King Hoshea of Israel

¹In the twelfth year of the reign of King Ahaz of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for nine years.

²He sinned against the Lord, but not as much as the kings who had ruled Israel before him.

³Emperor Shalmaneser of Assyria made war against him; Hoshea surrendered to Shalmaneser and paid him tribute every year.

⁴But one year Hoshea sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, asking for his help, and stopped paying the annual tribute to Assyria. When Shalmaneser learned of this, he had Hoshea arrested and put in prison.

The Fall of Samaria

⁵Then Shalmaneser invaded Israel and besieged Samaria. In the third year of the siege,

⁶which was the ninth year of the reign of Hoshea, the Assyrian emperor captured Samaria, took the Israelites to Assyria as prisoners, and settled some of them in the city of Halah, some near the Habor River in the district of Gozan and some in the cities of Media.

⁷Samaria fell because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the king of Egypt and had led them out of Egypt. They worshiped other gods,

⁸followed the customs of the people whom the Lord had driven out as his people advanced, and adopted customs introduced by the kings of Israel.

⁹The Israelites did things that the Lord their God disapproved of. They built pagan places of worship in all their towns, from the smallest village to the largest city.

¹⁰On all the hills and under every shady tree they put up stone pillars and images of the goddess Asherah,

¹¹and they burned incense on all the pagan altars, following the practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land. They aroused the Lord's anger with all their wicked deeds

¹²and disobeyed the Lord's command not to worship idols.

¹³The Lord had sent his messengers and prophets to warn Israel and Judah: “Abandon your evil ways and obey my commands, which are contained in the Law I gave to your ancestors and which I handed on to you through my servants the prophets.”

¹⁴But they would not obey; they were stubborn like their ancestors, who had not trusted in the Lord their God.

¹⁵They refused to obey his instructions, they did not keep the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they disregarded his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves, and they followed the customs of the surrounding nations, disobeying the Lord's command not to imitate them.

¹⁶They broke all the laws of the Lord their God and made two metal bull-calves to worship; they also made an image of the goddess Asherah, worshiped the stars, and served the god Baal.

¹⁷They sacrificed their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to pagan gods; they consulted mediums and fortunetellers, and they devoted themselves completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord's sight, and so aroused his anger.

¹⁸The Lord was angry with the Israelites and banished them from his sight, leaving only the kingdom of Judah.

¹⁹But even the people of Judah did not obey the laws of the Lord their God; they imitated the customs adopted by the people of Israel.

²⁰The Lord rejected all the Israelites, punishing them and handing them over to cruel enemies until at last he had banished them from his sight.

²¹After the Lord had separated Israel from Judah, the Israelites made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam caused them to abandon the Lord and led them into terrible sins.

²²They followed Jeroboam and continued to practice all the sins he had committed,

²³until at last the Lord banished them from his sight, as he had warned through his servants the prophets that he would do. So the people of Israel were taken into exile to Assyria, where they still live.

The Assyrians Settle in Israel

²⁴The emperor of Assyria took people from the cities of Babylon, Cuth, Ivvah, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the exiled Israelites. They took possession of these cities and lived there.

²⁵When they first settled there, they did not worship the Lord, and so he sent lions, which killed some of them.

²⁶The emperor of Assyria was told that the people he had settled in the cities of Samaria did not know the law of the god of that land, and so the god had sent lions, which were killing them.

²⁷So the emperor commanded: “Send back one of the priests we brought as prisoners; have him go back and live there, in order to teach the people the law of the god of that land.”

²⁸So an Israelite priest who had been deported from Samaria went and lived in Bethel, where he taught the people how to worship the Lord.

²⁹But the people who settled in Samaria continued to make their own idols, and they placed them in the shrines that the Israelites had built. Each different group made idols in the cities they were living in:

³⁰the people of Babylon made idols of the god Succoth Benoth; the people of Cuth, idols of Nergal; the people of Hamath, idols of Ashima;

³¹the people of Ivvah, idols of Nibhaz and Tartak; and the people of Sepharvaim sacrificed their children as burnt offerings to their gods Adrammelech and Anammelech.

