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2 Kings 17
Holman Christian Standard Bible

Israel’s King Hoshea

17 In the twelfth year of Judah’s King Ahaz, Hoshea(A) son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria and reigned nine years. 2 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.(B)

3 Shalmaneser(C) king of Assyria attacked him,(D) and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute money. 4 But the king of Assyria discovered Hoshea’s conspiracy. He had sent envoys to So king of Egypt(E) and had not paid tribute money to the king of Assyria as in previous years.[a] Therefore the king of Assyria arrested him and put him in prison. 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.(F)

The Fall of Samaria

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea,(G) the king of Assyria captured Samaria. He deported(H) the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah and by the Habor, Gozan’s river, and in the cities of the Medes.(I)

Why Israel Fell

7 This disaster happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt(J) and because they had worshiped[b] other gods.(K) 8 They had lived according to the customs of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites(L) and the customs the kings of Israel had introduced.(M) 9 The Israelites secretly did what was not right[c] against the Lord their God. They built high places in all their towns from watchtower(N) to fortified city. 10 They set up for themselves sacred pillars(O) and Asherah poles(P) on every high hill and under every green tree.(Q) 11 They burned incense on all the high places just like those nations that the Lord had driven out before them. They did evil things, provoking the Lord. 12 They served idols, although the Lord had told them, “You must not do this.”(R) 13 Still, the Lord warned(S) Israel and Judah through every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep My commands and statutes according to all the law I commanded your ancestors and sent to you through My servants the prophets.”(T)

14 But they would not listen. Instead they became obstinate like[d] their ancestors who did not believe the Lord their God.(U) 15 They rejected His statutes and His covenant He had made with their ancestors(V) and the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves,(W) following the surrounding nations the Lord had commanded them not to imitate.(X)

16 They abandoned all the commands of the Lord their God. They made cast images(Y) for themselves, two calves, and an Asherah pole.(Z) They worshiped the whole heavenly host(AA) and served Baal.(AB) 17 They made their sons and daughters pass through the fire(AC) and practiced divination and interpreted omens.(AD) They devoted themselves to do what was evil in the Lord’s sight and provoked Him.(AE)

18 Therefore, the Lord was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence.(AF) Only the tribe of Judah remained.(AG) 19 Even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God(AH) but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced.(AI) 20 So the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and handed them over to plunderers until He had banished them from His presence.(AJ)

Summary of Israel’s History

21 When the Lord tore(AK) Israel from the house of David, Israel made Jeroboam son of Nebat king.(AL) Then Jeroboam led Israel away from following the Lord and caused them to commit great sin. 22 The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam committed and did not turn away from them.(AM) 23 Finally, the Lord removed Israel from His presence just as He had declared through all His servants the prophets. So Israel has been exiled to Assyria from their homeland until today.(AN)

Foreign Refugees in Israel

24 Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in place of the Israelites in the cities of Samaria. The settlers took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.(AO) 25 When they first lived there, they did not fear Yahweh. So the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.(AP) 26 The settlers spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations that you have deported and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land. Therefore He has sent lions among them that are killing them because the people don’t know the requirements of the God of the land.”

27 Then the king of Assyria issued a command: “Send back one of the priests you deported.(AQ) Have him go and live there so he can teach them the requirements of the God of the land.” 28 So one of the priests they had deported came and lived in Bethel,(AR) and he began to teach them how they should fear Yahweh.

29 But the people of each nation were still making their own gods in the cities where they lived and putting them in the shrines of the high places that the people of Samaria had made.(AS) 30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire(AT) to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of the Sepharvaim. 32 They feared the Lord, but they also appointed from their number priests to serve them in the shrines of the high places.(AU) 33 They feared the Lord, but they also worshiped their own gods(AV) according to the custom of the nations where they had been deported from.

