Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

In the twelfth year of King Ahaz of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah began his reign in Samaria over Israel. He ruled for nine years.

Hoshea did evil in the Lord's sight, but not to the same extent as the kings who came before him in Israel. Against him, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched up and made Hoshea his servant, demanding regular tribute from him.

The king of Assyria discovered a plot by Hoshea because he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt without paying the annual tribute that was required. So, the king of Assyria imprisoned him and locked him away.

The king of Assyria then marched up against all the land, went to Samaria, and laid siege to it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea's reign, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and took Israel away to Assyria, relocating them in Halah, Habor by the river Gozan, and the cities of the Medes.

The children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them out of Egypt from under Pharaoh's hand. They feared other gods and followed the practices of the nations that the Lord had cast out before them, imitating the customs of the kings of Israel whom they made for themselves.

They secretly did things that were not right in the Lord's sight and built high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city. They set up images and groves on every hill and under every green tree, burning incense there just like the pagan nations whom the Lord had driven out before them.

They committed wicked acts that provoked the Lord to anger, serving idols that the Lord strictly forbade them to worship. The Lord testified against Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers, warning them to turn from their evil ways and keep his commandments, statutes, and laws given to their ancestors and sent to them through his servants the prophets.

Despite this warning, they refused to listen but hardened their necks like their fathers who had refused to believe in the Lord their God. They rejected his statutes, covenant, and testimonies, instead following vain practices that the surrounding nations whom the Lord forbade them from imitating were also following.

They abandoned all the Lord's commands, making golden calves and a sacred pole to worship the entire heavenly host and serve Baal. They caused their sons and daughters to pass through fire, practicing divination and sorcery, selling themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.

The Lord was extremely angry with Israel and removed them from his presence, leaving only the tribe of Judah behind. Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God but instead followed the laws that Israel had established.

The Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel, afflicting them and handing them over to plunderers until he cast them out of his sight. He tore Israel away from David's house and appointed Jeroboam son of Nebat king; however, Jeroboam led Israel astray from following the Lord, causing them to commit a great sin.

The children of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam had done, never departing from them until the Lord removed Israel from his sight as he had said through all his servants the prophets. So, Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria and remains there to this day.

When the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim to settle in the cities of Samaria instead of the Israelites, they took possession of Samaria and lived there. At first, these new settlers did not fear the Lord; therefore, he sent lions among them that slew some of them.

The people who were brought from Assyria and settled in Samaria did not know the customs of the God of the land, so he sent lions to slay them because they did not know his ways. The king of Assyria then commanded, "Take one of the priests you brought with you and send him to live among these people; let him teach them about the God of that land."

One of the priests from Samaria came and settled in Bethel. Each nation made its own gods and placed them in the houses of high places that the Samaritans had built, making their own idols in their cities where they lived.

The Babylonians made Succothbenoth, while the Cuthites made Nergal, and the people of Hamath made Ashima. The Avites created Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, their gods from Sepharvaim.

So these nations feared the Lord and appointed priests of the high places who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. They feared the Lord but also continued to serve their own idols just as the surrounding nations they had carried away from there did.

To this day, they still follow their old customs but do not reverence the Lord, nor do they observe his statutes, ordinances, or the law and commandment that he gave to Jacob, whom he named Israel. The Lord had made a covenant with them, charging them to not fear other gods, nor bow down to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them.

Instead, they were to fear the Lord their God who brought them out of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm, offering sacrifices and worship only to him. They should observe his statutes, ordinances, law, and commandment that he wrote for them forever without fearing other gods.

The Lord also commanded them not to forget the covenant he made with them nor to fear other gods. If they feared the Lord their God, he would deliver them out of the hand of all their enemies.

However, these nations refused to listen and instead returned to their former idolatrous practices, passing down their idolatry from one generation to the next just as their ancestors had done.