In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, ^aHoshea the son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned nine years. 2 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, only not as the kings of Israel who were before him. 3 ^aShalmaneser king of Assyria came up ^bagainst him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute. 4 But the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea, who had sent messengers to So king of Egypt and had offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; so the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison.

5 Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land and went up to ^aSamaria and besieged it three years.

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, ^athe king of Assyria captured Samaria and ^bcarried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and ^csettled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of ^dGozan, and ^ein the cities of the Medes.

7 Now ^athis came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, ^bwho had brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ^cand they had ¹feared other gods 8 and ^awalked in the ¹customs of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of Israel, and in the customs ^bof the kings of Israel which they had ²introduced. 9 The sons of Israel ¹did things secretly which were not right against the LORD their God. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from ^awatchtower to fortified city. 10 ^aThey set for themselves sacred pillars and ^1bAsherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11 and there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did which the LORD had carried away to exile before them; and they did evil things provoking the LORD. 12 They served idols, ^aconcerning which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” 13 Yet the ^aLORD warned Israel and Judah ^bthrough all His prophets and ^cevery seer, saying, “^dTurn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets.” 14 However, they did not listen, but ^astiffened their neck ¹like their fathers, who did not believe in the LORD their God. 15 ^aThey rejected His statutes and ^bHis covenant which He made with their fathers and His warnings with which He warned them. And ^cthey followed vanity and ^dbecame vain, and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which the ^eLORD had commanded them not to do like them. 16 They forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves molten images, even ^atwo calves, and ^bmade an ¹Asherah and ^cworshiped all the host of heaven and ^dserved Baal. 17 Then ^athey made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and ^bpracticed divination and enchantments, and ^csold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him. 18 So the LORD was very angry with Israel and ^aremoved them from His ¹sight; ^bnone was left except the tribe of Judah.

19 Also ^aJudah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but ^bwalked in the ¹customs ²which Israel had ³introduced. 20 The LORD rejected all the ¹descendants of Israel and afflicted them and ^agave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them ²out of His sight.

21 When ^aHe had torn Israel from the house of David, ^bthey made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then ^cJeroboam drove Israel away from following the LORD and made them ¹commit a great sin. 22 The sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them 23 ^auntil the LORD removed Israel from His sight, ^bas He spoke through all His servants the prophets. ^cSo Israel was carried away into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.

24 ^aThe king of Assyria brought men from Babylon and from Cuthah and from ^1bAvva and from ^cHamath and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. So they possessed Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 At the beginning of their living there, they ^adid not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them which killed some of them. 26 So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations whom you have carried away into exile in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the god of the land; so he has sent lions among them, and behold, they kill them because they do not know the custom of the god of the land.”

27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Take there one of the priests whom you carried away into ¹exile and let ²him go and live there; and let him teach them the custom of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away into exile from Samaria came and lived at Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.

29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them ^ain the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived. 30 ^aThe men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and ^athe Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to ^bAdrammelech and Anammelech the gods of ^cSepharvaim. 32 ^aThey also feared the LORD and ^1bappointed from among themselves priests of the high places, who acted for them in the houses of the high places. 33 They feared the LORD and served their own gods according to the custom of the nations from among whom they had been carried away into exile.

34 To this day they do according to the earlier customs: they do not fear the LORD, nor do they ¹follow their statutes or their ordinances or the law, or the commandments which the LORD commanded the sons of Jacob, ^awhom He named Israel; 35 with whom the LORD made a covenant and commanded them, saying, “^aYou shall not fear other gods, nor ^bbow down yourselves to them nor ^cserve them nor sacrifice to them. 36 But the LORD, ^awho brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with ^ban outstretched arm, ^cHim you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow yourselves down, and to Him you shall sacrifice. 37 The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which He wrote for you, ^ayou shall observe to do forever; and you shall not fear other gods. 38 The covenant that I have made with you, ^ayou shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods. 39 But the LORD your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.” 40 However, they did not listen, but they did according to their earlier custom. 41 ^aSo while these nations feared the LORD, they also served their ¹idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, as their fathers did, so they do to this day.

In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, ^aHoshea the son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned for nine years. 2 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel who came before him. 3 ^1aShalmaneser V king of Assyria came up ^bagainst him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute (money) . 4 But the king of Assyria discovered a conspiracy in Hoshea, who sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria arrested him and bound him in prison.

5 Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land of Israel and went up to ^1aSamaria and besieged it for three years.

