2Ki 17 | NASB2020 | STEP | In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah , Hoshea the son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria , and reigned for nine years .

2 Kings 17

Hoshea Reigns over Israel

1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, ^aHoshea the son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned for nine years. 2 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, only not as the kings of Israel who preceded him. 3 ^bShalmaneser the king of Assyria marched ^cagainst him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute. 4 But the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by Hoshea, who had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and had then brought no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; so the king of Assyria arrested him and confined him in prison.

5 Then the king of Assyria invaded the entire land, and went up to ^dSamaria and besieged it for three years.

Israel Captive

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, ^ethe king of Assyria captured Samaria and ^fled the people of Israel into exile to Assyria, and ^gsettled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of ^hGozan, and ⁱin the cities of the Medes.

Why Israel Fell

7 Now ^jthis came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, ^kwho had brought them up from the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; ^land they had ^{▼▼Or revered, and so throughout the ch}feared other gods. 8 They also ^{▼▼Lit walked in
,} ^ofollowed the ^{▼▼Lit statutes}customs of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from the sons of Israel, and in the customs ^qof the kings of Israel which they had ^{▼▼Lit made}introduced. 9 And the sons of Israel ^{▼▼Or ascribed words to}did things secretly against the Lord their God which were not right. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from ^twatchtower to fortified city. 10 And ^uthey set up for themselves memorial stones and ^{▼▼I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
,} ^wAsherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11 and there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did that the Lord had taken into exile before them; and they did evil things, provoking the Lord. 12 They served idols, ^xconcerning which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” 13 Yet the ^yLord warned Israel and Judah ^{▼▼Lit by the hand of
,} ^aathrough all His prophets and ^abevery seer, saying, “ ^acTurn back from your evil ways and keep My commandments and My statutes in accordance with all the Law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you ^{▼▼Lit by the hand of}through My servants the prophets.” 14 However, they did not listen, but ^aestiffened their neck ^{▼▼Lit like the neck of}like their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15 ^agThey rejected His statutes and ^ahHis covenant which He made with their fathers, and His warnings which He ^{▼▼Lit warned}gave them. And ^ajthey followed ^{▼▼Lit the non-existent}idols and ^albecame empty, and followed the nations that surrounded them, about which the ^amLord had commanded them not to do as they did. 16 And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves cast metal images: ^antwo calves. And they ^aomade an ^{▼▼I.e., a wooden symbol of a female deity}Asherah, and ^aqworshiped all the heavenly ^{▼▼Lit host}lights, and ^asserved Baal. 17 Then ^atthey made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and they ^aupracticed divination and interpreting omens, and ^avgave themselves over to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him. 18 So the Lord was very angry with Israel, and He ^awremoved them from His ^{▼▼Lit face}sight; ^ayno one was left except the tribe of Judah.

19 ^azJudah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God either, but they ^{▼▼Lit walked in
,} ^bbfollowed the ^{▼▼Lit statutes}customs ^{▼▼Lit of Israel which they}which Israel had ^{▼▼Lit made}introduced. 20 So the Lord rejected all the ^{▼▼Lit seed}descendants of Israel and afflicted them and ^bghanded them over to plunderers, until He had cast them ^{▼▼Lit from His face}out of His sight.

21 When ^biHe had torn Israel from the house of David, ^bjthey made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then ^bkJeroboam drove Israel away from following the Lord and misled them into a great sin. 22 And the sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he committed; they did not desist from them 23 ^bluntil the Lord removed Israel from His sight, ^bmjust as He had spoken through all His servants the prophets. ^bnSo Israel went into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.

Cities of Israel Filled with Strangers

24 ^boThen the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, ^{▼▼In 2 Kin 18:34; 19:13; Is 37:13, Ivvah
,} ^bqAvva, ^brHamath, and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. So they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 And at the beginning of their living there, they ^bsdid not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them that were killing some of them. 26 So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations whom you have taken into exile and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the God of the land; so He has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them because they do not know the custom of the God of the land.”

27 Then the king of Assyria issued commands, saying, “Take one of the priests there whom you led into ^{▼▼Lit exile from there}exile, and have ^{▼▼Lit them}him go and live there; and have him teach them the custom of the God of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had led into exile from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they were to fear the Lord.

29 But every nation was still making gods of its own, and they put them ^bvin the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived. 30 ^bwThe men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and ^bxthe Sepharvites were burning their children in the fire to ^byAdrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of ^bzSepharvaim. 32 ^caThey also feared the Lord and ^{▼▼Lit made for themselves
,} ^ccappointed from their entire population priests of the high places, who acted for them in the houses of the high places. 33 They feared the Lord, yet they were serving their own gods in accordance with the custom of the nations from among whom they had been taken into exile.

34 To this day they act in accordance with the earlier customs: they do not fear the Lord, nor do they ^{▼▼Lit do according to}follow their statutes, their ordinances, the Law, or the commandments which the Lord commanded the sons of Jacob, ^cewhom He named Israel. 35 The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, saying, “ ^cfYou shall not fear other gods, nor ^cgbow down to them, nor ^chserve them, nor sacrifice to them. 36 But the Lord, ^ciwho brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with ^cjan outstretched arm, ^ckHim you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow down, and to Him you shall sacrifice. 37 And the statutes, the ordinances, the Law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, ^clyou shall take care to do always; and you shall not fear other gods. 38 The covenant that I have made with you, ^cmyou shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods. 39 But you shall fear the Lord your God; and He will save you from the hand of all your enemies.” 40 However, they did not listen, but they kept acting in accordance with their earlier custom. 41 ^cnSo while these nations feared the Lord, they also served their ^{▼▼Or carved images}idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, just as their fathers did, they do to this day.