2 Kings 17
1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz, king of Judah, Hoshea, the son of Elah, became king over Israel in Samaria, ruling for nine years.
In the twelfth year of the reign of Ahaz over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria nine years.
2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, though not like the kings of Israel before him.
And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.
3 Against him came up Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, and Hoshea became his servant and sent him offerings.
Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute.
4 But 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.
But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So of Egypt, and that he had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison.
5 Then the king of Assyria went through all the land and came up to Samaria, shutting it in with his forces for three years.
Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.
6 In 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.
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
7 And 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,
All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods
8 Living by the rules of the nations whom the Lord had sent out from before the children of Israel.
and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel.
9 And 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.
The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities.
10 They put up pillars of stone and wood on every high hill and under every green tree:
They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
11 Burning 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;
They burned incense on all the high places like the nations that the LORD had driven out before them. They did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger.
12 And they made themselves servants of disgusting things, though the Lord had said, You are not to do this.
They served idols, although the LORD had told them, “You shall not do this thing.”
13 And 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.
Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.”
14 And they did not give ear, but became stiff-necked, like their fathers who had no faith in the Lord their God.
But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God.
15 And 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.
They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and themselves became worthless, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.
16 And 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.
They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal.
17 And 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.
They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
18 So the Lord was very angry with Israel, and his face was turned away from them: only the tribe of Judah kept its place.
So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained,
19 (But even Judah did not keep the orders of the Lord their God, but were guided by the rules which Israel had made.
and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced.
20 So 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.)
So the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel. He afflicted them and delivered them into the hands of plunderers, until He had banished them from His presence.
21 For 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.
When the LORD had torn Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king, and Jeroboam led Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin.
22 And the children of Israel went on with all the sins which Jeroboam did; they did not keep themselves from them;
The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam had committed and did not turn away from them.
23 Till 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.
Finally, the LORD removed Israel from His presence, as He had declared through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their homeland into Assyria, where they are to this day.
24 Then 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.
Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns.
25 Now 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.
Now when the settlers first lived there, they did not worship the LORD, so He sent lions among them, which killed some of them.
26 So 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.
So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The peoples that you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land. Because of this, He has sent lions among them, which are indeed killing them off.”
27 Then 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.
Then the king of Assyria commanded: “Send back one of the priests you carried off from Samaria, and have him go back to live there and teach the requirements of the God of the land.”
28 So 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.
Thus one of the priests they had carried away came and lived in Bethel, and he began to teach them how they should worship the LORD.
29 And 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.
Nevertheless, the people of each nation continued to make their own gods in the cities where they had settled, and they set them up in the shrines that the people of Samaria had made on the high places.
30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima,
31 The 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.
the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of the Sepharvaim.
32 So 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.
So the new residents worshiped the LORD, but they also appointed for themselves priests of all sorts to serve in the shrines of the high places.
33 They gave worship to the Lord, but they gave honour to their gods like the nations did from whom they had been taken as prisoners.
They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods according to the customs of the nations from which they had been carried away.
34 So 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;
To this day they are still practicing their former customs. None of them worship the LORD or observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments that the LORD gave the descendants of Jacob, whom He named Israel.
35 And 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:
For the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites and commanded them, “Do not worship other gods or bow down to them; do not serve them or sacrifice to them.
36 But 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:
Instead, worship the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm. You are to bow down to Him and offer sacrifices to Him.
37 And 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.
And you must always be careful to observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments He wrote for you. Do not worship other gods.
38 And you are to keep in memory the agreement which I have made with you; and you are to have no other gods.
Do not forget the covenant I have made with you. Do not worship other gods,
39 And 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.
but worship the LORD your God, and He will deliver you from the hands of all your enemies.”
40 But they gave no attention, but went on in their old way.
But they would not listen, and they persisted in their former customs.
41 So 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.
So these nations worshiped the LORD but also served their idols, and to this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.