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, ^1athe king of Assyria took Samaria and ^bcarried the people of Israel into exile to Assyria, and ^csettled them in Halah and in Habor, by the river of ^dGozan, and ^ein the cities of the Medes.

7 ^aNow this came about because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, ^bwho had brought them up from the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; ^cand they had feared and worshiped other gods 8 and ^awalked in the customs of the pagan nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons (descendants) of Israel, and in the pagan customs of ^bthe kings of Israel which they had introduced. 9 The Israelites ascribed things to the LORD their God which were not true. They built for themselves high places of worship in all their towns, from the lonely ^alookout tower to the populous fortified city. 10 ^aThey set up for themselves sacred pillars (memorial stones) and ^1bAsherim on every high hill and under every green tree. 11 There they burned incense on all the high places, just as the pagan nations whom the LORD had deported before them; and they did evil and contemptible things, provoking the LORD to anger. 12 And they served idols, ^aof which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” 13 Yet the ^aLORD warned Israel and Judah ^bthrough all His prophets and ^cevery seer, saying, “^dTurn from your evil ways and keep My commandments and My statutes, in accordance with all the Law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.” 14 However they did not listen, but ^astiffened their necks as did their fathers who did not believe (trust in, rely on, remain steadfast to) the LORD their God. 15 ^aThey rejected ^bHis statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers, as well as His warnings that he gave them. And ^cthey followed vanity that is, false gods, idols and ^dbecame vain (empty-headed) . They followed the pagan practices of the nations which surrounded them, although the ^eLORD had commanded that they were not to do as they did. 16 They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves cast images of ^atwo calves; and they ^bmade an Asherah idol and ^cworshiped all the starry host of heaven and ^dserved Baal. 17 ^aThey made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire as human sacrifices, and ^bused divination to foretell the future and enchantments; and they ^csold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger. 18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and ^aremoved them from His sight; ^bnone of the tribes was left except the tribe of Judah.

19 ^aJudah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God either, but ^bwalked in the customs which Israel introduced. 20 So the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel (Jacob) and repeatedly afflicted them and ^ahanded them over to plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight.

21 When ^aHe had torn Israel from the royal house of David, ^bthey made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And ^cJeroboam drove Israel away from following the LORD and made them commit a great sin. 22 For the Israelites walked in all the idolatrous sins which Jeroboam committed; they did not turn from them 23 ^auntil the LORD removed Israel from His sight, ^bjust as He had foretold through all His servants the prophets. ^cSo Israel went into exile from their own land to Assyria to this day the date of this writing.

24 ^aThe king of Assyria brought men from Babylon and from Cuthah and from ^bAvva and from ^cHamath and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons (people) of Israel. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 Now when they began to live there, they ^adid not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them which killed some of them. 26 So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations whom you have sent into exile and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the god of the land; so He has sent lions among them, and they are killing them because they do not know the manner of worship demanded by the god of the land.”

27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Take back to Samaria one of the priests whom you brought from there, and have him go and live there; and have him teach the people the custom of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had exiled from Samaria came back and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear and worship the LORD.

29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them ^ain the houses (shrines) of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where they lived. 30 ^aThe men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and ^athe Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to ^bAdrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of ^cSepharvaim. 32 ^aThey also feared the LORD and ^bappointed from among themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. 33 They feared the LORD, yet served their own gods, following the custom of the nations from among whom they had been sent into exile.

34 To this day they act in accordance with their former pagan customs: they do not really fear the LORD, nor do they obey their statutes and ordinances, nor the law, nor the commandments which the LORD commanded the sons (descendants) of Jacob, ^awhom He named Israel; 35 with whom the LORD had made a covenant and commanded them, saying, “^aYou shall not fear other gods or ^bbow yourselves to them nor ^cserve them, nor sacrifice to them. 36 But the LORD, ^awho brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and ^ban outstretched arm, ^cHim you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow yourselves down, and to Him you shall sacrifice. 37 The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which He wrote for you by the hand of Moses, ^ayou shall observe and do forever. You shall not fear (worship, serve) other gods. 38 The covenant that I have made with you, ^ayou shall not forget; you shall not fear other gods. 39 But the LORD your God you shall fear and worship; then He will rescue you from the hands of all your enemies.” 40 However, they did not listen, but they acted in accordance with their former custom. 41 ^aSo these nations superficially feared the LORD; they also served their idols, as did their children and their children’s children, just as their fathers did, so do they to this day the date of this writing.