Kings IV 17
1 In the twelfth year of Achaz king of Juda began Osee the son of Ela to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.
Hoshea, son of Elah, became king of Israel, in the twelfth year of the reign of King Ahaz of Judah. He reigned in Samaria for nine years.
2 And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, only not as the kings of Israel that were before him.
He did what was evil in the Lord's sight, but not in the same way the kings of Israel who were before him.
3 Against him came up Salamanassar king of the Assyrians; and Osee became his servant, and rendered him tribute.
Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, came and attacked him, and Hoshea submitted to him and paid him tribute.
4 And the king of the Assyrians found iniquity in Osee, in that he sent messengers to Segor king of Egypt, and brought not a tribute to the king of the Assyrians in that year: and the king of the Assyrians besieged him, and bound him in the prison-house.
But then the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was being disloyal. Hoshea had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, asking for help, and he also had stopped sending annual tribute to the king of Assyria as he had done previously. So the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison.
5 And the king of the Assyrians went up against all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it [for] three years.
Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole country, and attacked Samaria, besieging it for three years.
6 In the ninth year of Osee the king of the Assyrians took Samaria, and carried Israel away to the Assyrians, and settled them in Alae, and in Abor, [near] the rivers of Gozan, and [in] the mountains of the Medes.
In the ninth year of the reign of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River, and in the towns of the Medes.
7 For it came to pass that the children of Israel [had] transgressed against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharao king of Egypt, and they feared other gods,
All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, the one who had led them out of Egypt, saving them from the power of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods,
8 and walked in the statutes of the nations which the Lord cast out before the face of the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel as many as did [such things],
adopting the ways of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites, and the pagan practices introduced by the kings of Israel.
9 and [in those] of the children of Israel as many as secretly practised customs, not as [they should have done], against the Lord their God:
Secretly the Israelites did things that were not right against the Lord their God. They built high places in all their towns, from watchtowers to fortified cities.
10 and they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city. And they made for themselves pillars and groves on every high hill, and under every shady tree.
They set up pagan stone pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
11 And burnt incense there on all high places, as the nations [did] whom the Lord removed from before them, and dealt with familiar spirits, and they carved [images] to provoke the Lord to anger.
They offered sacrifices on all the high places, just like the nations the Lord drove out before them. They did evil things, angering the Lord.
12 And they served the idols, of which the Lord said to them, You shall not do this thing [against] the Lord.
They worshiped idols, even though the Lord had told them, “You are not to do this.”
13 And the Lord testified against Israel and against Juda, even by the hand of all his prophets, [and] of every seer, saying, Turn you from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my ordinances, and all the law which I commanded your fathers, [and] all that I sent to them by the hand of my servants the prophets.
Yet the Lord had warned Israel and Judah repeatedly through all his prophets and seers, saying, “Leave your wicked ways and keep my commandments and instructions. Follow the whole law that I ordered your forefathers to obey, and gave to you through my servants the prophets.”
14 But they listened not, and made their neck harder than the neck of their fathers.
But they refused listen, and they were as stubborn as their forefathers who did not trust the Lord their God.
15 And they kept not any of his testimonies which he charged them; and they walked after vanities, and became vain, and after the nations round about them, concerning which the Lord had charged them not to do accordingly.
They gave up on his regulations and the covenant he had made with their forefathers, as well as the decrees he had given them. They followed pointless idols and they became pointless themselves, copying the nations around them that the Lord ordered them not to copy.
16 They forsook the commandments of the Lord their God, and made themselves graven images, [even] two heifers, and they made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
They ignored all the commandments of the Lord their God, and they made themselves two metal idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down in worship to the sun, moon, and stars and served Baal.
17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divinations and auspices, and sold themselves to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him.
They sacrificed their sons and daughters as pagan burnt offerings, and practiced fortune-telling and witchcraft. They gave themselves over to doing what was evil in the Lord's sight, making him angry.
18 And the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight; and there was only left the tribe of Juda quite alone.
So the Lord was extremely angry with Israel, and he banished them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left,
19 Nay even Juda kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but they walked according to the customs of Israel which they practised, and rejected the Lord.
but even Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but followed the idolatry that Israel had introduced.
20 And the Lord was angry with the whole seed of Israel, and troubled them, and gave them into the hand of them that spoiled them, until he cast them out of his presence.
The Lord gave up on all the descendants of Israel. He punished them and handed them over to their enemies, until he had banished them from his presence.
21 Forasmuch as Israel revolted from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nabat king: and Jeroboam drew off Israel from following the Lord, and led them to sin a great sin.
When the Lord ripped Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam, son of Nebat, their king. Jeroboam led Israel away from the Lord and made them commit terrible sins.
