Hoshea Reigns in Israel
1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, xHoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. 3 yAgainst him came up zShalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. 4 But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.
The Fall of Israel
6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria acaptured Samaria, band he carried the Israelites away to Assyria cand placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of dGozan, and in the cities of ethe Medes.
Exile Because of Idolatry
7 And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, fwho had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods 8 gand walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, hand in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. 9 And the people of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, ifrom watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up for themselves jpillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11 and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger, 12 and they served idols, kof which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this.” 13 Yet the Lord lwarned Israel and Judah mby every prophet nand every seer, saying, o“Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”
14 But they would not listen, pbut were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15 They despised his statutes qand his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after rfalse idols sand became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the tLord 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 utwo calves; and they vmade an Asherah and wworshiped all the host of heaven and served xBaal. 17 yAnd they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings1 and used zdivination and aomens and bsold 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 cthe tribe of Judah only.
19 dJudah 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 eand gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had cast them out of his sight.
21 fWhen he had torn Israel from the house of David, gthey made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord hand 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, ias he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. jSo Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.
Assyria Resettles Samaria
24 kAnd the king of Assyria brought people from lBabylon, Cuthah, mAvva, nHamath, and oSepharvaim, 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 him2 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 pBethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them qin the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. 30 The men of rBabylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites sburned their children in the fire to tAdrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of uSepharvaim. 32 vThey also feared the Lord wand appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of xthe high places. 33 So they feared the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.
34 To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the Lord, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, ywhom he named Israel. 35 The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, z“You shall not fear other gods aor bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, 36 but byou shall fear the Lord, cwho brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and dwith an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37 And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, eyou shall always be careful to do. zYou shall not fear other gods, 38 and fyou shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. zYou shall not fear other gods, 39 but byou shall fear the Lord your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” 40 However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner.
41 gSo these nations feared the Lord and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children’s children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day.
Be Ready for Every Good Work
1 Remind them xto be submissive to rulers and authorities, yto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 zto speak evil of no one, ato avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and bto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For cwe ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when dthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, enot because of works done by us in righteousness, but faccording to his own mercy, by gthe washing of regeneration and hrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he ipoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that jbeing justified by his grace we might become kheirs laccording to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is mtrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful nto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9 But oavoid foolish pcontroversies, qgenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for rthey are unprofitable and worthless. 10 As for a person who stirs up division, safter warning him once and then twice, thave nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Final Instructions and Greetings
12 When I send Artemas or uTychicus to you, do your best to come to me vat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and wApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14 And let our people learn xto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not ybe unfruitful.
15 All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith.
zGrace be with you all.
1 qIsrael is a luxuriant vine
that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
rthe more altars he built;
as his country improved,
he improved his pillars.
2 Their heart is false;
now they must bear their guilt.
The Lord1 will break down their altars
and destroy their pillars.
3 For now they will say:
s“We have no king,
for we do not fear the Lord;
and a king—what could he do for us?”
4 They utter tmere words;
with empty2 oaths they make covenants;
so ujudgment springs up like poisonous weeds
vin the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests—
those who rejoiced over it and yover its glory—
for it has departed4 from them.
6 zThe thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
as tribute to athe great king.5
Ephraim shall be put to shame,
7 cSamaria’s king shall perish
like a twig on the face of the waters.
8 The high places of xAven, dthe sin of Israel,
shall be destroyed.
eThorn and thistle shall grow up
on their altars,
and fthey shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
and to the hills, “Fall on us.”
9 From gthe days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel;
there they have continued.
Shall not the war against the unjust7 overtake them in Gibeah?
10 hWhen I please, iI will discipline them,
and nations shall be gathered against them
when they are bound up for jtheir double iniquity.
11 Ephraim was a trained calf
that kloved to thresh,
and I spared her fair neck;
but I will put lEphraim to the yoke;
lJudah must plow;
Jacob must harrow for himself.
12 mSow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
nbreak up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
that he may come and orain righteousness upon you.
13 pYou have plowed iniquity;
you have reaped injustice;
you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your own way
and in the multitude of your warriors,
14 therefore qthe tumult of war shall arise among your people,
and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as rShalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle;
smothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
15 Thus it shall be done to you, O tBethel,
because of your great evil.
At dawn athe king of Israel
shall be utterly cut off.
They Have Afflicted Me from My Youth
A Song of mAscents.
1 “Greatly1 have they pafflicted me qfrom my youth”—
rlet Israel now say—
2 “Greatly have they pafflicted me qfrom my youth,
syet they have not prevailed against me.
3 tThe plowers plowed uupon my back;
they made long their furrows.”
4 The Lord is righteous;
he has cut vthe cords of the wicked.
5 May all who hate Zion
be wput to shame and turned backward!
6 Let them be like xthe grass on the housetops,
which ywithers before it grows up,
7 with which the reaper does not fill his hand
nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
8 nor do those who pass by say,
a“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We bbless you in the name of the Lord!”
My Soul Waits for the Lord
A Song of mAscents.
1 Out of cthe depths I cry to you, O Lord!
2 O Lord, hear my voice!
dLet your ears be attentive
to ethe voice of my pleas for mercy!
3 If you, O Lord, should fmark iniquities,
O Lord, who could gstand?
4 But with you there is hforgiveness,
ithat you may be feared.
5 I jwait for the Lord, kmy soul waits,
and lin his word I hope;
6 my soul mwaits for the Lord
more than nwatchmen for othe morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, phope in the Lord!
For qwith the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
8 And he will rredeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul
A Song of mAscents. Of David.
1 O Lord, my heart is not slifted up;
my eyes are not traised too high;
I do not uoccupy myself with things
too great and vtoo marvelous for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned wchild with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 xO Israel, hope in the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore.
