Hoshea Reigns in Israel

17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, ^(A)Hoshea the son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years. ² And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel who were before him. ^3 (B)Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him; and Hoshea ^(C)became his vassal, and paid him tribute money. ⁴ And the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and brought 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.

Israel Carried Captive to Assyria^(D)

⁵ Now ^(E)the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. ^6 (F)In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and ^(G)carried Israel away to Assyria, ^(H)and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

⁷ For ^(I)so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had ^(J)feared other gods, ⁸ and ^(K)had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. ⁹ Also the children of Israel secretly did against the Lord their God things that were not right, and they built for themselves ^[a]high places in all their cities, ^(L)from watchtower to fortified city. ^10 (M)They set up for themselves sacred pillars and ^(N)wooden images^{[b] (O)}on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹ There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the Lord had carried away before them; and they did wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger, ¹² for they served idols, ^(P)of which the Lord had said to them, ^(Q)“You shall not do this thing.”

¹³ Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His ^(R)prophets, ^(S)every seer, saying, ^(T)“Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.” ¹⁴ Nevertheless they would not hear, but ^(U)stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who ^(V)did not believe in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ And they ^(W)rejected His statutes ^(X)and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed ^(Y)idols, ^(Z)became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should ^(AA)not do like them. ¹⁶ So they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, ^(AB)made for themselves a molded image and two calves, ^(AC)made a wooden image and worshiped all the ^(AD)host of heaven, ^(AE)and served Baal. ^17 (AF)And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, ^(AG)practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and ^(AH)sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. ¹⁸ Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left ^(AI)but the tribe of Judah alone.

¹⁹ Also ^(AJ)Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. ²⁰ And the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and ^(AK)delivered them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them from His ^(AL)sight. ²¹ For ^(AM)He tore Israel from the house of David, and ^(AN)they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord, and made them commit a great sin. ²² For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them, ²³ until the Lord removed Israel out of His sight, ^(AO)as He had said by all His servants the prophets. ^(AP)So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day.

Assyria Resettles Samaria

^24 (AQ)Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, ^(AR)Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities. ²⁵ And it was so, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. ²⁶ So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations whom you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the rituals of the God of the land; therefore He has sent lions among them, and indeed, they are killing them because they do not know the rituals of the God of the land.” ²⁷ Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Send there one of the priests whom you brought from there; let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the rituals of the God of the land.” ²⁸ Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

²⁹ However every nation continued to make gods of its own, and put them ^(AS)in the shrines on the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where they dwelt. ³⁰ The men of ^(AT)Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, ^31 (AU)and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites ^(AV)burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. ³² So they feared the Lord, ^(AW)and from every class they appointed for themselves priests of the ^[c]high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. ^33 (AX)They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods—according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away.

³⁴ To this day they continue practicing the former rituals; they do not fear the Lord, nor do they follow their statutes or their ordinances, or the law and commandment which the Lord had commanded the children of Jacob, ^(AY)whom He named Israel, ³⁵ with whom the Lord had made a covenant and charged them, saying: ^(AZ)“You shall not fear other gods, nor ^(BA)bow down to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them; ³⁶ but the Lord, who ^(BB)brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and ^(BC)an outstretched arm, ^(BD)Him you shall fear, Him you shall worship, and to Him you shall offer sacrifice. ³⁷ And the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, ^(BE)you shall be careful to observe forever; you shall not fear other gods. ³⁸ And the covenant that I have made with you, ^(BF)you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods. ³⁹ But the Lord your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.” ⁴⁰ However they did not obey, but they followed their former rituals. ^41 (BG)So these nations feared the Lord, yet served their carved images; also their children and their children’s children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day.

