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2 Kings 17 :: New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB95)

Hoshea Reigns over Israel

2Ki 17:1In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned nine years.
2Ki 17:2He did evil in the sight of the LORD, only not as the kings of Israel who were before him.
2Ki 17:3Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute.
2Ki 17:4But 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.
2Ki 17:5Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land and went up to Samaria and besieged it three years.

Israel Captive

2Ki 17:6In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

Why Israel Fell

2Ki 17:7Now this came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and they had [fn]feared other gods
2Ki 17:8and walked in the [fn]customs of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of Israel, and in the customs of the kings of Israel which they had [fn]introduced.
2Ki 17:9The sons of Israel [fn]did things secretly which were not right against the LORD their God. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city.
2Ki 17:10They set for themselves sacred pillars and [fn]Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree,
2Ki 17:11and 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.
2Ki 17:12They served idols, concerning which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.”
2Ki 17:13Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer, saying, “Turn 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.”
2Ki 17:14However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck [fn]like their fathers, who did not believe in the LORD their God.
2Ki 17:15They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers and His warnings with which He warned them. And they followed vanity and became vain, and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which the LORD had commanded them not to do like them.
2Ki 17:16They forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves molten images, even two calves, and made an [fn]Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal.
2Ki 17:17Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him.
2Ki 17:18So the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from His [fn]sight; none was left except the tribe of Judah.
2Ki 17:19Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the [fn]customs [fn]which Israel had [fn]introduced.
2Ki 17:20The LORD rejected all the [fn]descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them [fn]out of His sight.
2Ki 17:21When He had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the LORD and made them [fn]commit a great sin.
2Ki 17:22The sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them
2Ki 17:23until the LORD removed Israel from His sight, as He spoke through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.

Cities of Israel Filled with Strangers

2Ki 17:24The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon and from Cuthah and from [fn]Avva and from Hamath 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.
2Ki 17:25At the beginning of their living there, they did not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them which killed some of them.
2Ki 17:26So 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.”
2Ki 17:27Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Take there one of the priests whom you carried away into [fn]exile and let [fn]him go and live there; and let him teach them the custom of the god of the land.”
2Ki 17:28So 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.
2Ki 17:29But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived.
2Ki 17:30The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima,
2Ki 17:31and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.
2Ki 17:32They also feared the LORD and [fn]appointed from among themselves priests of the high places, who acted for them in the houses of the high places.
2Ki 17:33They 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.
2Ki 17:34To this day they do according to the earlier customs: they do not fear the LORD, nor do they [fn]follow their statutes or their ordinances or the law, or the commandments which the LORD commanded the sons of Jacob, whom He named Israel;
2Ki 17:35with whom the LORD made a covenant and commanded them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down yourselves to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them.
2Ki 17:36“But the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow yourselves down, and to Him you shall sacrifice.
2Ki 17:37“The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall observe to do forever; and you shall not fear other gods.
2Ki 17:38“The covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods.
2Ki 17:39“But the LORD your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.”
2Ki 17:40However, they did not listen, but they did according to their earlier custom.
2Ki 17:41So while these nations feared the LORD, they also served their [fn]idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, as their fathers did, so they do to this day.
NASB95 Footnotes
Literally: revered, and so throughout the chapter
Literally: statutes
Literally: made
Or, uttered words which
I.e. wooden symbols of a female deity
Literally: like the neck of
I.e. a wooden symbol of a female deity
Literally: face
Literally: statutes
Literally: of Israel which they
Literally: made
Literally: seed
Literally: from His face
Literally: sin
In 2 Kin 18:34, Ivvah
Literally: exile from there
Literally: them
Literally: made for themselves from among
Literally: do according to
Or, graven images
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2 Kings Chapter 17 — Additional Translations: