AB - II Kings - 17

17:1  In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned nine years.

17:2  And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, only not as the kings of Israel that were before him.

17:3  Shalmaneser king of the Assyrians came up against him; and Hoshea became his servant, and paid him tribute.

17:4  And the king of the Assyrians found iniquity in Hoshea, in that he sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and brought not a tribute to the king of the Assyrians in that year. And the king of the Assyrians besieged him, and bound him in the prison house.

17:5  And the king of the Assyrians went up against all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.

17:6  In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of the Assyrians took Samaria, and carried Israel away to the Assyrians, and settled them in Halah and in Habor, near the River of Gozan, and in the mountains of the Medes.

17:7  For it came to pass that the children of Israel had transgressed 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, and they feared other gods,

17:8  and walked in the statutes of the nations which the Lord cast out before the face of the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, as many as did such things,

17:9  and in those of the children of Israel, as many as secretly practiced customs, not as they should have done, against the Lord their God;

17:10  and they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city, and they made for themselves pillars and groves on every high hill, and under every shady tree.

17:11  And they burned incense there on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord removed from before them, and dealt with familiar spirits, and they carved images to provoke the Lord to anger.

17:12  And they served the idols, of which the Lord said to them, You shall not do this thing against the Lord.

17:13  And the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, even by the hand of all His prophets, and of every seer, saying, Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My ordinances, and all the law which I commanded your fathers, and all that I sent to them by the hand of My servants the prophets.

17:14  But they hearkened not, and made their neck harder than the neck of their fathers.

17:15  And they kept not any of His testimonies which He charged them; and they walked after vanities, and became vain, and after the nations round about them, concerning which the Lord had charged them not to do accordingly.

17:16  They forsook the commandments of the Lord their God, and made themselves graven images, even two heifers, and they made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.

17:17  And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and practiced divinations and soothsaying, and sold themselves to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him.

17:18  And the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of His sight; and there was none left but the tribe of Judah alone.

17:19  Even Judah as well kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but they walked according to the customs of Israel which they practiced, and rejected the Lord.

17:20  And the Lord was angry with the whole seed of Israel, and troubled them, and gave them into the hand of them that spoiled them, until He cast them out of His presence.

17:21  Forasmuch as Israel revolted from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king; and Jeroboam drew Israel away from following the Lord, and led them to sin a great sin.

17:22  And the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he committed; they departed not from it,

17:23  until the Lord removed Israel from His presence, as the Lord spoke by all His servants the prophets; and Israel was removed from off their land to the Assyrians to this day.

17:24  And the king of Assyria brought from Babylon the men of Cuthah, and men from Ava, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and they were settled in the cities of Samaria in the place of the children of Israel. And they inherited Samaria, and were settled in its cities.

17:25  And it was so at the beginning of their establishment there, that they feared not the Lord, and the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

17:26  And they spoke to the king of the Assyrians, saying, The nations whom you have removed and substituted in the cities of Samaria for the Israelites, know not the manner of the God of the land; and He has sent the lions against them, and behold, the lions are killing them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.

17:27  And the king of the Assyrians commanded, saying, Bring some Israelites there, and let them go and dwell there, and they shall teach them the manner of the God of the land.

17:28  And they brought one of the priests whom they had removed from Samaria, and he settled in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

17:29  But the nations each made their own gods, and put them in the house of the high places which the Samaritans had made, each nation in the cities in which they dwelt.

17:30  And the men of Babylon made Soccoth Benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergel, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,

17:31  and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the inhabitants of Sepharvaim did evil when they burned their sons in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

17:32  And they feared the Lord, yet they established their abominations in the houses of the high places which they made in Samaria, each nation in the city in which they dwelt. And they feared the Lord, and they made for themselves priests of the high places, and sacrificed for themselves in the house of the high places.

17:33  And they feared the Lord, yet served their own gods, according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away.

17:34  Until this day they did according to their manner: they feared the Lord, and they did according to their customs, and according to their manner, and according to the law, and according to the commandment which the Lord commanded the sons of Jacob, whose name He made Israel.

17:35  And the Lord made a covenant with them, and commanded them, saying, You shall not fear other gods, neither shall you worship them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them;

17:36  but only to the Lord, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great strength, and with an outstretched arm: Him shall you fear, and Him shall you worship; to Him shall you sacrifice.

17:37  You shall observe continually the ordinances and the judgments and the law and the commandments which He wrote for you to do; and you shall not fear other gods.

17:38  Neither shall you forget the covenant which He made with you; and you shall fear no other gods.

17:39  But you shall fear the Lord your God, and He shall deliver you from all your enemies.

17:40  Neither shall you comply with their practice, which they follow.

17:41  So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images: even their sons and their son's sons do to this day, even as their fathers did.