The Second Book of the Kings

⭑ Literal Standard Version :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 17 -

In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah has reigned over Israel in Samaria, nine years,

and he does evil in the eyes of YHWH, only, not as the kings of Israel who were before him;

Shalmaneser king of Asshur came up against him, and Hoshea is a servant to him, and renders a present to him.

And the king of Asshur finds in Hoshea a conspiracy, in that he has sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and has not caused a present to go up to the king of Asshur, as year by year, and the king of Asshur restrains him, and binds him in a house of restraint.

Israel Carried Captive to Assyria

And the king of Asshur goes up into all the land, and he goes up to Samaria, and lays siege against it [for] three years;

in the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Asshur has captured Samaria, and removes Israel to Asshur, and causes them to dwell in Halah, and in Habor, [by] the river Gozan, and [in] the cities of the Medes.

And it comes to pass, because the sons of Israel have sinned against their God YHWH—who brings them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt—and fear other gods,

and walk in the statutes of the nations that YHWH dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel, and of the kings of Israel that they made;

and the sons of Israel covertly do things that [are] not right against their God YHWH, and build high places for themselves in all their cities, from a tower of the watchers to the fortified city,

and set up standing-pillars and Asherim for themselves on every high height, and under every green tree,

and make incense there in all high places, like the nations that YHWH removed from their presence, and do evil things to provoke YHWH,

and serve the idols, of which YHWH said to them, “You do not do this thing.”

And YHWH testifies against Israel, and against Judah, by the hand of every prophet, and every seer, saying, “Turn back from your evil ways, and keep My commands, My statutes, according to all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by the hand of My servants the prophets”;

and they have not listened, and harden their neck, like the neck of their fathers, who did not remain steadfast in their God YHWH,

and reject His statutes and His covenant that He made with their fathers, and His testimonies that He testified against them, and go after the vain thing, and become vain, and after the nations that are around them, of whom YHWH commanded them not to do like them.

And they forsake all the commands of their God YHWH, and make a molten image for themselves—two calves, and make an Asherah, and bow themselves to all the host of the heavens, and serve Ba‘al,

and cause their sons and their daughters to pass over through fire, and divine divinations, and use enchantments, and sell themselves to do evil in the eyes of YHWH, to provoke Him.

And YHWH shows Himself very angry against Israel, and turns them aside from His presence; none has been left, only the tribe of Judah by itself.

Also Judah has not kept the commands of their God YHWH, and they walk in the statutes of Israel that they had made.

And YHWH kicks against all the seed of Israel, and afflicts them, and gives them into the hand of spoilers, until He has cast them out of His presence,

for He has torn Israel from the house of David, and they make Jeroboam son of Nebat king, and Jeroboam drives Israel from after YHWH, and has caused them to sin a great sin,

and the sons of Israel walk in all the sins of Jeroboam that he did, they have not turned aside from them,

until YHWH has turned Israel aside from His presence, as He spoke by the hand of all His servants the prophets, and Israel is removed from off its land to Asshur, to this day.

Samaria Resettled

And the king of Asshur brings in [people] from Babylon and from Cutha, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and causes [them] to dwell in the cities of Samaria instead of the sons of Israel, and they possess Samaria, and dwell in its cities;

and it comes to pass, at the commencement of their dwelling there, they have not feared YHWH, and YHWH sends the lions among them, and they are destroying among them.

And they speak to the king of Asshur, saying, “The nations that you have removed and place in the cities of Samaria have not known the custom of the God of the land, and He sends the lions among them, and behold, they are destroying them, as they do not know the custom of the God of the land.”

And the king of Asshur commands, saying, “Cause one of the priests to go there whom you removed from there, and they go and dwell there, and he teaches them the custom of the God of the land.”

And one of the priests whom they removed from Samaria comes in, and dwells in Beth-El, and he is teaching them how they fear YHWH,

and each nation is making its gods, and they place [them] in the houses of the high places that the Samaritans have made—each nation in their cities where they are dwelling.

And the men of Babylon have made Succoth-Benoth, and the men of Cuth have made Nergal, and the men of Hamath have made Ashima,

and the Avites have made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites are burning their sons with fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, gods of Sepharvim.

And they are fearing YHWH, and make for themselves from their extremities priests of high places, and they are working for them in the house of the high places.

They are fearing YHWH, and they are serving their gods, according to the custom of the nations from where they removed them.

To this day they are doing according to the former customs—they are not fearing YHWH, and are not doing according to their statutes, and according to their ordinances, and according to the Law, and according to the command, that YHWH commanded the sons of Jacob whose name He made Israel,

and YHWH makes a covenant with them and charges them, saying, “You do not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them,

but YHWH who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with an outstretched arm, Him you fear, and to Him you bow yourselves, and to Him you sacrifice;

and the statutes, and the judgments, and the Law, and the command, that He wrote for you, you observe to do all the days, and you do not fear other gods;

and you do not forget the covenant that I have made with you, and you do not fear other gods;

but you fear your God YHWH, and He delivers you out of the hand of all your enemies”;

and they have not listened, but they are doing according to their former custom,

and these nations are fearing YHWH, and they have served their carved images, both their sons and their sons’ sons; as their fathers did, they are doing to this day.

In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel for nine years.

He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him.

Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him; and Hoshea became his servant, and brought him tribute.

The king of Assyria discovered a conspiracy in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria seized him, and bound him in prison.

Israel Carried Captive to Assyria

Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.

In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

It was so because the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,

and walked in the statutes of the nations whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they made.

The children of Israel secretly did things that were not right against the LORD their God; and they built high places for themselves in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city;

and they set up for themselves pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree;

and there they burned incense in all the high places, as the nations whom the LORD carried away before them did; and they did wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger;

and they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.”

Yet the LORD testified to Israel and to Judah, by every prophet and every seer, saying, “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.”

Notwithstanding, they would not listen, but hardened their neck like the neck of their fathers who didn’t believe in the LORD their God.

They rejected his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified to them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them.

They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made molten images for themselves, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served Baal.

They caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, to provoke him to anger.

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.

Also Judah didn’t keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.

The LORD rejected all the offspring of Israel, afflicted them, and delivered them into the hands of raiders, until he had cast them out of his sight.

For he tore Israel from David’s house; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king; and Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin.

The children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they didn’t depart from them

until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he said by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria to this day.

Samaria Resettled

The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, from Cuthah, from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria and lived in its cities.

So it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they didn’t fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

Therefore they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations which you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria don’t know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them; and behold, they kill them, because they don’t know the law of the god of the land.”

Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Carry there one of the priests whom you brought from there; and let him

(a)

go and dwell there, and let him teach them the law of the god of the land.”

So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.

However 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 in which they lived.

The men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,

and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

So they feared the LORD, and also made from among themselves priests of the high places for themselves, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.

They feared the LORD, and also served their own gods, after the ways of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

To this day they do what they did before. They don’t fear the LORD, and they do not follow the statutes, or the ordinances, or the law, or the commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;

with whom the LORD had made a covenant and commanded them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them;

but you shall fear the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, and you shall bow yourselves to him, and you shall sacrifice to him.

The statutes and the ordinances, and the law and the commandment which he wrote for you, you shall observe to do forever more. You shall not fear other gods.

You shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods.

But you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.”

However they didn’t listen, but they did what they did before.

So these nations feared the LORD, and also served their engraved images. Their children did likewise, and so did their children’s children. They do as their fathers did to this day.

Footnotes

(a)17:27 Hebrew: them