³ Now this man would go up from his city ^(A)yearly ^(B)to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of armies in ^(C)Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the Lord there.

Hoshea Reigns over Israel

17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, ^(A)Hoshea 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 (B)Shalmaneser the king of Assyria marched ^(C)against 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 ^(D)Samaria and besieged it for three years.

Israel Captive

⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, ^(E)the king of Assyria captured Samaria and ^(F)led the people of Israel into exile to Assyria, and ^(G)settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of ^(H)Gozan, and ^(I)in the cities of the Medes.

Why Israel Fell

⁷ Now ^(J)this came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, ^(K)who had brought them up from the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; ^(L)and they had ^[a]feared other gods. ⁸ They also ^[b](M)followed the ^[c]customs of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from the sons of Israel, and in the customs ^(N)of the kings of Israel which they had ^[d]introduced. ⁹ And the sons of Israel ^[e]did things secretly against the Lord their God which were not right. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from ^(O)watchtower to fortified city. ¹⁰ And ^(P)they set up for themselves memorial stones and ^[f](Q)Asherim 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, ^(R)concerning which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” ¹³ Yet the ^(S)Lord warned Israel and Judah ^[g](T)through all His prophets and ^(U)every seer, saying, “^(V)Turn 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 ^[h]through My servants the prophets.” ¹⁴ However, they did not listen, but ^(W)stiffened their neck ^[i]like their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. ^15 (X)They rejected His statutes and ^(Y)His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His warnings which He ^[j]gave them. And ^(Z)they followed ^[k]idols and ^(AA)became empty, and followed the nations that surrounded them, about which the ^(AB)Lord 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: ^(AC)two calves. And they ^(AD)made an ^[l]Asherah, and ^(AE)worshiped all the heavenly ^[m]lights, and ^(AF)served Baal. ¹⁷ Then ^(AG)they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and they ^(AH)practiced divination and interpreting omens, and ^(AI)gave themselves over to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him. ¹⁸ So the Lord was very angry with Israel, and He ^(AJ)removed them from His ^[n]sight; ^(AK)no one was left except the tribe of Judah.

^19 (AL)Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God either, but they ^[o](AM)followed the ^[p]customs ^[q]which Israel had ^[r]introduced. ²⁰ So the Lord rejected all the ^[s]descendants of Israel and afflicted them and ^(AN)handed them over to plunderers, until He had cast them ^[t]out of His sight.

²¹ When ^(AO)He had torn Israel from the house of David, ^(AP)they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then ^(AQ)Jeroboam 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 (AR)until the Lord removed Israel from His sight, ^(AS)just as He had spoken through all His servants the prophets. ^(AT)So Israel went into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.

Cities of Israel Filled with Strangers

^24 (AU)Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, ^[u](AV)Avva, ^(AW)Hamath, 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 ^(AX)did 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 ^[v]exile, and have ^[w]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 ^(AY)in the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived. ^30 (AZ)The 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 ^(BA)the Sepharvites were burning their children in the fire to ^(BB)Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of ^(BC)Sepharvaim. ^32 (BD)They also feared the Lord and ^[x](BE)appointed 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 ^[y]follow their statutes, their ordinances, the Law, or the commandments which the Lord commanded the sons of Jacob, ^(BF)whom He named Israel. ³⁵ The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, saying, “^(BG)You shall not fear other gods, nor ^(BH)bow down to them, nor ^(BI)serve them, nor sacrifice to them. ³⁶ But the Lord, ^(BJ)who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with ^(BK)an outstretched arm, ^(BL)Him 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, ^(BM)you shall take care to do always; and you shall not fear other gods. ³⁸ The covenant that I have made with you, ^(BN)you 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 (BO)So while these nations feared the Lord, they also served their ^[z]idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, just as their fathers did, they do to this day.

¹⁰ And the beginning of his kingdom was ^[a](A)Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of ^(B)Shinar.

⁹ Therefore it was named ^[a](A)Babel, because there the Lord confused the ^[b]language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Vision of the Angel with the Gospel

⁶ And I saw another angel flying in ^(A)midheaven with ^(B)an eternal gospel to preach to ^(C)those who ^[a]live on the earth, and to ^(D)every nation, tribe, language, and people; ⁷ and he said with a loud voice, “^(E)Fear God and ^(F)give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who ^(G)made the heaven and the earth, and sea and ^(H)springs of waters.”

⁸ And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “^[b](I)Fallen, fallen is ^(J)Babylon the great, she who has ^(K)made all the nations drink of the ^(L)wine of the ^[c]passion of her sexual immorality.”

Doom for Worshipers of the Beast

⁹ Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone ^(M)worships the beast and his ^(N)image, and receives a ^(O)mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰ he also will drink of the ^(P)wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed ^[d]in full strength ^(Q)in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with ^(R)fire and ^[e]brimstone in the presence of the ^(S)holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹ And the ^(T)smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; ^(U)they have no rest day and night, those who ^(V)worship the beast and his ^(W)image, and ^[f]whoever receives the ^(X)mark of his name.” ¹² Here is ^(Y)the ^[g]perseverance of the ^[h]saints who ^(Z)keep the commandments of God and ^[i](AA)their faith in Jesus.

¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write: ‘^(AB)Blessed are the dead who ^(AC)die in the Lord from now on!’” “Yes,” ^(AD)says the Spirit, “so that they may ^(AE)rest from their labors, for their ^(AF)deeds follow with them.”

The Seventh Bowl of Wrath

¹⁷ Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon ^(A)the air, and a ^(B)loud voice came out of the ^[a](C)temple from the throne, saying, “^(D)It is done.” ¹⁸ And there were flashes of ^(E)lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was ^(F)a great earthquake, ^(G)such as there had not been since mankind came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. ^19 (H)The great city ^[b]was split into three parts, and the cities of the ^[c]nations fell. ^(I)Babylon the great was ^(J)remembered in the sight of God, to give her ^(K)the cup of the wine of ^[d]His fierce wrath. ²⁰ And ^(L)every island fled, and no mountains were found. ²¹ And ^(M)huge ^[e]hailstones, weighing about ^[f]a talent each, *came down from heaven upon people; and people ^(N)blasphemed God because of the ^(O)plague of the hail, because ^[g]the hailstone plague *was extremely ^[h]severe.

A Scene of Heaven

15 Then I saw ^(A)another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, ^(B)seven angels who had ^(C)seven plagues, which are ^(D)the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.

⁸ And the ^[a]temple was filled with ^(A)smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the ^[b]temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.