³²These people also worshiped the Lord and chose from among their own number all sorts of people to serve as priests at the pagan places of worship and to offer sacrifices for them there.

³³So they worshiped the Lord, but they also worshiped their own gods according to the customs of the countries from which they had come.

³⁴They still carry on their old customs to this day. They do not worship the Lord nor do they obey the laws and commands which he gave to the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel.

³⁵The Lord had made a covenant with them and had ordered them: “Do not worship other gods; do not bow down to them or serve them or offer sacrifices to them.

³⁶You shall obey me, the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt with great power and strength; you are to bow down to me and offer sacrifices to me.

³⁷You shall always obey the laws and commands that I wrote for you. You shall not obey other gods,

³⁸and you shall not forget the covenant I made with you.

³⁹You shall obey me, the Lord your God, and I will rescue you from your enemies.”

⁴⁰But those people would not listen, and they continued to follow their old customs.

⁴¹So those people worshiped the Lord, but they also worshiped their idols; and to this day their descendants continue to do the same.

¹People of Jerusalem, gather your forces! We are besieged! They are attacking the leader of Israel!

God Promises a Ruler from Bethlehem

²The Lord says, “Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are one of the smallest towns in Judah, but out of you I will bring a ruler for Israel, whose family line goes back to ancient times.”

³So the Lord will abandon his people to their enemies until the woman who is to give birth has her son. Then those Israelites who are in exile will be reunited with their own people.

⁴When he comes, he will rule his people with the strength that comes from the Lord and with the majesty of the Lord God himself. His people will live in safety because people all over the earth will acknowledge his greatness,

Deliverance and Punishment

⁵and he will bring peace. When the Assyrians invade our country and break through our defenses, we will send our strongest leaders to fight them.

⁶By force of arms they will conquer Assyria, the land of Nimrod, and they will save us from the Assyrians when they invade our territory.

⁷The people of Israel who survive will be like refreshing dew sent by the Lord for many nations, like showers on growing plants. They will depend on God, not people.

⁸Those who are left among the nations will be like a lion hunting for food in a forest or a pasture: it gets in among the sheep, pounces on them, and tears them to pieces—and there is no hope of rescue.

⁹Israel will conquer her enemies and destroy them all.

¹⁰The Lord says, “At that time I will take away your horses and destroy your chariots.

¹¹I will destroy the cities in your land and tear down all your defenses.

¹²I will destroy the magic charms you use and leave you without any fortunetellers.

¹³I will destroy your idols and sacred stone pillars; no longer will you worship the things that you yourselves have made.

¹⁴I will pull down the images of the goddess Asherah in your land and destroy your cities.

¹⁵And in my great anger I will take revenge on all nations that have not obeyed me.”

The Lord's Case against Israel

¹Listen to the Lord's case against Israel. Arise, O Lord, and present your case; let the mountains and the hills hear what you say.

²You mountains, you everlasting foundations of the earth, listen to the Lord's case! The Lord has a case against his people. He is going to bring an accusation against Israel.

³The Lord says, “My people, what have I done to you? How have I been a burden to you? Answer me.

⁴I brought you out of Egypt; I rescued you from slavery; I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you.

⁵My people, remember what King Balak of Moab planned to do to you and how Balaam son of Beor answered him. Remember the things that happened on the way from the camp at Acacia to Gilgal. Remember these things and you will realize what I did in order to save you.”

What the Lord Requires

⁶What shall I bring to the Lord, the God of heaven, when I come to worship him? Shall I bring the best calves to burn as offerings to him?

⁷Will the Lord be pleased if I bring him thousands of sheep or endless streams of olive oil? Shall I offer him my first-born child to pay for my sins?

⁸No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.

⁹It is wise to fear the Lord. He calls to the city, “Listen, you people who assemble in the city!

¹⁰In the houses of evil people are treasures which they got dishonestly. They use false measures, a thing that I hate.

¹¹How can I forgive those who use false scales and weights?

¹²Your rich people exploit the poor, and all of you are liars.

¹³So I have already begun your ruin and destruction because of your sins.

¹⁴You will eat, but not be satisfied—in fact you will still be hungry. You will carry things off, but you will not be able to save them; anything you do save I will destroy in war.

