2 Kings 17
1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz, the king of Judah: Hoshea, the son of Elah, reigned over Israel, in Samaria, for nine years.
In the twelfth year of Ahaz, king of Judah, Hoshea, the son of Elah, became king over Israel in Samaria, ruling for nine years.
2 And he did evil before the Lord, but not like the kings of Israel who had been before him.
He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, though not like the kings of Israel before him.
3 Shalmaneser, the king of the Assyrians, ascended against him. And Hoshea became a servant to him, and he paid him tribute.
Against him came up Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, and Hoshea became his servant and sent him offerings.
4 And when the king of the Assyrians discovered that Hoshea, striving to rebel, had sent messengers to Sais, to the king of Egypt, so as not to present the tribute to the king of the Assyrians, as he had been accustomed to do each year, he besieged him. And having been bound, he cast him into prison.
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.
5 And he wandered through the entire land. And ascending to Samaria, he besieged it for three years.
Then the king of Assyria went through all the land and came up to Samaria, shutting it in with his forces for three years.
6 And in the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of the Assyrians captured Samaria, and he carried away Israel to Assyria. And he stationed them in Halah and in Habor, beside the river of Gozan, in the cities of the Medes.
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.
7 For it happened that, when the sons of Israel had sinned against the Lord, their God, who had led them away from the land of Egypt, from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, they worshipped strange gods.
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,
8 And they walked according to the rituals of the nations that the Lord had consumed in the sight of the sons of Israel, and of the kings of Israel. For they had acted similarly.
Living by the rules of the nations whom the Lord had sent out from before the children of Israel.
9 And the sons of Israel offended the Lord, their God, with deeds that were not upright. And they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.
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.
10 And they made for themselves statues and sacred groves, on every high hill and under every leafy tree.
They put up pillars of stone and wood on every high hill and under every green tree:
11 And they were burning incense there, upon altars, in the manner of the nations that the Lord had removed from their face. And they did wicked deeds, provoking the Lord.
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;
12 And they worshipped impurities, concerning which the Lord instructed them that they should not do this word.
And they made themselves servants of disgusting things, though the Lord had said, You are not to do this.
13 And the Lord testified to them, in Israel and in Judah, through the hand of all the prophets and seers, saying: “Return from your wicked ways, and keep my precepts and ceremonies, in accord with the entire law, which I instructed to your fathers, and just as I sent to you by the hand of my servants, the prophets.”
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.
14 But they did not listen. Instead, they hardened their necks to be like the neck of their fathers, who were not willing to obey the Lord, their God.
And they did not give ear, but became stiff-necked, like their fathers who had no faith in the Lord their God.
15 And they cast aside his ordinances, and the covenant that he formed with their fathers, and the testimonies which he testified to them. And they pursued vanities and acted vainly. And they followed the nations that were all around them, concerning the things which the Lord had commanded them not to do, and which they did.
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.
16 And they abandoned all the precepts of the Lord, their God. And they made for themselves two molten calves and sacred groves. And they adored the entire celestial army. And they served Baal.
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.
17 And they consecrated their sons and their daughters through fire. And they devoted themselves to divinations and soothsaying. And they delivered themselves into the doing of evil before the Lord, so that they provoked him.
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.
18 And the Lord became vehemently angry with Israel, and he took them away from his sight. And there remained no one, except the tribe of Judah alone.
So 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 commandments of the Lord, their God. Instead, they walked in the errors of Israel, which they had wrought.
(But even Judah did not keep the orders of the Lord their God, but were guided by the rules which Israel had made.
20 And the Lord cast aside all of the offspring of Israel. And he afflicted them, and he delivered them into the hand of despoilers, until he drove them away from his face,
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.)
21 even from that time when Israel was torn away from the house of David, and they appointed for themselves Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, as king. For Jeroboam separated Israel from the Lord, and he caused them to sin a great sin.
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.
22 And the sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam, which he had done. And they did not withdraw from these,
And the children of Israel went on with all the sins which Jeroboam did; they did not keep themselves from them;
23 even when the Lord carried away Israel from his face, just as he had said by the hand of all his servants, the prophets. And Israel was carried away from their land into Assyria, even to this day.
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.
24 Then the king of the Assyrians brought some from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim. And he located them in the cities of Samaria, in place of the sons of Israel. And they possessed Samaria, and they lived in its cities.
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.
25 And when they had begun to live there, they did not fear the Lord. And the Lord sent lions among them, which were killing them.
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.
26 And this was reported to the king of the Assyrians, and it was said: “The peoples that you transferred and caused to live in the cities of Samaria, they are ignorant of the ordinances of the God of the land. And so the Lord has sent lions among them. And behold, they have killed them, because they were ignorant of the rituals of the God of the land.”
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.
27 Then the king of the Assyrians commanded, saying: “Lead to that place one of the priests, whom you brought as a captive from there. And let him go and live with them. And let him teach them the ordinances of the God of the land.”
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.
28 And so, when one of the priests, who had been led away captive from Samaria, had arrived, he lived in Bethel. And he taught them how they should worship the Lord.
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.
29 And each of the nations made gods of their own, and they placed them in the shrines of the high places, which the Samaritans had made: nation after nation, in their cities in which they were living.
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.
30 So the men of Babylon made Soccoth-benoth; and the men of Cuth made Nergal; and the men of Hamath made Ashima;
The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak. Then those who were from Sepharvaim burned up their children with fire, for the gods of Sepharvaim: Adram-melech and Anam-melech.
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.
32 But nevertheless, they worshipped the Lord. Then they made for themselves, from the least of the people, priests of the high places. And they placed them in the shrines of the high places.
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.
33 And though they worshipped the Lord, they also served their own gods, according to the custom of the nations from which they had been transferred into Samaria.
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.
34 Even to the present day, they follow the ancient customs; they do not fear the Lord, and they do not keep his ceremonies, and judgments, and law, and commandment, which the Lord had instructed to the sons of Jacob, whom he named Israel.
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;
35 And he had struck a covenant with them, and he had commanded them, saying: “You shall not fear foreign gods, and you shall not adore them, and you shall not worship them, and you shall not sacrifice to them.
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:
36 But the Lord, your God, who led you away from the land of Egypt, with great strength and with an outstretched arm, him shall you fear, and him shall you adore, and to him shall you sacrifice.
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:
37 Also, the ceremonies, and judgments, and law, and commandment, which he wrote for you, you shall keep so that you do them for all days. And you shall not fear strange gods.
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.
38 And the covenant, which he struck with you, you shall not forget; neither shall you worship strange gods.
And you are to keep in memory the agreement which I have made with you; and you are to have no other gods.
39 But you shall fear the Lord, your God. And he will rescue you from the hand of all your enemies.”
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.
40 Yet truly, they did not listen to this. Instead, they acted in accord with their earlier custom.
But they gave no attention, but went on in their old way.
41 And such were these nations: to some extent fearing the Lord, yet nevertheless also serving their idols. As for their sons and grandsons, just as their fathers acted, so also did they act, even to the present day.
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.
