The King of Assyria Populates Israel with Foreigners

24  The king of Assyria brought foreigners from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 25  When they first moved in, they did not worship the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them and the lions were killing them. 26  The king of Assyria was told, “The nations whom you deported and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land, so he has sent lions among them. They are killing the people because they do not know the requirements of the God of the land.” 27  So the king of Assyria ordered, “Take back one of the priests whom you deported from there. He must settle there and teach them the requirements of the God of the land.” 28  So one of the priests whom they had deported from Samaria went back and settled in Bethel. He taught them how to worship the Lord.

29  But each of these nations made its own gods and put them in the shrines on the high places that the people of Samaria had made. Each nation did this in the cities where they lived. 30  The people from Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the people from Cuth made Nergal, the people from Hamath made Ashima, 31  the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their sons in the fire as an offering to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32  At the same time they worshiped the Lord. They appointed some of their own people to serve as priests in the shrines on the high places. 33  They were worshiping the Lord and at the same time serving their own gods in accordance with the practices of the nations from which they had been deported.

34  To this very day they observe their earlier practices. They do not worship the Lord; they do not obey the rules, regulations, law, and commandments that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he renamed Israel. 35  The Lord made an agreement with them and instructed them, “You must not worship other gods. Do not bow down to them, serve them, or offer sacrifices to them. 36  Instead you must worship the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt by his great power and military ability; bow down to him and offer sacrifices to him. 37  You must carefully obey at all times the rules, regulations, law, and commandments he wrote down for you. You must not worship other gods. 38  You must never forget the agreement I made with you, and you must not worship other gods. 39  Instead you must worship the Lord your God; then he will rescue you from the power of all your enemies.” 40  But they pay no attention; instead they observe their earlier practices. 41  These nations are worshiping the Lord and at the same time serving their idols; their sons and grandsons do just as their fathers have done, to this very day.

18  In the third year of the reign of Israel’s King Hoshea son of Elah, Ahaz’s son Hezekiah became king over Judah. 2  He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. 3  He did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done. 4  He eliminated the high places, smashed the sacred pillars to bits, and cut down the Asherah pole. He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been offering incense to it; it was called Nehushtan. 5  He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; in this regard there was none like him among the kings of Judah either before or after. 6  He was loyal to the Lord and did not abandon him. He obeyed the commandments which the Lord had given to Moses. 7  The Lord was with him; he succeeded in all his endeavors. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to submit to him. 8  He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from the watchtower to the city fortress.

9  In the fourth year of King Hezekiah’s reign (it was the seventh year of the reign of Israel’s King Hoshea, son of Elah), King Shalmaneser of Assyria marched up against Samaria and besieged it. 10  After three years he captured it (in the sixth year of Hezekiah’s reign); in the ninth year of King Hoshea’s reign over Israel Samaria was captured. 11  The king of Assyria deported the people of Israel to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes. 12  This happened because they did not obey the Lord their God and broke his agreement with them. They did not pay attention to and obey all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded.