2 Kings 17

¹In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years.

²And he did evil in the sight of the Lord

³Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him; and Hoshea became his vassal, and paid him tribute money.

⁴And the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and brought 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.

⁵Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for 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 by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

⁷For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord

⁸and had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the Lord

⁹Also the children of Israel secretly did against the Lord

¹⁰They set up for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree.

¹¹There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the Lord

¹²for they served idols, of which the Lord

¹³Yet the Lord

¹⁴Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord

¹⁵And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord

¹⁶So they left all the commandments of the Lord

¹⁷And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord

¹⁸Therefore the Lord

¹⁹Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord

²⁰And the Lord

²¹For He tore Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord

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

²³until the Lord

²⁴Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities.

²⁵And it was so, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear the Lord

²⁶So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations whom you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the rituals of the God of the land; therefore He has sent lions among them, and indeed, they are killing them because they do not know the rituals of the God of the land.”

²⁷Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Send there one of the priests whom you brought from there; let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the rituals of the God of the land.”

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

²⁹However every nation continued to make gods of its own, and put them in the shrines on the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where they dwelt.

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

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

³²So they feared the Lord

³³They feared the Lord

³⁴To this day they continue practicing the former rituals; they do not fear the Lord

³⁵with whom the Lord

³⁶but the Lord

³⁷And the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall be careful to observe forever; you shall not fear other gods.

³⁸And the covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods.

³⁹But the Lord

⁴⁰However they did not obey, but they followed their former rituals.

⁴¹So these nations feared the Lord