2 Kings 17–18

ISRAEL’S KING HOSHEA

17In the twelfth year of Judah’s King Ahaz, Hoshea^t son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years. ²He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.^u

³King Shalmaneser^v of Assyria attacked him,^w and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. ⁴But the king of Assyria caught Hoshea in a conspiracy: He had sent envoys to So king of Egypt^x and had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years.^A Therefore the king of Assyria arrested him and put him in prison. ⁵The king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.^y

THE FALL OF SAMARIA

⁶In the ninth year of Hoshea,^z the king of Assyria captured Samaria. He deported^aa the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, along the Habor (Gozan’s river), and in the cities of the Medes.^ab

WHY ISRAEL FELL

⁷This disaster happened because the people of Israel sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt^ac and because they worshiped^B other gods.^{ad 8}They lived according to the customs of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites^ae and according to what the kings of Israel did.^{af 9}The Israelites secretly did things^C against the Lord their God that were not right. They built high places in all their towns from watchtower^ag to fortified city. ¹⁰They set up for themselves sacred pillars^ah and Asherah poles^ai on every high hill and under every green tree.^{aj 11}They burned incense there on all the high places just like the nations that the Lord had driven out before them had done. They did evil things, angering the Lord. ¹²They served idols, although the Lord had told them, “You must not do this.”^{a 13}Still, the Lord warned^b Israel and Judah through every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commands and statutes according to the whole law I commanded your ancestors and sent to you through my servants the prophets.”^c

¹⁴But they would not listen. Instead they became obstinate like^D their ancestors who did not believe the Lord their God.^{d 15}They rejected his statutes and his covenant he had made with their ancestors^e and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves,^f following the surrounding nations the Lord had commanded them not to imitate.^g

¹⁶They abandoned all the commands of the Lord their God. They made cast images^h for themselves, two calves, and an Asherah pole.ⁱ They bowed in worship to all the stars in the sky^j and served Baal.^{k 17}They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire^El and practiced divination and interpreted omens.^m They devoted themselves to do what was evil in the Lord’s sight and angered him.ⁿ

¹⁸Therefore, the Lord was very angry with Israel, and he removed them from his presence.^o Only the tribe of Judah remained.^{p 19}Even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God^q but lived according to the customs Israel had practiced.^{r 20}So the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel, punished them, and handed them over to plunderers until he had banished them from his presence.^s

SUMMARY OF ISRAEL’S HISTORY

²¹When the Lord tore^t Israel from the house of David, Israel made Jeroboam son of Nebat king.^u Then Jeroboam led Israel away from following the Lord and caused them to commit grave sin. ²²The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam committed and did not turn away from them.^{v 23}Finally, the Lord removed Israel from his presence just as he had declared through all his servants the prophets. So Israel has been exiled to Assyria from their homeland to this very day.^w

FOREIGN REFUGEES IN ISRAEL

²⁴Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in place of the Israelites in the cities of Samaria. The settlers took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.^{x 25}When they first lived there, they did not fear the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.^{y 26}The settlers said to the king of Assyria, “The nations that you have deported and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them that are killing them because the people don’t know the requirements of the god of the land.”

²⁷Then the king of Assyria issued a command: “Send back one of the priests you deported.^z Have him go and live there so he can teach them the requirements of the god of the land.” ²⁸So one of the priests they had deported came and lived in Bethel,^aa and he began to teach them how they should fear the Lord.

²⁹But the people of each nation were still making their own gods in the cities where they lived and putting them in the shrines of the high places that the people of Samaria had made.^{ab 30}The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, ³¹the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire^ac to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. ³²They feared the Lord, but they also made from their ranks priests for the high places, who were working for them at the shrines of the high places.^{ad 33}They feared the Lord, but they also worshiped their own gods^ae according to the practice of the nations from which they had been deported.

³⁴They are still observing the former practices to this day. None of them fear the Lord or observe the statutes and ordinances, the law and commandments that the Lord had commanded the descendants of Jacob, whom he had given the name Israel.^{af 35}The Lord made a covenant with Jacob’s descendants and commanded them, “Do not fear other gods; do not bow in worship to them;^ag do not serve them; do not sacrifice to them.^{ah 36}Instead fear the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power^ai and an outstretched arm.^a You are to bow down to him, and you are to sacrifice to him. ³⁷You are to be careful always^b to observe the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandments he wrote for you; do not fear other gods. ³⁸Do not forget the covenant that I have made with you.^c Do not fear other gods, ³⁹but fear the Lord your God, and he will rescue you from all your enemies.”^d

⁴⁰However, these nations would not listen but continued observing their former practices. ⁴¹They feared the Lord but also served their idols. Still today, their children and grandchildren continue doing as their ancestors did.^e

JUDAH’S KING HEZEKIAH

18In the third year of Israel’s King Hoshea^f son of Elah, Hezekiah^g son of Ahaz became king of Judah. ²He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi daughter of Zechariah. ³He did what was right in the Lord’s sight just as his ancestor David had done.^{h 4}He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles.ⁱ He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses made,^j for until then the Israelites were burning incense to it. It was called Nehushtan.^B

⁵Hezekiah relied on the Lord God of Israel;^k not one of the kings of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.^{l 6}He remained faithful to the Lord^m and did not turn from following him but kept the commands the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁷The Lord was with him, and wherever he went he prospered.ⁿ He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.^{o 8}He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders,^p from watchtower^q to fortified city.

REVIEW OF ISRAEL’S FALL

⁹In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Israel’s King Hoshea son of Elah, Assyria’s King Shalmaneser marched against Samaria and besieged it.^{r 10}The Assyrians captured it at the end of three years. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Israel’s King Hoshea, Samaria was captured. ¹¹The king of Assyria deported the Israelites to Assyria and put them in Halah, along the Habor (Gozan’s river), and in the cities of the Medes,^{s 12}because they did not listen to the Lord their God but violated his covenant—all he had commanded Moses the servant of the Lord. They did not listen, and they did not obey.^t

SENNACHERIB’S INVASION

¹³In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Assyria’s King Sennacherib attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.^{u 14}So King Hezekiah of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish:^v “I have done wrong;^w withdraw from me. Whatever you demand from me, I will pay.” The king of Assyria demanded eleven tons^C of silver and one ton^D of gold from King Hezekiah of Judah. ¹⁵So Hezekiah gave him all the silver found in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the king’s palace.

¹⁶At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the Lord’s sanctuary and from the doorposts he had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria.^x

¹⁷Then the king of Assyria sent the field marshal,^y the chief of staff, and his royal spokesman, along with a massive army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem.^z They advanced and came to Jerusalem, and^A they took their position by the aqueduct of the upper pool, by the road to the Launderer’s Field.^{aa 18}They called for the king, but Eliakim^ab son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebnah^ac the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came out to them.^ad

THE ROYAL SPOKESMAN’S SPEECH

¹⁹Then^ae the royal spokesman said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: ‘What are you relying on?^{Baf 20}You think mere words are strategy and strength for war. Who are you now relying on so that you have rebelled against me?^{ag 21}Now look, you are relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff^ah that will pierce the hand of anyone who grabs it and leans on it.^ai This is what Pharaoh king of…