2 Kings 17
1 2
3 4 5
6 7 8
9 10 11
12 13 14
15 16 17
18 19 20
21 22 23
24 25
1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz
king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine
years.
2 And he did that which was evil in
the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.
3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of
Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.
4 And 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.
5 Then the king of Assyria came up
throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of
Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in
Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
7 For so it was, that
the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which 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 And walked in the statutes of the
heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the
kings of Israel, which they had made.
9 And 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, from the tower of the watchmen to the
fenced city.
10 And they set them up images and groves
in every high hill, and under every green tree:
11 And there they burnt incense in all the
high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them;
and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger:
12 For they served idols, whereof the LORD
had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.
13 Yet the LORD testified against Israel,
and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying,
Turn 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.
14 Notwithstanding they would not hear,
but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not
believe in the LORD their God.
15 And they rejected his statutes, and his
covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified
against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the
heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had
charged them, that they should not do like them.
16 And they left all the commandments of
the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and
made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
17 And they caused their sons and their
daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and
sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with
Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of
Judah only.
19 Also Judah kept not the commandments of
the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.
20 And the LORD rejected all the seed of
Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until
he had cast them out of his sight.
21 For he rent Israel from the house of
David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel
from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin.
22 For the children of Israel walked in
all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them;
23 Until the LORD removed Israel out of
his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel
carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.
24 And the king of Assyria
brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath,
and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of
the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities
thereof.
25 And 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.
26 Wherefore 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.
27 Then 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.
28 Then 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.
29 Howbeit every nation made gods of their
own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans
had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.
30 And the men of Babylon made
Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made
Ashima,
31 And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak,
and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech,
the gods of Sepharvaim.
32 So they feared the LORD, and made unto
themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed
for them in the houses of the high places.
33 They feared the LORD, and served their
own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.
34 Unto 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, whom he named Israel;
35 With whom the LORD had made a covenant,
and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to
them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:
36 But the LORD, who brought you up out of
the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear,
and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice.
37 And the statutes, and the ordinances,
and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do
for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods.
38 And the covenant that I have made with
you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods.
39 But the LORD your God ye shall fear;
and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.
40 Howbeit they did not hearken, but they
did after their former manner.
41 So 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.
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