¹⁷ until I come and take you to a land like your own^(A)—a land of grain and new wine,^(B) a land of bread and vineyards.

¹¹ and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it.

³² until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life^(A) and not death!

“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’

⁹ In King Hezekiah’s fourth year,^(A) which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it. ¹⁰ At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah’s sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. ¹¹ The king^(B) of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes.^{(C) 12} This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant^(D)—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded.^(E) They neither listened to the commands^(F) nor carried them out.

⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria^(A) captured Samaria^(B) and deported^(C) the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan^(D) on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes.

Israel Exiled Because of Sin

⁷ All this took place because the Israelites had sinned^(E) against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt^(F) from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods ⁸ and followed the practices of the nations^(G) the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. ⁹ The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city^(H) they built themselves high places in all their towns. ¹⁰ They set up sacred stones^(I) and Asherah poles^(J) on every high hill and under every spreading tree.^{(K) 11} At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the Lord had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that aroused the Lord’s anger. ¹² They worshiped idols,^(L) though the Lord had said, “You shall not do this.”^{[a] 13} The Lord warned^(M) Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers:^(N) “Turn from your evil ways.^(O) Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.”^(P)

¹⁴ But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked^(Q) as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ They rejected his decrees and the covenant^(R) he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols^(S) and themselves became worthless.^(T) They imitated the nations^(U) around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.”

¹⁶ They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves,^(V) and an Asherah^(W) pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts,^(X) and they worshiped Baal.^{(Y) 17} They sacrificed^(Z) their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens^(AA) and sold^(AB) themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.

¹⁸ So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence.^(AC) Only the tribe of Judah was left, ¹⁹ and even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God. They followed the practices Israel had introduced.^{(AD) 20} Therefore the Lord rejected all the people of Israel; he afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers,^(AE) until he thrust them from his presence.^(AF)

²¹ When he tore^(AG) Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king.^(AH) Jeroboam enticed Israel away from following the Lord and caused them to commit a great sin.^{(AI) 22} The Israelites persisted in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them ²³ until the Lord removed them from his presence,^(AJ) as he had warned^(AK) through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland^(AL) into exile in Assyria, and they are still there.

¹² It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes^(A) of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

⁷ For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land^(A)—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;^{(B) 8} a land with wheat and barley,^(C) vines^(D) and fig trees,^(E) pomegranates, olive oil and honey;^{(F) 9} a land where bread^(G) will not be scarce and you will lack nothing;^(H) a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.^(I)