2 Kings 17:5-23
Expanded Bible
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 [L sons/T children of Israel] had sinned against the Lord their God. He had brought them out of Egypt and had rescued them from the ·power [L hand] of Pharaoh the king of Egypt [Ex. 20:2], but ·the Israelites [L they] had ·honored [revered; feared] other gods [Deut. 29:26]. 8 They ·lived like [followed/L walked 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 [L high 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; C a 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 [L on 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; L torah] that I commanded your ·ancestors [fathers], the ·teachings [law; L torah] that I gave you through my servants the prophets.”
14 But the people would not listen. They were ·stubborn [L stiff-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 [L cut] 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; C a 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/L walked 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 [L house] 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; L walked 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.
Read full chapterThe Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.