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.