34 They are still practicing the former customs to this day. None of them fear the Lord or observe their statutes and ordinances, the law and commandments the Lord commanded the descendants of Jacob. He had renamed him Israel.(AW) 35 The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, “Do not fear other gods; do not bow down to them;(AX) do not serve them; do not sacrifice to them.(AY) 36 Instead fear the Lord, who brought you from the land of Egypt with great power(AZ) and an outstretched arm.(BA) You are to bow down to Him, and you are to sacrifice to Him. 37 You are to be careful always(BB) to observe the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandments He wrote for you; do not fear other gods. 38 Do not forget the covenant that I have made with you.(BC) Do not fear other gods, 39 but fear the Lord your God, and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.”(BD)

40 However, they would not listen but continued practicing their former customs. 41 These nations feared the Lord but also served their idols. Their children and grandchildren continue doing as their fathers did until today.(BE)

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 17:4 Lit as year by year
  2. 2 Kings 17:7 Lit feared
  3. 2 Kings 17:9 Or Israelites spoke untrue words
  4. 2 Kings 17:14 Lit they stiffened their neck like the neck of
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2 Kings 17
International Standard Version

Israel Falls to Assyria during Hoshea’s Reign

17 During the twelfth year of the reign of[a] King Ahaz of Judah, Elah’s son Hoshea became king over Israel for nine years in Samaria. 2 He practiced what the Lord considered to be evil,[b] though not like the kings of Israel who had preceded him. 3 King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid tribute to him. 4 But the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy involving Hoshea, who had sent envoys to King So of Egypt and stopped offering tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done annually. As a result, the king of Assyria placed him under arrest and sent him to prison. 5 After this, the king of Assyria invaded the entire land, approached Samaria, and began a three year siege. 6 As a result, during the ninth year of the reign of[c] Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and took the Israelis off to Assyria, placing them in Halah, along the Habor River in Gozan, and in cities ruled by the Medes.

The Idolatry of the Northern Kingdom

7 This happened because the Israelis had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt and from the domination[d] of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, because[e] they were fearing other gods, 8 and because they were following[f] the rules of the nations whom the Lord had expelled before the Israelis and that the kings of Israel had practiced.

9 The Israelis practiced secret things that were not right, offending the Lord their God. In addition, they built high places for use by all their towns, watchtowers, and fortified cities. 10 They set up pillars and Asherim on every high hill and in the shade of every green tree, 11 where they made offerings on all the high places, as did the nations whom the Lord had expelled before them. They also practiced other[g] wickedness, provoking the Lord to become angry, 12 and they served idols, a practice that the Lord had warned them, “You are not to do this.”

13 Nevertheless, the Lord had warned both Israel and Judah by means[h] of every prophet and seer: “Turn away from your evil practices[i] and keep my commandments and statutes according to the entire Law that I gave your ancestors and that I sent to you through my servants, the prophets.” 14 But they would not listen. Instead, they were stubborn,[j] just like their ancestors had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15 They rejected the Lord’s[k] statutes, the covenant that he had made with their ancestors, and his warnings that he gave them. They pursued meaninglessness—and became meaningless themselves—as they followed the lifestyles of the nations that surrounded them, a practice that the Lord had warned them not to do.

16 They abandoned all of the commands given by[l] the Lord their God, crafted for themselves cast images of two calves, constructed an Asherah, worshipped all of the stars in heaven, and served Baal. 17 They passed their sons and daughters through fire, practiced divination, cast spells, and sold themselves to practice what the Lord considered to be evil, thereby[m] provoking him. 18 As a result, the Lord was angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. No one was left except for the tribe of Judah.

19 But Judah, too, did not keep the commands of the Lord their God. Instead, they lived the lifestyle[n] that Israel had chosen, 20 so the Lord rejected all of the descendants[o] of Israel, afflicted them, and handed them over to the control of plunderers until he had thrown them away from his presence.[p] 21 He ripped them away from the heritage of David, even as the people[q] appointed Nebat’s son Jeroboam to be king. Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the Lord and made them commit great sin.

22 The Israelis practiced[r] all the sins that Jeroboam had practiced, and never wavered from them 23 until the Lord removed Israel from his presence,[s] just as he had warned through[t] all of his prophets who served him. So Israel was carried off into exile from their own land into Assyria, where they remain to this day.[u]

Assyria Supplants the Northern Kingdom

24 Because the king of Assyria brought captives[v] from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sephar-vaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria to replace the Israelis, the settlers[w] possessed Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 When they first began to live there, the settlers[x] did not fear the Lord, so he sent lions among them, and they killed a few of them. 26 As a result, they reported to the king of Assyria, “Because the nations whom you exiled to live in the cities of Samaria don’t know the law[y] of the god of the land, he has sent lions among them. Look how the lions[z] are killing them, because they don’t know the law of the god of the land!”

