Hoshea Is King of Israel
4 Kingdoms 17, verse 1. In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he ruled for nine years. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 2. And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, but not like the kings of Israel before him. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 3. Shalmaneser the king of Assyria came up against him. Now Hoshea was his servant and had paid tribute to him. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 4. And the king of Assyria found scheming in Hoshea. He had sent messengers to Segor the king of Egypt, but in that year, they did not bring any tribute back to the king of Assyria. Therefore the king of Assyria besieged him and bound him in prison.
Israel Exiled to Assyria
4 Kingdoms 17, verse 5. Now the king of Assyria marched through the entire land. He went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 6. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and exiled Israel to Assyria, where he placed them along the rivers of Gozan, in Halah, and in Habor, and on the mountains of the Medes. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 7. For the sons of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. But still they came to fear other gods 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 8. and to walk in the very customs of the nations the Lord had cast out before the face of Israel, before the kings of Israel who did this; 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 9. so many sons of Israel clothed themselves with customs contrary to the Lord their God, and built for themselves high places in all their cities, by use of the watchtowers guarding the fortified city. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 10. They set up for themselves pillars and made wooden images on every high hill and under every tree growing in the woods. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 11. There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the Lord previously carried away before them. They acquired familiar spirits and provoked the Lord to great anger. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 12. They even served idols, although the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do such a thing to the Lord.” 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 13. And the Lord solemnly testified against Israel and against Judah by the authority of all His prophets and seers, saying, “Turn from your evil ways. Keep My commandments and My statutes and all the law I commanded your fathers. Keep all that I sent to them through the authority of My servants the prophets.” 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 14. But they did not heed His voice. Instead, they stiffened their necks, making them more unbending than their fathers. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 15. They did not keep the testimonies with which He charged them, but instead followed vain things and became vain. They followed the nations around them in the very things the Lord commanded them not to do. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 16. So they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and instead made for themselves a molten image, two heifers. And they made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 17. They caused their sons and daughters to pass through the test of fire; they consulted oracles and divined from the cries of birds; and they even sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 18. Thus the Lord became exceedingly angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. There was none left, except only for the tribe of Judah alone. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 19. But no, not even Judah kept the commandments of the Lord their God. Instead they walked according to the customs and traditions Israel had made. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 20. They rejected the Lord, throughout all the seed of Israel. So He afflicted them and gave them over to the hand of those plundering them, until He cast them forth from His presence. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 21. And this because the house of Israel had in earlier days revolted from the house of David, and made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king; and because Jeroboam drew back Israel from following the Lord and led them to commit a great sin; 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 22. and only because the sons of Israel walked in all the sins which Jeroboam committed, and did not depart from it, 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 23. until the Lord removed Israel from His presence as He spoke by all His servants the prophets. So therefore Israel was exiled from their own land into Assyria until this day.
Assyrians Settle in Israel
4 Kingdoms 17, verse 24. Then the king of Assyria brought from Babylon the people out of Cuthah, and from Ava, from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and they settled in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. They gained possession of Samaria and inhabited her cities. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 25. And it came to be in the beginning of their settlement, they did not fear the Lord. And the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 26. So it was told to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations you exiled, even those you settled in the cities of Samaria, do not know the rituals of the God of the land. Therefore he sent lions among them, and behold, the lions are killing them, because they do not know the rituals of the God of the land.” 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 27. Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Take from the exiles those that came from that place, and let them go and settle there. They will enlighten them concerning the rituals of the God of the land.” 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 28. So they brought one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria, and he came and dwelt in Bethel, and he enlightened them on how they should fear the Lord. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 29. But each nation continued to make their own gods and to put them in the shrines on the high places the Samaritans made, even in the cities of every nation where they dwelt. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 30. The men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 31. and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 32. Though they were being fearful of the Lord, yet they established their abominations in the houses of the high places they made in Samaria, each nation within the city in which they dwelt. Though they were being fearful of the Lord, even so they appointed for themselves priests of the high places, and made for themselves a sacrifice in the high places. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 33. They feared the Lord and God Himself, yet they worshiped according to the rituals of the nations to which He had exiled them. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 34. Even to this day, they did according to their rituals. They feared the Lord, and yet they acted according to their customs and according to their rituals, and according to their law, and yet according to the commandment which the Lord commanded the sons of Jacob, to whom He gave the name Israel. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 35. For the Lord had made a covenant with them and charged them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 36. But only the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm—Him you shall fear, Him you shall worship, and to Him you shall offer sacrifice. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 37. And the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandments He wrote for you, you shall be careful to observe forever; you shall not fear other gods. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 38. Thus you shall not forget the covenant I made with you, nor shall you fear other gods. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 39. But you shall fear the Lord your God; and He will deliver you from all your enemies. 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 40. And you shall not conform to the rites they practice.” 4 Kingdoms 17, verse 41. But these nations feared the Lord, yet served their carved images. So their sons and the sons of their sons have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day.