2 Kings Chapter 17
Showing all 41 verses for 2 Kings Chapter 17.
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"In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. "
"In the twelfth year that Ahaz was king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned for nine years."
Endings rarely arrive out of nowhere - they're usually the last chapter of a story that's been writing itself for years. I want you to look honestly at where your own patterns are heading, before the ending writes itself.
"And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. "
"Hoshea did what was evil in the LORD's sight, but not as badly as the kings of Israel before him."
I'm not interested in comparing yourself favourably to people worse than you - that's not the same as living well. Being 'less bad' than your worst moments isn't the goal; wholehearted change is.
"Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents. "
"Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked Hoshea, who submitted to him as a vassal and paid him tribute."
Some situations call for humility and negotiation rather than pride - even Hoshea, for a time, chose survival over posturing. I don't shame you for making the pragmatic choice to keep your family or community safe.
"And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present 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. "
"But the king of Assyria discovered Hoshea was plotting against him - he'd sent envoys to So, king of Egypt, and stopped paying the annual tribute. So the king of Assyria arrested him and put him in prison."
I'd ask you to notice when you're placing your security in something that looks strong but has no real commitment to you. Trust that isn't grounded in something faithful and true tends to collapse exactly when you need it most.
"Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. "
"Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole country and marched on Samaria, laying siege to it for three years."
Decisions made by those in power ripple out and land hardest on people who had no say in them. I care about the ordinary people inside besieged Samaria as much as anyone named in the history books - and I ask you to think of the same when your own choices affect others who can't opt out.
"In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. "
"In Hoshea's ninth year, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria, settling them in Halah, in Habor by the river Gozan, and in the towns of the Medes."
I don't gloss over real catastrophe - displacement, loss of home, of identity, of community - it's genuine grief, and I sit with anyone carrying that kind of loss today, whether from war, exile, or upheaval. But nothing here erases anyone's worth in my eyes, wherever they end up scattered.
"For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, "
"All this happened because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of Egypt, out of Pharaoh's power - and they had gone and worshipped other gods instead."
I ask you to notice what you actually put your trust in day to day - money, status, approval, control - because whatever holds that place quietly shapes who you become. Come back to what has actually been faithful to you, rather than what only glitters.
"And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. "
"They lived by the customs of the nations the LORD had driven out ahead of them, and by customs the kings of Israel themselves had invented."
I notice how easy it is to just absorb whatever your surroundings normalise, or to invent your own convenient version of what's right rather than doing the harder work of real integrity. I invite you to actually examine your habits rather than drift with the crowd.
"And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. "
"The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that weren't right, and they built themselves shrines on high places in every town, from small watchtowers to fortified cities."
What you do when no one's watching is who you actually are - I'd rather you have integrity in private than perform virtue in public. Bring the hidden things into the light rather than letting them multiply unseen.
"And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: "
"They set up sacred stone pillars and wooden poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree."
The most dangerous habits aren't the dramatic ones - they're the ones so normal you stop noticing them. I ask you to occasionally step back and really look at what's become 'just how things are' in your life.
"And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger: "
"They burned incense there at all the high places, just like the nations the LORD had driven out before them, and they did wicked things that provoked the LORD to anger."
I want you to actually learn from history - including your own - rather than just repeat it with new decoration. This isn't about anger for its own sake; it's grief over wasted opportunity to do better with what you were given.
"For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing. "
"They served idols, even though the LORD had told them plainly, 'You must not do this.'"
I'd rather you be honest about the lines you know you're crossing than pretend confusion where there is none. Owning that honestly is the first real step towards change.
"Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye 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. "
"Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah repeatedly through every prophet and every seer he sent, saying: 'Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in line with the whole law I gave your ancestors and delivered to you through my servants the prophets.'"
I keep offering you the chance to turn around, over and over, not because I enjoy repeating myself but because I love you and want something better for you than the road you're on. It's never too late to actually listen, right up until it is.
"Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God. "
"But they wouldn't listen. They were stubborn, just as unyielding as their ancestors who hadn't trusted the LORD their God either."
I'm not asking for blind obedience - I'm asking you to be willing to be corrected when you're wrong, which takes more courage than digging in. Breaking an inherited pattern starts with just one person willing to actually change course.
"And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them. "
"They rejected his statutes and the covenant he'd made with their ancestors, and the warnings he'd given them. They chased after worthless things and became worthless themselves, copying the nations around them that the LORD had told them not to imitate."
What you give your attention and devotion to shapes who you become - so I'd ask you to look honestly at whether what you're chasing actually has substance, or whether it's quietly hollowing you out. Come back to what's real and lasting.
"And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. "
"They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made themselves cast metal images - two calf idols - set up an Asherah pole, worshipped the entire array of the sky (sun, moon, stars), and served Baal."
