2 Kings 17:14-28

English Standard Version

¹⁴ But they would not listen, ^(A)but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ They despised his statutes ^(B)and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after ^(C)false idols ^(D)and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the ^(E)Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them. ¹⁶ And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for themselves metal images of ^(F)two calves; and they ^(G)made an Asherah and ^(H)worshiped all the host of heaven and served ^(I)Baal. ^17 (J)And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings^[a] and used ^(K)divination and ^(L)omens and ^(M)sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. ¹⁸ Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but ^(N)the tribe of Judah only.

^19 (O)Judah also did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. ²⁰ And the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them ^(P)and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had cast them out of his sight.

^21 (Q)When he had torn Israel from the house of David, ^(R)they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord ^(S)and made them commit great sin. ²² The people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did. They did not depart from them, ²³ until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, ^(T)as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. ^(U)So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.

Assyria Resettles Samaria

^24 (V)And the king of Assyria brought people from ^(W)Babylon, Cuthah, ^(X)Avva, ^(Y)Hamath, and ^(Z)Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. ²⁵ And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did 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 that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” ²⁷ Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him^[b] go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” ²⁸ So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in ^(AA)Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord.