2 Kings 17:7–41

⁷For ^hso it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had ⁱfeared other gods, ⁸and ^jhad walked in the statutes of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. ⁹Also the children of Israel secretly did against the Lord their God things that were not right, and they built for themselves ¹high places in all their cities, ^kfrom watchtower to fortified city. ^10lThey set up for themselves sacred pillars and ^mwooden images ²ⁿon every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the Lord had carried away before them; and they did wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger, ¹²for they served idols, ^oof which the Lord had said to them, ^p“You shall not do this thing.”

¹³Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His ^qprophets, ^revery seer, saying, ^s“Turn 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.” ¹⁴Nevertheless they would not hear, but ^tstiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who ^udid not believe in the Lord their God. ¹⁵And they ^vrejected His statutes ^wand His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed ^xidols, ^ybecame idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should ^znot do like them. ¹⁶So they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, ^amade for themselves a molded image and two calves, ^bmade a wooden image and worshiped all the ^chost of heaven, ^dand served Baal. ^17eAnd they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, ^fpracticed witchcraft and soothsaying, and ^gsold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. ¹⁸Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left ^hbut the tribe of Judah alone.

¹⁹Also ⁱJudah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. ²⁰And the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and ^jdelivered them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them from His ^ksight. ²¹For ^lHe tore Israel from the house of David, and ^mthey made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord, and made them commit a great sin. ²²For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them, ²³until the Lord removed Israel out of His sight, ⁿas He had said by all His servants the prophets. ^oSo Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day.

Assyria Resettles Samaria

^24pThen the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, ^qAva, 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; therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 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 ^rin the shrines on the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where they dwelt. ³⁰The men of ^sBabylon made Succoth Benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, ^31tand the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites ^uburned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. ³²So they feared the Lord, ^vand from every class they appointed for themselves priests of the ³high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. ^33wThey feared the Lord, yet served their own gods—according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away.

³⁴To this day they continue practicing the former rituals; they do not fear the Lord, nor do they follow their statutes or their ordinances, or the law and commandment which the Lord had commanded the children of Jacob, ^xwhom He named Israel, ³⁵with whom the Lord had made a covenant and charged them, saying: ^y“You shall not fear other gods, nor ^zbow down to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them; ³⁶but the Lord, who ^abrought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and ^ban outstretched arm, ^cHim you shall fear, Him you shall worship, and to Him you shall offer sacrifice. ³⁷And the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, ^dyou shall be careful to observe forever; you shall not fear other gods. ³⁸And the covenant that I have made with you, ^eyou shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods. ³⁹But the Lord your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.” ⁴⁰However they did not obey, but they followed their former rituals. ^41fSo these nations feared the Lord, yet served their carved images; also their children and their children’s children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day.