27 So the king of Assyria[aa] issued this order: “Take one of the priests whom you carried away and let him go back and live there. Let him teach them the law of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria went to live in Bethel to teach them how they ought to fear the Lord.

Assyrian Settlers Create Lasting Corruption

29 Nevertheless, each nation continued to craft their own gods and install them in the temples on the high places that the people of Samaria had constructed—every nation in their own cities where they continued to live. 30 Settlers[ab] from Babylon built Succoth-benoth, settlers[ac] from Cuth built Nergal, settlers[ad] from Hamath built Ashima, 31 and settlers[ae] from Avva built Nibhaz and Tartak. The residents of Sephar-vaim burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sephar-vaim.

32 Because they feared the Lord, they also appointed from among themselves priests for the high places who acted on their behalf in the temples on the high places. 33 While they continued to fear the Lord, they served their own gods, following the custom of the nations whom they had carried away from there. 34 To this very day, they still follow the former customs: they don’t fear the Lord and they don’t live in accordance with the statutes, ordinances, laws, or commandments that the Lord had given to the descendants of Jacob—whom he renamed Israel— 35 and with whom the Lord had made a covenant when he gave these[af] orders to them:

“You are not to fear other gods, bow down to them, serve them, or sacrifice to them. 36 Instead, it is to be the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, showing great power and public demonstrations of might,[ag] whom you are to fear, worship, and to whom you are to offer sacrifice. 37 Furthermore, you are to be careful to observe forever the statutes, ordinances, law, and the commandment that he wrote for you. And you are not to fear other gods. 38 You are not to forget the covenant that I’ve made with you, and you are not to fear other gods. 39 But you are to fear the Lord, and he will deliver you from the control[ah] of all your enemies.”

40 But they wouldn’t listen. Instead, they did what they had been doing before. 41 These nations feared the Lord and also served their carved images. Their descendants did the same thing, as did their grandchildren. Just as their ancestors had done, they also do the same thing to this day.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 17:1 The Heb. lacks the reign of
  2. 2 Kings 17:2 Lit. sight
  3. 2 Kings 17:6 The Heb. lacks the reign of
  4. 2 Kings 17:7 Lit. hand
  5. 2 Kings 17:7 The Heb. lacks because
  6. 2 Kings 17:8 Lit. were walking in
  7. 2 Kings 17:11 The Heb. lacks other
  8. 2 Kings 17:13 Lit. by the hand
  9. 2 Kings 17:13 Lit. ways
  10. 2 Kings 17:14 Lit. they hardened their necks
  11. 2 Kings 17:15 Lit. rejected his
  12. 2 Kings 17:16 The Heb. lacks given by
  13. 2 Kings 17:17 The Heb. lacks thereby
  14. 2 Kings 17:19 Lit. customs
  15. 2 Kings 17:20 Lit. seed
  16. 2 Kings 17:20 Lit. face
  17. 2 Kings 17:21 Lit. David, and they
  18. 2 Kings 17:22 Lit. Israelis walked in
  19. 2 Kings 17:23 Lit. sight
  20. 2 Kings 17:23 Lit. spoken by the hand of
  21. 2 Kings 17:23 I.e. c. during the late Babylonian captivity or slightly after that time
  22. 2 Kings 17:24 The Heb. lacks captives
  23. 2 Kings 17:24 The Heb. lacks the settlers
  24. 2 Kings 17:25 The Heb. lacks the settlers
  25. 2 Kings 17:26 Or justice
  26. 2 Kings 17:26 Lit. how they
  27. 2 Kings 17:27 This individual is thought to have been Sargon II (c. 721-705 BC).
  28. 2 Kings 17:30 Lit. Men
  29. 2 Kings 17:30 Lit. men
  30. 2 Kings 17:30 Lit. men
  31. 2 Kings 17:31 Lit. men
  32. 2 Kings 17:35 The Heb. lacks these
  33. 2 Kings 17:36 Lit. and with an outstretched arm
  34. 2 Kings 17:39 Lit. hand
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2 Kings 16
2 Kings 18
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Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

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