Hoshea Reigns in Israel

17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, ^(A)Hoshea the son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years. ² And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel who were before him. ^3 (B)Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him; and Hoshea ^(C)became his vassal, and paid him tribute money. ⁴ And the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and brought no tribute 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.

Israel Carried Captive to Assyria^(D)

⁵ Now ^(E)the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. ^6 (F)In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and ^(G)carried Israel away to Assyria, ^(H)and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

⁷ For ^(I)so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had ^(J)feared other gods, ⁸ and ^(K)had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. ⁹ Also the children of Israel secretly did against the Lord their God things that were not right, and they built for themselves ^[a]high places in all their cities, ^(L)from watchtower to fortified city. ^10 (M)They set up for themselves sacred pillars and ^(N)wooden images^{[b] (O)}on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹ There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the Lord had carried away before them; and they did wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger, ¹² for they served idols, ^(P)of which the Lord had said to them, ^(Q)“You shall not do this thing.”

¹³ Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His ^(R)prophets, ^(S)every seer, saying, ^(T)“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.” ¹⁴ Nevertheless they would not hear, but ^(U)stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who ^(V)did not believe in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ And they ^(W)rejected His statutes ^(X)and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed ^(Y)idols, ^(Z)became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should ^(AA)not do like them. ¹⁶ So they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, ^(AB)made for themselves a molded image and two calves, ^(AC)made a wooden image and worshiped all the ^(AD)host of heaven, ^(AE)and served Baal. ^17 (AF)And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, ^(AG)practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and ^(AH)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 from His sight; there was none left ^(AI)but the tribe of Judah alone.

¹⁹ Also ^(AJ)Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. ²⁰ And the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and ^(AK)delivered them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them from His ^(AL)sight. ²¹ For ^(AM)He tore Israel from the house of David, and ^(AN)they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord, and made them commit a great sin. ²² For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them, ²³ until the Lord removed Israel out of His sight, ^(AO)as He had said by all His servants the prophets. ^(AP)So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day.

Assyria Resettles Samaria

^24 (AQ)Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, ^(AR)Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities. ²⁵ And it was so, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. ²⁶ So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations whom you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the rituals of the God of the land; therefore He has sent lions among them, and indeed, they are killing them because they do not know the rituals of the God of the land.” ²⁷ Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Send there one of the priests whom you brought from there; let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the rituals 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 However every nation continued to make gods of its own, and put them ^(AS)in the shrines on the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where they dwelt. ³⁰ The men of ^(AT)Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, ^31 (AU)and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites ^(AV)burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. ³² So they feared the Lord, ^(AW)and from every class they appointed for themselves priests of the ^[c]high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. ^33 (AX)They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods—according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away.

³⁴ To this day they continue practicing the former rituals; they do not fear the Lord, nor do they follow their statutes or their ordinances, or the law and commandment which the Lord had commanded the children of Jacob, ^(AY)whom He named Israel, ³⁵ with whom the Lord had made a covenant and charged them, saying: ^(AZ)“You shall not fear other gods, nor ^(BA)bow down to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them; ³⁶ but the Lord, who ^(BB)brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and ^(BC)an outstretched arm, ^(BD)Him you shall fear, Him you shall worship, and to Him you shall offer sacrifice. ³⁷ And the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, ^(BE)you shall be careful to observe forever; you shall not fear other gods. ³⁸ And the covenant that I have made with you, ^(BF)you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods. ³⁹ But the Lord your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.” ⁴⁰ However they did not obey, but they followed their former rituals. ^41 (BG)So these nations feared the Lord, yet served their carved images; also their children and their children’s children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day.

Hezekiah Reigns in Judah^(BH)

18 Now it came to pass in the third year of ^(BI)Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that ^(BJ)Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. ² He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^(BK)Abi^[d] the daughter of Zechariah. ³ And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.

^4 (BL)He removed the ^[e]high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the ^[f]wooden image and broke in pieces the ^(BM)bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it ^[g]Nehushtan. ⁵ He ^(BN)trusted in the Lord God of Israel, ^(BO)so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. ⁶ For he ^(BP)held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. ⁷ The Lord ^(BQ)was with him; he ^(BR)prospered wherever he went. And he ^(BS)rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. ^8 (BT)He ^[h]subdued the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory, ^(BU)from watchtower to fortified city.

⁹ Now ^(BV)it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. ¹⁰ And at the end of three years they took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, ^(BW)the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. ^11 (BX)Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away captive to Assyria, and put them ^(BY)in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, ¹² because they ^(BZ)did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant and all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded; and they would neither hear nor do them.

¹³ And ^(CA)in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. ¹⁴ Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; turn away from me; whatever you impose on me I will pay.” And the king of Assyria assessed Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. ¹⁵ So Hezekiah ^(CB)gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house. ¹⁶ At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave ^[i]it to the king of Assyria.

Sennacherib Boasts Against the Lord^(CC)

¹⁷ Then the king of Assyria sent the ^[j]Tartan, the ^[k]Rabsaris, and the ^[l]Rabshakeh from Lachish, with a great army against Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they went and stood by the ^(CD)aqueduct from the upper pool, ^(CE)which was on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. ¹⁸ And when they had called to the king, ^(CF)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the ^[m]scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. ¹⁹ Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: ^(CG)“What confidence is this in which you trust? ²⁰ You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are ^[n]mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? ^21 (CH)Now look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. ²² But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not He ^(CI)whose ^[o]high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?” ’ ²³ Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them! ²⁴ How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? ²⁵ Have I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’ ”

^26 (CJ)Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in ^(CK)Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in ^[p]Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

²⁷ But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?”

²⁸ Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in ^[q]Hebrew, and spoke, saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! ²⁹ Thus says the king: ^(CL)‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand; ³⁰ nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ’ ³¹ Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me ^[r]by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own ^(CM)vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; ³² until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, ^(CN)a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive groves and honey, that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, lest he persuade you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” ^33 (CO)Has any of the gods of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ³⁴ Where are the gods of ^(CP)Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim and Hena and ^(CQ)Ivah? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? ³⁵ Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand, ^(CR)that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’ ”

³⁶ But the people held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” ³⁷ Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah ^(CS)with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, ^(A)that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For ^(B)everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. ²¹ But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been ^(C)done in God.”

John the Baptist Exalts Christ

²² After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them ^(D)and baptized. ²³ Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near ^(E)Salim, because there was much water there. ^(F)And they came and were baptized. ²⁴ For ^(G)John had not yet been thrown into prison.

²⁵ Then there arose a dispute between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purification. ²⁶ And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, ^(H)to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all ^(I)are coming to Him!”

²⁷ John answered and said, ^(J)“A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ^(K)‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ^(L)‘I have been sent before Him.’ ^29 (M)He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but ^(N)the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. ^30 (O)He must increase, but I must decrease. ^31 (P)He who comes from above ^(Q)is above all; ^(R)he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. ^(S)He who comes from heaven is above all. ³² And ^(T)what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. ³³ He who has received His testimony ^(U)has certified that God is true. ^34 (V)For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit ^(W)by measure. ^35 (X)The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. ^36 (Y)He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the ^(Z)wrath of God abides on him.”