three years.

⁶In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and took Israel away to Assyria, placing them in Halah and in Habor on the river Gozan, and in the towns of the Medes.

⁷And the wrath of the Lord came on Israel because they had done evil against the Lord their God, who took them out of the land of Egypt from under the yoke of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and had become worshippers of other gods,

⁸Living by the rules of the nations whom the Lord had sent out from before the children of Israel.

⁹And the children of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things which were not right, building high places for themselves in all their towns, from the tower of the watchmen to the walled town.

¹⁰They put up pillars of stone and wood on every high hill and under every green tree:

¹¹Burning their offerings in all the high places, as those nations did whom the Lord sent away from before them; they did evil things, moving the Lord to wrath;

¹²And they made themselves servants of disgusting things, though the Lord had said, You are not to do this.

¹³And he gave witness to Israel and Judah, by every prophet and seer, saying, Come back from your evil ways, and do my orders and keep my rules, and be guided by the law which I gave to your fathers and sent to you by my servants the prophets.

¹⁴And they did not give ear, but became stiff-necked, like their fathers who had no faith in the Lord their God.

¹⁵And they went against his rules, and the agreement which he made with their fathers, and his laws which he gave them; they gave themselves up to things without sense or value, and became foolish like the nations round them, of whom the Lord had said, Do not as they do.

¹⁶And turning their backs on all the orders which the Lord had given them, they made for themselves images of metal, and the image of Asherah, worshipping all the stars of heaven and becoming servants to Baal.

¹⁷And they made their sons and their daughters go through the fire, and they made use of secret arts and unnatural powers, and gave themselves up to doing evil in the eyes of the Lord, till he was moved to wrath.

¹⁸So the Lord was very angry with Israel, and his face was turned away from them: only the tribe of Judah kept its place.

¹⁹(But even Judah did not keep the orders of the Lord their God, but were guided by the rules which Israel had made.

²⁰So the Lord would have nothing to do with all the offspring of Israel, and sent trouble on them, and gave them up into the hands of their attackers, till he had sent them away from before his face.)

²¹For Israel was broken off from the family of David, and they made Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, king, who, driving them away from the laws of the Lord, made them do a great sin.

²²And the children of Israel went on with all the sins which Jeroboam did; they did not keep themselves from them;

²³Till the Lord put Israel away from before his face, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was taken away from their land to Assyria, to this day.

²⁴Then the king of Assyria took men from Babylon and from Cuthah and Avva and Hamath and Sepharvaim, and put them in the towns of Samaria in place of the children of Israel; so they got Samaria for their heritage, living in its towns.

²⁵Now when first they were living there they did not give worship to the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them, causing the death of some of them.

²⁶So they said to the king of Assyria, The nations whom you have taken as prisoners and put in the towns of Samaria, have no knowledge of the way of the god of the land: so he has sent lions among them, causing their death, because they have no knowledge of his way.

²⁷Then the king of Assyria gave orders, saying, Send there one of the priests whom you took away, and let him be living there and teaching the people the way of the god of the land.

²⁸So one of the priests whom they had taken away as a prisoner from Samaria came back, and, living in Beth-el, became their teacher in the worship of the Lord.

²⁹And every nation made gods for themselves, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the towns where they were living.

³⁰The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,

³¹The Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites gave their children to be burned in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

³²So they went on worshipping the Lord, and made for themselves, from among all the people, priests for the high places, to make offerings for them in the houses of the high places.

³³They gave worship to the Lord, but they gave honour to their gods like the nations did from whom they had been taken as prisoners.

³⁴So to this day they go on in their old ways, not worshipping the Lord or keeping his orders or his ways or the law and the rule which the Lord gave to the children of Jacob, to whom he gave the name Israel;

³⁵And the Lord made an agreement with them and gave them orders, saying, You are to have no other gods; you are not to give worship to them or be their servants or make them offerings:

³⁶But the Lord, who took you out of the land of Egypt with his great power and his outstretched arm, he is your God, to whom you are to give worship and make offerings:

³⁷And the rules and the orders and the law which he put in writing for you, you are to keep and do for ever; you are to have no other gods.

³⁸And you are to keep in memory the agreement which I have made with you; and you are to have no other gods.

³⁹And you are to give worship to the Lord your God; for it is he who will give you salvation from the hands of all who are against you.

⁴⁰But they gave no attention, but went on in their old way.

⁴¹So these nations, worshipping the Lord, still were servants to the images they had made; their children and their children's children did the same; as their fathers did, so do they, to this day.

II Kings 17

¹In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel for nine years.

²He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him.

³Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and brought him tribute.

⁴The king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no tribute 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.

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

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

⁷It was so, because the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,

⁸and walked in the statutes of the nations, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they made.

⁹The children of Israel did secretly 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 fortified city;

¹⁰and they set them up pillars and Asherim on every high hill, and under every green tree;

¹¹and there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the nations whom the Lord carried away before them; and they worked wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger;

¹²and they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, "You shall not do this thing."

¹³Yet the Lord testified to Israel, and to Judah, by every prophet, and every seer, saying, "Turn 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."

¹⁴Notwithstanding, they would not listen, but hardened their neck, like the neck of their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God.

¹⁵They rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified to them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them.

¹⁶They forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served Baal.

¹⁷They caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

¹⁸Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.

¹⁹Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.

²⁰The 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.

²¹For he tore Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin.

²²The children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them;

²³until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he spoke by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria to this day.

²⁴The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and lived in the cities of it.

²⁵So it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

²⁶Therefore they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, "The nations which you have carried away, and placed in the cities of Samaria, do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they kill them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land."

²⁷Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, "Carry there one of the priests whom you brought from there; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the law of the god of the land."

²⁸So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

²⁹However 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 in which they lived.

³⁰The men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,

³¹and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

³²[And they feared the Lord, yet they established their abominations in the houses of the high places which they made in Samaria, each nation in the city in which they dwelt.] And they feared the Lord, yet appointed from among themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.

³³And they feared the Lord, yet served their own gods, after the ways of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

³⁴To this day they do what they did before: they do not fear the Lord, neither do they follow their statutes, or their ordinances, or the law or the commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;

³⁵with whom the Lord had made a covenant, and commanded them, saying, "You shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them;

³⁶but you shall fear the Lord, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, and you shall bow yourselves to him, and you shall sacrifice to him.

³⁷The statutes and the ordinances, and the law and the commandment, which he wrote for you, you shall observe to do forevermore. You shall not fear other gods.

³⁸You shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you; neither shall you fear other gods.

³⁹But you shall fear the Lord your God; and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies."

⁴⁰However they did not listen, but they did what they did before.

⁴¹So these nations feared the Lord, and served their engraved images. Their children likewise, and their children's children, as their fathers did, so they do to this day.