Hoshea, Last King of Israel

17 Hoshea son of Elah became king over Israel during Ahaz’s twelfth year as king of Judah. Hoshea ·ruled [reigned] in Samaria nine years. ² He did ·what the Lord said was wrong [^Levil in the eyes/sight of the Lord], but ·he was not as bad as [not like] the kings of Israel who had ·ruled [reigned] before him.

³ Shalmaneser king of Assyria came to attack Hoshea. Hoshea had been Shalmaneser’s ·servant [vassal] and had ·made the payments to Shal-maneser that he had demanded [paid him tribute]. ⁴ But the king of Assyria found that Hoshea had betrayed him. Hoshea had ·made plans [conspired; plotted] against him by sending messengers to So, the king of Egypt. Hoshea had also ·stopped giving Shalmaneser the payments [offered no tribute to the king of Assyria], which he had paid every year in the past. For that, the king of Assyria put Hoshea in prison. ⁵ Then the king of Assyria ·came and attacked [invaded] all the land of Israel. He ·surrounded [besieged] Samaria for three years. ⁶ He ·defeated [captured] Samaria in the ninth year Hoshea was king, and he ·took [carried; exiled; deported] the Israelites away to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.

Israelites Punished for Sin

⁷ All these things happened because the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] had sinned against the Lord their God. He had brought them out of Egypt and had rescued them from the ·power [^Lhand] of Pharaoh the king of Egypt [Ex. 20:2], but ·the Israelites [^Lthey] had ·honored [revered; feared] other gods [Deut. 29:26]. ⁸ They ·lived like [followed/^Lwalked in the practices of] the nations the Lord had ·forced [driven] out of the land ahead of them. They lived as their evil kings had shown them, ⁹ secretly ·sinning [doing things that were not right] against the Lord their God. They ·built [set up] ·places to worship gods [^Lhigh places; 12:3] in all their cities, from the watchtower to the ·strong, walled [fortified] city. ¹⁰ They put up ·stone [sacred] pillars to gods and Asherah ·idols [poles; ^Ca sacred tree or pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah; 13:6; 1 Kin. 14:15] on every high hill and under every ·green [spreading] tree. ¹¹ The Israelites burned incense ·everywhere gods were worshiped [^Lon all the high places; 12:3], just as the nations who lived there before them had done, whom the Lord had ·forced [driven] out of the land. The Israelites did ·wicked [evil] things that ·made the Lord angry [aroused/provoked the Lord’s anger]. ¹² They served idols when the Lord had said, “You must not do this.” ¹³ The Lord used every prophet and seer to warn Israel and Judah. He said, “·Stop [Turn from] your evil ways and ·obey [keep; observe] my commands and laws. Follow all the ·teachings [law; ^Ltorah] that I commanded your ·ancestors [fathers], the ·teachings [law; ^Ltorah] that I gave you through my servants the prophets.”

¹⁴ But the people would not listen. They were ·stubborn [^Lstiff-necked], just as their ·ancestors [fathers] had been who did not ·believe [trust; have faith] in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ They rejected the Lord’s laws and the ·agreement [covenant; treaty] he had ·made [^Lcut] with their ·ancestors [fathers]. And they refused to listen to his warnings [Deut. 12:30–31]. They worshiped ·useless [worthless; futile; vain] idols and became ·useless [worthless; futile; vain] themselves [1 Sam. 12:21]. They did what the nations around them did, which the Lord had ·warned [commanded; ordered] them not to do [Lev. 18:3, 24–28].

¹⁶ The people ·rejected [forsook] all the commands of the Lord their God. They molded ·statues [cast images] of two calves [1 Kin. 12:28–30], and they made an Asherah ·idol [pole; ^Ca sacred tree or pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah; 13:6; Deut. 16:21]. They worshiped all the ·stars of the sky [forces/hosts of heaven; Deut. 4:19] and served Baal. ¹⁷ They ·made their sons and daughters pass through [sacrificed their sons and daughters in the] fire [16:3; 21:6; Deut. 12:31] and tried to find out the future by magic and witchcraft [1 Sam 15:23]. They always chose to do ·what the Lord said was wrong [evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord], which ·made him angry [aroused/provoked him to anger]. ¹⁸ Because he was very angry with the people of Israel, he removed them from his ·presence [sight]. Only the tribe of Judah was left.