Ahaz Reigns in Judah^(A)

28 Ahaz ^(B)was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord, as his father David had done. ² For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made ^(C)molded images for ^(D)the Baals. ³ He burned incense in ^(E)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned ^(F)his children in the ^(G)fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had ^(H)cast out before the children of Israel. ⁴ And he sacrificed and burned incense on the ^[a]high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

Syria and Israel Defeat Judah^(I)

⁵ Therefore ^(J)the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria. They ^(K)defeated him, and carried away a great multitude of them as captives, and brought them to Damascus. Then he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who defeated him with a great slaughter. ⁶ For ^(L)Pekah the son of Remaliah killed one hundred and twenty thousand in Judah in one day, all valiant men, ^(M)because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. ⁷ Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, Azrikam the officer over the house, and Elkanah who was second to the king. ⁸ And the children of Israel carried away captive of their ^(N)brethren two hundred thousand women, sons, and daughters; and they also took away much ^[b]spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.

Israel Returns the Captives

⁹ But a ^(O)prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out before the army that came to Samaria, and said to them: “Look, ^(P)because the Lord God of your fathers was angry with Judah, He has delivered them into your hand; but you have killed them in a rage that ^(Q)reaches up to heaven. ¹⁰ And now you propose to force the children of Judah and Jerusalem to be your ^(R)male and female slaves; but are you not also guilty before the Lord your God? ¹¹ Now hear me, therefore, and return the captives, whom you have taken captive from your brethren, ^(S)for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you.”

¹² Then some of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who came from the war, ¹³ and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives here, for we already have offended the Lord. You intend to add to our sins and to our guilt; for our guilt is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.” ¹⁴ So the armed men left the captives and the ^[c]spoil before the leaders and all the assembly. ¹⁵ Then the men ^(T)who were designated by name rose up and took the captives, and from the ^[d]spoil they clothed all who were naked among them, dressed them and gave them sandals, ^(U)gave them food and drink, and anointed them; and they let all the feeble ones ride on donkeys. So they brought them to their brethren at Jericho, ^(V)the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.

Assyria Refuses to Help Judah^(W)

^16 (X)At the same time King Ahaz sent to the ^[e]kings of Assyria to help him. ¹⁷ For again the ^(Y)Edomites had come, attacked Judah, and carried away captives. ^18 (Z)The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Sochoh with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages; and they dwelt there. ¹⁹ For the Lord ^[f]brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of ^(AA)Israel, for he had ^(AB)encouraged moral decline in Judah and had been continually unfaithful to the Lord. ²⁰ Also ^(AC)Tiglath-Pileser^[g] king of Assyria came to him and distressed him, and did not assist him. ²¹ For Ahaz took part of the treasures from the house of the Lord, from the house of the king, and from the leaders, and he gave it to the king of Assyria; but he did not help him.

Apostasy and Death of Ahaz^(AD)

²² Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the Lord. This is that King Ahaz. ²³ For ^(AE)he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him, saying, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them ^(AF)that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. ²⁴ So Ahaz gathered the articles of the house of God, cut in pieces the articles of the house of God, ^(AG)shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. ²⁵ And in every single city of Judah he made ^[h]high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers.

^26 (AH)Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷ So Ahaz ^[i]rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem; but they ^(AI)did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

God the Refuge of His People and Conqueror of the Nations

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song ^(A)for Alamoth.

The Untamable Tongue

3 My brethren, ^(A)let not many of you become teachers, ^(B)knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. ² For ^(C)we all stumble in many things. ^(D)If anyone does not stumble in word, ^(E)he is a ^[a]perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. ^3 [b]Indeed, ^(F)we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. ⁴ Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. ⁵ Even so ^(G)the tongue is a little member and ^(H)boasts great things.

See how great a forest a little fire kindles! ⁶ And ^(I)the tongue is a fire, a world of ^[c]iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it ^(J)defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of ^[d]nature; and it is set on fire by ^[e]hell. ⁷ For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. ⁸ But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, ^(K)full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made ^(L)in the ^[f]similitude of God. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. ¹¹ Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? ¹² Can a ^(M)fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? ^[g]Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.

Heavenly Versus Demonic Wisdom

^13 (N)Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have ^(O)bitter envy and ^[h]self-seeking in your hearts, ^(P)do not boast and lie against the truth. ^15 (Q)This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. ¹⁶ For ^(R)where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. ¹⁷ But ^(S)the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, ^(T)without partiality ^(U)and without hypocrisy. ^18 (V)Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.