17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah reigned hath Hoshea son of Elah in Samaria, over Israel -- nine years,

² and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, only, not as the kings of Israel who were before him;

³ against him came up Shalmaneser king of Asshur, and Hoshea is to him a servant, and doth render to him a present.

⁴ And the king of Asshur findeth in Hoshea a conspiracy, in that he hath sent messengers unto So king of Egypt, and hath not caused a present to go up to the king of Asshur, as year by year, and the king of Asshur restraineth him, and bindeth him in a house of restraint.

⁵ And the king of Asshur goeth up into all the land, and he goeth up to Samaria, and layeth siege against it three years;

⁶ in the ninth year of Hoshea hath the king of Asshur captured Samaria, and removeth Israel to Asshur, and causeth them to dwell in Halah, and in Habor, [by] the river Gozan, and [in] the cities of the Medes.

⁷ And it cometh to pass, because the sons of Israel have sinned against Jehovah their God -- who bringeth them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt -- and fear other gods,

⁸ and walk in the statutes of the nations that Jehovah dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel, and of the kings of Israel that they made;

⁹ and the sons of Israel do covertly things that [are] not right against Jehovah their God, and build for them high places in all their cities, from a tower of the watchers unto the fenced city,

¹⁰ and set up for them standing-pillars and shrines on every high height, and under every green tree,

¹¹ and make perfume there in all high places, like the nations that Jehovah removed from their presence, and do evil things to provoke Jehovah,

¹² and serve the idols, of which Jehovah said to them, `Ye do not do this thing;'

¹³ And Jehovah testifieth against Israel, and against Judah, by the hand of every prophet, and every seer, saying, `Turn back from your evil ways, and keep My commands, My statutes, according to all the law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent unto you by the hand of My servants the prophets;'

¹⁴ and they have not hearkened, and harden their neck, like the neck of their fathers, who did not remain stedfast in Jehovah their God,

¹⁵ and reject His statutes and His covenant that He made with their fathers, and His testimonies that He testified against them, and go after the vain thing, and become vain, and after the nations that are round about them, of whom Jehovah commanded them not to do like them;

¹⁶ And they forsake all the commands of Jehovah their God, and make to them a molten image -- two calves, and make a shrine, and bow themselves to all the host of the heavens, and serve Baal,

¹⁷ and cause their sons and their daughters to pass over through fire, and divine divinations, and use enchantments, and sell themselves to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, to provoke Him;

¹⁸ That Jehovah sheweth himself very angry against Israel, and turneth them aside from His presence; none hath been left, only the tribe of Judah by itself.

¹⁹ Also Judah hath not kept the commands of Jehovah their God, and they walk in the statutes of Israel that they had made.

²⁰ And Jehovah kicketh against all the seed of Israel, and afflicteth them, and giveth them into the hand of spoilers, till that He hath cast them out of His presence,

²¹ for He hath rent Israel from the house of David, and they make Jeroboam son of Nebat king, and Jeroboam driveth Israel from after Jehovah, and hath caused them to sin a great sin,

²² and the sons of Israel walk in all the sins of Jeroboam that he did, they have not turned aside therefrom,

²³ till that Jehovah hath turned Israel aside from His presence, as He spake by the hand of all His servants the prophets, and Israel is removed from off its land to Asshur, unto this day.

²⁴ And the king of Asshur bringeth in from Babylon and from Cutha, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and causeth [them] to dwell in the cities of Samaria instead of the sons of Israel, and they possess Samaria, and dwell in its cities;

²⁵ and it cometh to pass, at the commencement of their dwelling there, they have not feared Jehovah, and Jehovah doth send among them the lions, and they are destroying among them.

²⁶ And they speak to the king of Asshur, saying, `The nations that thou hast removed, and dost place in the cities of Samaria, have not known the custom of the God of the land, and He sendeth among them the lions, and lo, they are destroying them, as they do not know the custom of the God of the land.'

²⁷ And the king of Asshur commandeth, saying, `Cause to go thither one of the priests whom ye removed thence, and they go and dwell there, and he doth teach them the custom of the God of the land.'

²⁸ And one of the priests whom they removed from Samaria cometh in, and dwelleth in Beth-El, and he is teaching them how they do fear Jehovah,

²⁹ and they are making each nation its gods, and place [them] in the houses of the high places that the Samaritans have made, each nation in their cities where they are dwelling.

³⁰ And the men of Babylon have made Succoth-Benoth, and the men of Cuth have made Nergal, and the men of Hamath have made Ashima,

³¹ and the Avites have made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites are burning their sons with fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, gods of Sepharvim.

³² And they are fearing Jehovah, and make to themselves from their extremities priests of high places, and they are acting for them in the house of the high places.

³³ Jehovah they are fearing, and their gods they are serving, according to the custom of the nations whence they removed them.

³⁴ Unto this day they are doing according to the former customs -- they are not fearing Jehovah, and are not doing according to their statutes, and according to their ordinances, and according to the law, and according to the command, that Jehovah commanded the sons of Jacob whose name He made Israel,

³⁵ and Jehovah maketh with them a covenant, and chargeth them, saying, `Ye do not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them,

³⁶ but Jehovah who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a stretched-out arm, Him ye do fear, and to Him ye bow yourselves, and to Him ye do sacrifice;

³⁷ and the statutes, and the judgments, and the law, and the command, that He wrote for you, ye observe to do all the days, and ye do not fear other gods;

³⁸ and the covenant that I have made with you ye do not forget, and ye do not fear other gods;

³⁹ but Jehovah your God ye do fear, and He doth deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies;'

⁴⁰ and they have not hearkened, but according to their former custom they are doing,

⁴¹ and these nations are fearing Jehovah, and their graven images they have served, both their sons and their sons' sons; as their fathers did, they are doing unto this day.