22 And the children of Israel walked in all the sin of Jeroboam which he committed; they departed not from it,
The Israelites continued to practice all the sins that Jeroboam committed. They did not stop doing them,
23 until the Lord removed Israel from his presence, as the Lord spoke by all his servants the prophets; and Israel was removed from off their land to the Assyrians until this day.
so the Lord eventually expelled them from his presence, just as he had said he would through all his servants, the prophets. So the Israelites were deported from their land and taken to Assyria, where they are to this day.
24 And the king of Assyria brought from Babylon the men of Chutha, [and men] from Aia, and from Aemath, and Seppharvaim, and they were settled in the cities of Samaria in the place of the children of Israel: and they inherited Samaria, and were settled in its cities.
The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria instead of the Israelites. They took over ownership of Samaria and lived in its towns.
25 And it was so at the beginning of their establishment there [that] they feared not the Lord, and the Lord sent lions amongst them, and they killed some of them.
When they first started living there they did not worship the Lord, so he sent lions there among them, killing some of them.
26 And they spoke to the king of the Assyrians, saying, The nations whom you have removed and substituted in the cities of Samaria [for the Israelites], know not the manner of the God of the land: and he has sent the lions against them, and, behold, they are slaying them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.
The king of Assyria was told, “The peoples that you brought and settled in the towns of Samaria they don't not know the rules of the God of the land. As a result, he has sent lions among them, which are killing them off because they don't know what the God of the land requires.”
27 And the king of the Assyrians commanded, saying, Bring some [Israelites] thence, and let them go and dwell there, and they shall teach them the manner of the God of the land.
The king of Assyria gave the order: “Send back one of the priests you deported from Samaria, and let him go back and live there and teach the rules of the God of the land.”
28 And they brought one of the priests whom they had removed from Samaria, and he settled in Baethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
So one of the priests who had been deported from Samaria returned to live in Bethel, and taught them how to worship the Lord.
29 But the nations made each their own gods, and put them in the house of the high places which the Samaritans [had] made, each nation in the cities in which they lived.
But the people of the different nations went on making their own gods in the towns where they had settled, and they placed them in the shrines of the high places that the people of Samaria had made.
30 And the men of Babylon made Socchoth Benith, and the men of Chuth made Ergel, and the men of Haemath made Asimath.
Those from Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth, those from Kuthah made Nergal, and those from Hamath made Ashima.
31 And the Evites made Eblazer and Tharthac, and the [inhabitant] of Seppharvaim [did evil] when they burnt their sons in the fire to Adramelech and Anemelech, the gods of Seppharvaim.
The Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites sacrificed their children as burnt offerings to their gods Adrammelech and Anammelech.
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 lived: and they feared the Lord, and they made for themselves priests of the high places, and sacrificed for themselves in the house of the high places.
While they worshiped the Lord, they also appointed priests from all kinds of their own people to offer sacrifices for them in the shrines of the high places.
33 And they feared the Lord, and served their gods according to the manner of the nations, whence [their lords] brought them.
So even though they worshiped the Lord, they also worshiped their own gods following the practices of the nations they had come from.
34 Until this day they did according to their manner: they fear [the Lord], and they do according to their customs, and according to their manner, and according to the law, and according to the commandment which the Lord commanded the sons of Jacob, whose name he made Israel.
Even to this day they are still following their former practices. None of them truly worship the Lord or observe the regulations, requirements, laws, and commandments that the Lord gave to the descendants of Jacob, the one he named Israel.
35 And the Lord made a covenant with them, and charged them, saying, You shall not fear other gods, neither shall you worship them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:
For the Lord had made an agreement with the Israelites, ordering them, “Don't worship other gods or bow down to them; don't serve them or offer sacrifices to them.
36 but only to the Lord, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great strength and with a high arm: him shall you fear, and him shall you worship; to him shall you sacrifice.
You must worship only the Lord, who led you out of Egypt, helping you with his great power and strong arm. Only bow down to him; only offer sacrifices to him.
37 You shall observe continually the ordinances, and the judgements, and the law, and the commandments which he wrote for you to do; and you shall not fear other gods.
Always pay attention to observe the regulations, requirements, laws, and commandments he gave you in writing, and don't worship other gods.
38 Neither shall you forget the covenant which he made with you: and you shall not fear other gods.
Don't forget the agreement I have made with you, and don't worship other gods.
39 But you shall fear the Lord your God, and he shall deliver you from all your enemies.
You must worship only the Lord your God, and he will save you from all your enemies.”
40 Neither shall you comply with their practise, which they follow.
But they refused to listen, and continued their former idolatrous practices.
41 So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images: yes, their sons and their son's sons do until this day even as their fathers did.
Even while these people from different nations were worshiping the Lord, they were actually worshiping their idols. Their children and grandchildren continue to do as their forefathers did to this day.
