2 Kings 17:6-18

The Fall of Israel

6In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria ^acaptured Samaria, ^band he carried the Israelites away to Assyria ^cand placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of ^dGozan, and in the cities of ^ethe Medes.

Exile Because of Idolatry

7And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, ^fwho had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods 8 ^gand walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, ^hand in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. 9And the people of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, ⁱfrom watchtower to fortified city. 10They set up for themselves ^jpillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger, 12and they served idols, ^kof which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this.” 13Yet the Lord ^lwarned Israel and Judah ^mby every prophet ⁿand every seer, saying, ^o“Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”

14But they would not listen, ^pbut were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15They despised his statutes ^qand his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after ^rfalse idols ^sand became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the ^tLord had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for themselves metal images of ^utwo calves; and they ^vmade an Asherah and ^wworshiped all the host of heaven and served ^xBaal. 17 ^yAnd they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings ▼

▼Or made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire

and used ^aadivination and ^abomens and ^acsold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 18Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but ^adthe tribe of Judah only.

2 Kings 18:9-11

9In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, ^aeShalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, 10and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in ^afHalah, and on the ^agHabor, ^ahthe river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,

Jeremiah 3:1

1 ^ai“If ▼

▼Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew Saying, “If

a man divorces his wife
and she goes from him
and becomes another man’s wife,
will he return to her?
^akWould not that land be greatly polluted?
^alYou have played the whore with many lovers;
and would you return to me?

declares the Lord.

Ezekiel 23:9

9Therefore ^amI delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted.

Hosea 2:2-3

2 “Plead with your mother, plead—
for ^anshe is not my wife,
and I am not her husband—
that she put away ^aoher whoring from her face,
and her adultery from between her breasts;
3lest ^apI strip her naked
and make her as ^aqin the day she was born,
and ^armake her like a wilderness,
and make her like a parched land,
and kill her with thirst.

Hosea 3:4

4For the children of Israel ^asshall dwell many days ^atwithout king or prince, ^auwithout sacrifice or ^avpillar, without ^awephod or ^axhousehold gods.

Hosea 4:15-17

15 Though you play the whore, O ^ayIsrael,
let not ^azJudah become guilty.
^baEnter not into ^bbGilgal,
nor go up to ^bcBeth-aven,
and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”
16Like a stubborn heifer,
Israel is stubborn;
can the Lord now feed them
like a lamb in a broad pasture?
17 ^bdEphraim is joined to idols;
^beleave him alone.

Hosea 9:15-17

15 Every evil of theirs is in ^bfGilgal;
there I began to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
all ^bgtheir princes are ^bhrebels.
16 Ephraim is stricken;
^bitheir root is dried up;
they shall bear no fruit.
Even ^bjthough they give birth,
^bkI will put their beloved children to death.
17 ^blMy God will reject them
because they have not listened to him;
^bmthey shall be wanderers among the nations.