18 And it cometh to pass, in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, reigned hath Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah;

² a son of twenty and five years was he in his reigning, and twenty and nine years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Abi daughter of Zechariah.

³ And he doth that which [is] right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that David his father did,

⁴ he hath turned aside the high places, and broken in pieces the standing-pillars, and cut down the shrine, and beaten down the brazen serpent that Moses made, for unto these days were the sons of Israel making perfume to it, and he calleth it `a piece of brass.'

⁵ In Jehovah, God of Israel, he hath trusted, and after him there hath not been like him among all the kings of Judah, nor [among any] who were before him;

⁶ and he cleaveth to Jehovah, he hath not turned aside from after Him, and keepeth His commands that Jehovah commanded Moses.

⁷ And Jehovah hath been with him, in every place where he goeth out he acteth wisely, and he rebelleth against the king of Asshur, and hath not served him;

⁸ he hath smitten the Philistines unto Gaza, and its borders, from a tower of watchers unto the fenced city.

⁹ And it cometh to pass, in the fourth year of king Hezekiah -- it [is] the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel -- come up hath Shalmaneser king of Asshur against Samaria, and layeth siege to it,

¹⁰ and they capture it at the end of three years; in the sixth year of Hezekiah -- it [is] the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel -- hath Samaria been captureth,

¹¹ and the king of Asshur removeth Israel to Asshur, and placed them in Halah, and in Habor [by] the river Gozan, and [in] cities of the Medes,

¹² because that they have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah their God, and transgress His covenant -- all that He commanded Moses, servant of Jehovah -- yea, they have not hearkened nor done [it].

¹³ And in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah hath Sennacherib king of Asshur come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and seizeth them,

¹⁴ and Hezekiah king of Judah sendeth unto the king of Asshur to Lachish, saying, `I have sinned, turn back from off me; that which thou puttest on me I bear;' and the king of Asshur layeth on Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold,

¹⁵ and Hezekiah giveth all the silver that is found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the house of the king;

¹⁶ at that time hath Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Jehovah, and the pillars that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and giveth them to the king of Asshur.

¹⁷ And the king of Asshur sendeth Tartan, and the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the butlers, from Lachish, unto king Hezekiah, with a heavy force, to Jerusalem, and they go up and come in to Jerusalem, and they go up, and come in and stand by the conduit of the upper pool that [is] in the highway of the fuller's field.

¹⁸ And they call unto the king, and go out unto them doth Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who [is] over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the remembrancer.

¹⁹ And the chief of the butlers saith unto them, `Say, I pray you, unto Hezekiah, Thus said the great king, the king of Asshur, What [is] this confidence in which thou hast confided?

²⁰ Thou hast said: Only a word of the lips! counsel and might [are] for battle; now, on whom hast thou trusted that thou hast rebelled against me?

²¹ `Now, lo, thou hast trusted for thee on the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; which a man leaneth on, and it hath gone into his hand, and pierced it! -- so [is] Pharaoh king of Egypt to all those trusting on him.

²² `And when ye say unto me, Unto Jehovah our God we have trusted, is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath turned aside, and saith to Judah and to Jerusalem, Before this altar do ye bow yourselves in Jerusalem?

²³ `And, now, give a pledge for thee, I pray thee, to my lord the king of Asshur, and I give to thee two thousand horses, if thou art able to give for thee riders on them.

²⁴ And how dost thou turn back the face of one captain of the least of the servants of my lord, that thou dost trust for thee on Egypt for chariot, and for horsemen?

²⁵ Now, without Jehovah have I come up against this place to destroy it? Jehovah said unto me, Go up against this land, and thou hast destroyed it.'

²⁶ And Eliakim son of Hilkiah saith -- and Shebna, and Joah -- to the chief of the butlers, `Speak, we pray thee, unto thy servants [in] Aramaean, for we are understanding, and do not speak with us [in] Jewish, in the ears of the people who [are] on the wall.'

²⁷ And the chief of the butlers saith unto them, `For thy lord, and unto thee, hath my lord sent me to speak these words? is it not for the men, those sitting on the wall to eat their own dung and to drink their own water, with you?'

²⁸ And the chief of the butlers standeth and calleth with a great voice [in] Jewish, and speaketh and saith, `Hear ye a word of the great king, the king of Asshur:

²⁹ thus said the king, Let not Hezekiah lift you up, for he is not able to deliver you out of his hand;

³⁰ and let not Hezekiah make you trust unto Jehovah, saying, Jehovah doth certainly deliver us, and this city is not given into the hand of the king of Asshur.

³¹ `Do not hearken unto Hezekiah, for thus said the king of Asshur, Make with me a blessing, and come out unto me, and eat ye each of his vine, and each of his fig-tree, and drink ye each the waters of his own well,

³² till my coming in, and I have taken you unto a land like your own land, a land of corn and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive, and honey, and live, and die not; and do not hearken unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, Jehovah doth deliver us.

³³ `Have the gods of the nations delivered at all each his land out of the hand of the king of Asshur?

³⁴ Where [are] the gods of Hamath and Arpad? where the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah, that they have delivered Samaria out of my hand?

³⁵ Who [are they] among all the gods of the lands that have delivered their land out of my hand, that Jehovah doth deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'

³⁶ And the people have kept silent, and have not answered him a word, for the command of the king is, saying, `Do not answer him.'

³⁷ And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who [is] over the house, cometh in, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the remembrancer, unto Hezekiah, with rent garments, and they declare to him the words of the chief of the butlers.