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, only not as the kings of Israel who preceded him. 3 ^aShalmaneser the king of Assyria marched ^bagainst him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute. 4 But the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by Hoshea, who had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and had then brought no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; so the king of Assyria arrested him and confined him in prison.

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

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, ^athe king of Assyria captured Samaria and ^bled the people of Israel 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 They also ^1afollowed the ²customs of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from the sons of Israel, and in the customs ^bof the kings of Israel which they had ³introduced. 9 And the sons of Israel ¹did things secretly against the LORD their God which were not right. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from ^awatchtower to fortified city. 10 And ^athey set up for themselves memorial stones 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 that the LORD had taken into 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 ^1bthrough all His prophets and ^cevery seer, saying, “^dTurn back 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 ²through 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 which He ¹gave them. And ^cthey followed ²idols and ^dbecame empty, and followed the nations that surrounded them, about which the ^eLORD had commanded them not to do as they did. 16 And they abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves cast metal images: ^atwo calves. And they ^bmade an ¹Asherah, and ^cworshiped all the heavenly ²lights, and ^dserved Baal. 17 Then ^athey made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and they ^bpracticed divination and interpreting omens, and ^cgave themselves over to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him. 18 So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He ^aremoved them from His ¹sight; ^bno one was left except the tribe of Judah.

19 ^aJudah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God either, but they ^1bfollowed the ²customs ³which Israel had ⁴introduced. 20 So the LORD rejected all the ¹descendants of Israel and afflicted them and ^ahanded them over to 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 misled them into a great sin. 22 And the sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he committed; they did not desist from them 23 ^auntil the LORD removed Israel from His sight, ^bjust as He had spoken through all His servants the prophets. ^cSo Israel went into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.

24 ^aThen the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, ^1bAvva, ^cHamath, and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. So they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 And at the beginning of their living there, they ^adid not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them that were killing some of them. 26 So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations whom you have taken 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 behold, they are killing them because they do not know the custom of the God of the land.”

27 Then the king of Assyria issued commands, saying, “Take one of the priests there whom you led into ¹exile, and have ²him go and live there; and have him teach them the custom of the God of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had led into exile from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they were to fear the LORD.

29 But every nation was still making gods of its own, and they 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 were burning their children in the fire to ^bAdrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of ^cSepharvaim. 32 ^aThey also feared the LORD and ^1bappointed from their entire population priests of the high places, who acted for them in the houses of the high places. 33 They feared the LORD, yet they were serving their own gods in accordance with the custom of the nations from among whom they had been taken into exile.

34 To this day they act in accordance with the earlier customs: they do not fear the LORD, nor do they ¹follow their statutes, their ordinances, the Law, or the commandments which the LORD commanded the sons of Jacob, ^awhom He named Israel. 35 The LORD made a covenant with them and commanded them, saying, “^aYou shall not fear other gods, nor ^bbow down 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 down, and to Him you shall sacrifice. 37 And the statutes, the ordinances, the Law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, ^ayou shall take care to do always; 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 you shall fear the LORD your God; and He will save you from the hand of all your enemies.” 40 However, they did not listen, but they kept acting in accordance with their earlier custom. 41 ^aSo while these nations feared the LORD, they also served their ¹idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, just as their fathers did, they do to this day.