2 Kings 17

Israel Gets Wiped Out (Exile to Assyria)

1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz’s rule in Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria, and he ruled for nine years.

2 He did what was whack In the eyes of the Lord, but not as bad as the kings of Israel who came before him.

3 Shalmaneser king of Assyria rolled up against him, and Hoshea became his servant and had to pay him tribute.

4 But the king of Assyria found out that Hoshea was plotting against him. He had sent messengers to So king of Egypt and was not sending his annual tribute to the king of Assyria anymore. So the king of Assyria locked him up and put him in chains.

5 Then the king of Assyria rolled up against the whole land, came to Samaria, and laid siege to it for three years.

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea’s rule, the king of Assyria took Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, by the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

Why Israel Fell

7 This all happened because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who had snatched them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They started bowing down to other gods.

8 They walked in the rules of the nations whom the Lord had kicked out from in front of the Israelites, and in the rules the kings of Israel had introduced.

9 The Israelites secretly did things that were not right against the Lord their God. They built high places for themselves in all their cities, from watchtowers to fortified cities.

10 They set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

11 They burned incense there on all the high places, just like the nations whom the Lord had deported from in front of them. They did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger.

12 They served idols, about which the Lord had told them, “You are not doing this!”

13 The Lord kept warning Israel and Judah through all His prophets and all the seers, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep My commands and My rules, according to all the Law that I commanded your ancestors and that I sent to you through My servants the prophets.”

14 But they would not listen. They were stubborn, just like their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God.

15 They rejected His rules and His covenant that He made with their ancestors, and His warnings that He gave them. They went after worthless idols and became worthless themselves, following the nations around them, about whom the Lord had warned them not to do like them.

16 They ditched all the commands of the Lord their God and made themselves two cast images of calves, and they made an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the stars in the sky and served Baal.

17 They even made their sons and daughters pass through the fire. They practiced divination and witchcraft. They sold themselves out to do what was whack in the eyes of the Lord, ticking Him off.

18 So the Lord got super heated with Israel and removed them from His sight. Only the tribe of Judah was left.

19 Even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God, but walked in the rules that Israel had introduced.

20 So the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and brought trouble on them. He handed them over to raiders until He finally threw them out of His sight.

21 Because He ripped Israel away from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king. Jeroboam pulled Israel away from the Lord and caused them to commit a major sin.

22 The Israelites kept walking in all the sins Jeroboam committed; they did not turn from them.

23 Until the Lord removed Israel from His sight, just as He said through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was deported from their own land to Assyria, which is where they are to this day.

New People in Samaria

24 Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.

25 When they first started living there, they did not fear the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them, and they were killing some of them.

26 They told the king of Assyria, “The nations you deported and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the rules of the god of the land. So he sent lions among them, and look, they are killing them because they do not know the rules of the god of the land.”

27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send one of the priests you deported from there back, and let him go and live there and teach them the rules of the god of the land."

28 So one of the priests who had been deported from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

29 But each nation still made their own gods and put them in the shrines on the high places that the Samaritans had made, each nation in the cities where they lived.

30 The people from Babylon made Succoth-Benoth. The people from Cuthah made Nergal. The people from Hamath made Ashima.

31 The Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak. And the Sepharvites burned their kids in the fire as sacrifices to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

32 They still feared the Lord, but they also appointed priests from their own people for the high places, and these priests served for them in the shrines on the high places.

33 They feared the Lord, but they also served their own gods according to the custom of the nations from where they were deported.

34 To this day, they are still doing according to their former customs. They do not fear the Lord, and they do not follow His rules and customs, or the Law and commands that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom He named Israel.

35 The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, saying, “You are not fearing other gods, or bowing down to them, or serving them, or sacrificing to them.”

36 “But the Lord, who snatched you out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched-out arm, Him you are going to fear, and to Him you are going to bow down, and to Him you are going to sacrifice.”

37 “And the rules, and the customs, and the Law, and the commands that He wrote for you, you are going to keep and do them always. And you are not fearing other gods.”

38 “You are not forgetting the covenant I made with you, and you are not fearing other gods.”

39 “But the Lord your God, Him you are going to fear, and He is going to snatch you from the hand of all your enemies.”

40 However, they did not listen, but they kept doing according to their former custom.

41 So these nations feared the Lord, but also served their idols. Their kids and grandkids are still doing just like their ancestors did, to this day.