2 Kings 17
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Hoshea Reigns over Israel
17 In the twelfth year of King Ahaz of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel; he reigned nine years.(A) 2 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not like the kings of Israel who were before him. 3 King Shalmaneser of Assyria came up against him; Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute.(B) 4 But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to King So of Egypt and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria confined him and imprisoned him.
Israel Carried Captive to Assyria
5 Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria; for three years he besieged it. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria captured Samaria; he carried the Israelites away to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.(C)
7 This occurred because the people 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. They had worshiped other gods(D) 8 and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel and in the customs that the kings of Israel had introduced.[a](E) 9 The people of Israel did[b] things that were not right against the Lord their God. They built for themselves high places at all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city;(F) 10 they set up for themselves pillars and sacred poles[c] on every high hill and under every green tree;(G) 11 there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord had carried away before them. They did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger; 12 they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this.”(H) 13 Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the law that I commanded your ancestors and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”(I) 14 They would not listen but were stubborn, as their ancestors had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God.(J) 15 They despised his statutes and his covenant that he had made with their ancestors and the warnings that he had given them. They went after false idols and became false; they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do as they did.(K) 16 They rejected all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves cast images of two calves; they made a sacred pole,[d] worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.(L) 17 They made their sons and their daughters pass through fire, used divination and augury, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.(M) 18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight; none was left but the tribe of Judah alone.(N)
19 Judah also did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. 20 The Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel; he punished them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had banished them from his presence.(O)
21 When he had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king. Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord and made them commit great sin.(P) 22 The people of Israel continued in all the sins that Jeroboam committed; they did not depart from them 23 until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had foretold through all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.
Assyria Resettles Samaria
24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and placed them in the cities of Samaria in place of the people of Israel; they took possession of Samaria and settled in its cities.(Q) 25 When they first settled there, they did not worship the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them that killed some of them. 26 So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land; therefore he has sent lions among them; they are killing them because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there; let him[e] go and live there and teach them the law of the god of the land.”(R) 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel; he taught them how they should worship the Lord.
29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the people of Samaria had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived; 30 the people of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the people of Cuth made Nergal, the people of Hamath made Ashima;(S) 31 the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.(T) 32 They also worshiped the Lord and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places.(U) 33 So they worshiped the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.(V) 34 To this day they continue to practice their former customs.
They do not worship the Lord, and they do not follow the statutes or the ordinances or the law or the commandment that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel.(W) 35 The Lord had made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not worship other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them,(X) 36 but you shall worship the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm; you shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice.(Y) 37 The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to observe. You shall not worship other gods;(Z) 38 you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not worship other gods,(AA) 39 but you shall worship the Lord your God; he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” 40 They would not listen, however, but continued to practice their former custom.
41 So these nations worshiped the Lord but also served their carved images; to this day their children and their children’s children continue to do as their ancestors did.(AB)
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
- 2 Kings 17:1 The Heb. lacks the reign of
- 2 Kings 17:2 Lit. sight
- 2 Kings 17:6 The Heb. lacks the reign of
- 2 Kings 17:7 Lit. hand
- 2 Kings 17:7 The Heb. lacks because
- 2 Kings 17:8 Lit. were walking in
- 2 Kings 17:11 The Heb. lacks other
- 2 Kings 17:13 Lit. by the hand
- 2 Kings 17:13 Lit. ways
- 2 Kings 17:14 Lit. they hardened their necks
- 2 Kings 17:15 Lit. rejected his
- 2 Kings 17:16 The Heb. lacks given by
- 2 Kings 17:17 The Heb. lacks thereby
- 2 Kings 17:19 Lit. customs
- 2 Kings 17:20 Lit. seed
- 2 Kings 17:20 Lit. face
- 2 Kings 17:21 Lit. David, and they
- 2 Kings 17:22 Lit. Israelis walked in
- 2 Kings 17:23 Lit. sight
- 2 Kings 17:23 Lit. spoken by the hand of
- 2 Kings 17:23 I.e. c. during the late Babylonian captivity or slightly after that time
- 2 Kings 17:24 The Heb. lacks captives
- 2 Kings 17:24 The Heb. lacks the settlers
- 2 Kings 17:25 The Heb. lacks the settlers
- 2 Kings 17:26 Or justice
- 2 Kings 17:26 Lit. how they
- 2 Kings 17:27 This individual is thought to have been Sargon II (c. 721-705 BC).
- 2 Kings 17:30 Lit. Men
- 2 Kings 17:30 Lit. men
- 2 Kings 17:30 Lit. men
- 2 Kings 17:31 Lit. men
- 2 Kings 17:35 The Heb. lacks these
- 2 Kings 17:36 Lit. and with an outstretched arm
- 2 Kings 17:39 Lit. hand
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