2 Kings 17

In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. ²And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. ³Against him came up ^aShalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents. ⁴And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present 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 ^bthe king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. ^6cIn the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and ^dcarried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them ^ein Halah and in Habor by the river of ^efGozan, and in the cities of the ^gMedes.

⁷For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, ⁱwhich had 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 ^kof the heathen, ^lwhom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and ^lof the kings of Israel, which they had made. ⁹And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, ^mfrom the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. ¹⁰ⁿAnd they set them up images and ^ogroves in every high hill, and under every green tree: ¹¹and there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them; and wrought wicked things ^pto provoke the Lord to anger: ¹²for they served ^qidols, ^rwhereof the Lord had said unto them, ^sYe shall not do this thing. ¹³Yet the Lord ^ttestified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all ^uthe seers, saying, ^wTurn ye 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 hear, but ^xhardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God. ¹⁵And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed ^yvanity, and ^zbecame vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord ^ahad charged them, that they should not do like them. ¹⁶And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even ^btwo calves, and made ^ca grove, and worshipped ^dall the host of heaven, and served ^eBaal. ¹⁷And ^fthey caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and ^gused divination and ^henchantments, and ⁱsold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, ^kto 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 ^lonly. ¹⁹Also ^mJudah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. ²⁰And the Lord ⁿrejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and ^odelivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight. ²¹For ^phe rent Israel from the house of David; and ^qthey made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam ^rdrave Israel from following the Lord, and ^smade them sin a great sin. ²²For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; ²³until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, ^tas he had said by all his servants the prophets. ^uSo was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.

^24xAnd the king of Assyria brought men from ^yBabylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from ^zHamath, and from ^aSepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof. ²⁵And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of them. ²⁶Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land. ²⁷Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land. ²⁸Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in ^bBeth-el, and taught them how they should fear the Lord. ²⁹Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in ^cthe houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt. ³⁰And the men of ^dBabylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, ³¹and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites ^eburnt their children in fire to ^fAdrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. ³²So they feared the Lord, and ^gmade unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in ^cthe houses of the high places. ^33hThey feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. ³⁴Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, ⁱwhom he named Israel; ³⁵with whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, ^kYe shall not fear other gods, nor ^lbow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them: ³⁶but the Lord, ^mwho brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and ⁿa stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice. ³⁷And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ^oye shall observe to do for evermore; and ^kye shall not fear other gods. ³⁸And the covenant that I have made with you ^pye shall not forget; neither ^kshall ye fear other gods. ³⁹But ^qthe Lord your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. ⁴⁰Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner. ^41rSo these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.

XVIII.