¹⁵You will sow grain, but not harvest the crop. You will press oil from olives, but never get to use it. You will make wine, but never drink it.

¹⁶This will happen because you have followed the evil practices of King Omri and of his son, King Ahab. You have continued their policies, and so I will bring you to ruin, and everyone will despise you. People everywhere will treat you with contempt.”

Israel's Moral Corruption

¹It's hopeless! I am like a hungry person who finds no fruit left on the trees and no grapes on the vines. All the grapes and all the tasty figs have been picked.

²There is not an honest person left in the land, no one loyal to God. Everyone is waiting for a chance to commit murder. Everyone hunts down their own people.

³They are all experts at doing evil. Officials and judges ask for bribes. The influential people tell them what they want, and so they scheme together.

⁴Even the best and most honest of them are as worthless as weeds. The day has come when God will punish the people, as he warned them through their watchmen, the prophets. Now they are in confusion.

⁵Don't believe your neighbor or trust your friend. Be careful what you say even to your husband or wife.

⁶In these times sons treat their fathers like fools, daughters oppose their mothers, and young women quarrel with their mothers-in-law; your enemies are the members of your own family.

⁷But I will watch for the Lord; I will wait confidently for God, who will save me. My God will hear me.

The Lord Brings Salvation

⁸Our enemies have no reason to gloat over us. We have fallen, but we will rise again. We are in darkness now, but the Lord will give us light.

⁹We have sinned against the Lord, so now we must endure his anger for a while. But in the end he will defend us and right the wrongs that have been done to us. He will bring us out to the light; we will live to see him save us.

¹⁰Then our enemies will see this and be disgraced—the same enemies who taunted us by asking, “Where is the Lord your God?” We will see them defeated, trampled down like mud in the streets.

¹¹People of Jerusalem, the time to rebuild the city walls is coming. At that time your territory will be enlarged.

¹²Your people will return to you from everywhere—from Assyria in the east, from Egypt in the south, from the region of the Euphrates River, from distant seas and far-off mountains.

¹³But the earth will become a desert because of the wickedness of those who live on it.

The Lord's Compassion on Israel

¹⁴Be a shepherd to your people, Lord, the people you have chosen. Although they live apart in the wilderness, there is fertile land around them. Let them go and feed in the rich pastures of Bashan and Gilead, as they did long ago.

¹⁵Work miracles for us, Lord, as you did in the days when you brought us out of Egypt.

¹⁶The nations will see this and be frustrated in spite of all their strength. In dismay they will close their mouths and cover their ears.

¹⁷They will crawl in the dust like snakes; they will come from their fortresses, trembling and afraid. They will turn in fear to the Lord our God.

¹⁸There is no other god like you, O Lord; you forgive the sins of your people who have survived. You do not stay angry forever, but you take pleasure in showing us your constant love.

¹⁹You will be merciful to us once again. You will trample our sins underfoot and send them to the bottom of the sea!

²⁰You will show your faithfulness and constant love to your people, the descendants of Abraham and of Jacob, as you promised our ancestors long ago.

A Prayer for Protection

¹Save me, Lord, from evildoers; keep me safe from violent people.

²They are always plotting evil, always stirring up quarrels.

³Their tongues are like deadly snakes; their words are like a cobra's poison.

⁴Protect me, Lord, from the power of the wicked; keep me safe from violent people who plot my downfall.

⁵The proud have set a trap for me; they have laid their snares, and along the path they have set traps to catch me.

⁶I say to the Lord, “You are my God.” Hear my cry for help, Lord!

⁷My Sovereign Lord, my strong defender, you have protected me in battle.

⁸Lord, don't give the wicked what they want; don't let their plots succeed.

⁹Don't let my enemies be victorious; make their threats against me fall back on them.

¹⁰May red-hot coals fall on them; may they be thrown into a pit and never get out.

¹¹May those who accuse others falsely not succeed; may evil overtake violent people and destroy them.

¹²Lord, I know that you defend the cause of the poor and the rights of the needy.

¹³The righteous will praise you indeed; they will live in your presence.