Judah Is Also Guilty

¹⁹ ·But even [Also] Judah did not ·obey [keep; observe] the commands of the Lord their God. They ·did what [followed/^Lwalked in the practices] the Israelites had done, ²⁰ so the Lord rejected all the ·people [descendants] of Israel. He ·punished [afflicted] them and ·let others destroy them [handed them over to plunderers/marauders]; he ·threw [banished; thrust] them out of his ·presence [sight]. ²¹ When the Lord ·separated [tore; ripped] them from the ·family [^Lhouse] of David, the Israelites made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam ·led [drew; enticed] the Israelites away from the Lord and led them to sin greatly [1 Kin. 13:33–34]. ²² So they ·continued to do [persisted; ^Lwalked in] all the sins Jeroboam did. They did not ·stop doing [depart/turn away from] these sins ²³ until the Lord removed the Israelites from his ·presence [sight], just as he had ·said [warned; 14:15–16; 1 Kin. 9:7] through all his servants the prophets. So the Israelites were ·taken out of [carried into exile/deported from] their land to Assyria, and they have been there to this day.

The Beginning of the Samaritan People

²⁴ The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and ·put [settled] them in the cities of Samaria to replace the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel]. These people took ·over [possession of] Samaria and lived in the cities. ²⁵ At first they did not ·worship [revere; fear] the Lord, so he sent lions among them which killed some of them. ²⁶ The king of Assyria was told, “You ·sent foreigners [deported/exiled/carried nations] into the cities of Samaria who do not know the ·law [custom] of the god of the land. This is why he has sent lions among them. The lions are killing them because they don’t know ·what the god wants [^Lthe law/custom of the god of the land].”

²⁷ Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send back one of the priests you ·took away [carried into exile; deported]. Let him live there and teach the people ·what the god wants [^Lthe law/custom of the god of the land].” ²⁸ So one of the priests who had been carried ·away [into exile] from Samaria returned to live ·in [at] Bethel. And he taught the people how to ·honor [revere; fear] the Lord.

²⁹ But each nation made gods of its own and put them in the cities where they lived and in the ·temples [^Lhouses] ·where gods were worshiped [^Lof the high places; 12:3]. These ·temples [^Lhouses] had been built by the Samaritans. ³⁰ The people from Babylon made Succoth Benoth their god. The people from Cuthah ·worshiped [made] Nergal. The people of Hamath ·worshiped [made] Ashima. ³¹ The Avvites ·worshiped [made] Nibhaz and Tartak. The Sepharvites burned their children in the fire, sacrificing them to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. ³² They also ·honored [revered; feared] the Lord, but they chose priests for the ·places where gods were worshiped [^Lhigh places; 12:3]. The priests were chosen from among themselves, and they ·made sacrifices [^Lofficiated at the temple/houses of the high places] for the people. ³³ The people ·honored [revered; feared] the Lord but also ·served [followed] their own gods, ·just as [^Lin accordance with the customs of] the nations ·did from which they had been brought [from which they had been exiled]. ³⁴ Even today they ·do as they did in the past [practice their former customs]. They do not ·worship [revere; fear] the Lord nor obey his ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements] and commands. They do not ·obey [worship nor observe] the ·teachings [law; ^Ltorah] or the commands of the Lord, which he gave to the ·children [descendants] of Jacob, whom he had named Israel [Gen. 32:28]. ³⁵ The Lord had made an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with them and had commanded them, “Do not ·honor [revere; fear] other gods. Do not bow down to them or ·worship [serve] them or offer sacrifices to them. ³⁶ ·Worship [Revere; Fear] the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and ·strength [^Lan outstretched arm]. Bow down to him and offer sacrifices to him. ³⁷ Always obey the rules, orders, ·teachings [law; ^Ltorah], and commands he wrote for you. Do not ·honor [revere; fear] other gods. ³⁸ Do not forget the ·agreement [covenant; treaty] I made with you, and do not ·honor [revere; fear] other gods. ³⁹ Instead ·worship [revere; fear] the Lord your God, who will ·save [rescue; ^Tdeliver] you from all your enemies.”

⁴⁰ But the Israelites did not listen. They ·kept on doing the same things they had done before [continued in their former practices/custom]. ⁴¹ So these nations ·honored [revered; feared] the Lord but also ·worshiped [served] their idols, and their children and grandchildren still do as their ·ancestors [fathers] did.