I notice how, once someone stops holding to any clear values, they don't usually settle into calm freedom - they tend to grab at everything shiny that comes along, scattering themselves thin. There's real peace in having a centre that holds.
"And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. "
"They made their sons and daughters pass through fire as offerings, practised divination and sorcery, and sold themselves out to do evil in the LORD's sight, provoking him to anger."
I have zero tolerance for harming children, ever, for any reason - not for ritual, not for convenience, not for anything. If this history unsettles you, let it - some things should unsettle us, and that discomfort is a sign your conscience is intact, not broken.
"Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. "
"So the LORD was furious with Israel and removed them from his presence - nothing was left except the tribe of Judah alone."
Consequences are real, and I don't pretend otherwise - but even here, this isn't the end of the story for these people as individuals. No one is ever beyond the possibility of being found again.
"Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. "
"Judah, too, failed to keep the commandments of the LORD their God - they followed the same customs that Israel had adopted."
I'd ask you not to feel smug watching someone else's downfall while quietly doing the same things yourself. Self-examination matters more than comparison.
"And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight. "
"So the LORD rejected the whole family of Israel, afflicted them, and handed them over to plunderers until he had thrown them out of his sight."
I don't send suffering to punish for its own sake, but I also don't force protection on people determined to walk away from what protects them. My hope is always that you'd come back before it gets to this.
"For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin. "
"When the LORD tore Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king, and Jeroboam led Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin."
I want you to notice how foundational choices - the ones made right at the start of something - tend to shape everything that follows. Build on solid ground from day one, because it's much harder to fix later.
"For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; "
"The Israelites continued in every sin that Jeroboam had committed - they never departed from them."
I want you to know that a bad pattern doesn't correct itself with time - it takes someone actually choosing to interrupt it. Don't wait for the problem to fix itself; be the one who breaks the cycle.
"Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day. "
"Until the LORD removed Israel from his sight, exactly as he had said through all his servants the prophets. So Israel was carried off out of their own land to Assyria, where they remain to this day."
When you're warned clearly and repeatedly and choose to ignore it, the outcome shouldn't be treated as some cosmic injustice - I'd rather you take honest warnings seriously the first time. But even in the aftermath, I never stop being reachable.
"And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and in the cities thereof. "
💡 Highlighted words feature Jacobean 1611 tooltips to clarify shifted 17th-century English terms.
"The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, 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 towns."
I notice how displacement and forced resettlement create real human complexity that lasts generations - and I want you to know that no mixed or complicated heritage puts anyone outside my care. Later in this story, it's exactly a Samaritan I use as the example of true neighbourly love.
"And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew some of them. "
"When they first settled there, they didn't fear the LORD, so the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of the settlers."
I'd gently point out that some dangers really are just practical realities to respect and prepare for, wherever the deeper explanation lies - wisdom means paying attention to your actual circumstances rather than assuming you're exempt from them.
"Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land. "
"So they told the king of Assyria, 'The peoples you resettled in the cities of Samaria don't know the customs of the god of that land, so he's sent lions among them, and look - the lions are killing them, because they don't know the god's customs.'"
I'd want you to see the difference between fearing a set of rules to avoid punishment, and actually knowing and loving the one you're in relationship with. Learning 'the manner of the god of the land' out of fear is a very different thing to genuine trust.
"Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land. "
"So the king of Assyria ordered, 'Send one of the priests you carried off from there back to live among them, and let him teach them the customs of the god of the land.'"
Sometimes the wisest first step is simply seeking real understanding rather than continuing to guess and suffer for it. I welcome anyone who's genuinely seeking to learn, wherever they start from.
"Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD. "
💡 Highlighted words feature Jacobean 1611 tooltips to clarify shifted 17th-century English terms.
"So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came and settled in Bethel, and taught the new settlers how to fear the LORD."
Who teaches you matters, and where they're coming from shapes what gets passed on. I'd encourage you to seek out teaching that's actually been tested and lived with integrity, not just convenient or nearby.
"Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they "
💡 Highlighted words feature Jacobean 1611 tooltips to clarify shifted 17th-century English terms.
"But each nation still made its own gods and set them up in the shrine buildings on the high places that the Samaritans had built, each nation in the towns where they lived."
I don't want to be one option among many competing for a slice of your attention - real trust means letting go of the backup plans, not just adding me to the list. Half-measures rarely bring the peace that whole-hearted commitment does.
"And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, "
"The men of Babylon made a god called Succothbenoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima."
I recognise real cultural and religious diversity as simply a fact of human history - I'm not asking you to erase where you come from, only to be honest about what you're actually giving your devotion to.
"And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. "
"The Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children as offerings to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim."
I hold the same standard of care for every child, everywhere, regardless of whose religion or culture is involved - cruelty to children is never acceptable, full stop, and I grieve every instance of it across all of human history.
"So they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. "
"So they feared the LORD, but they also appointed priests for the high places from among their own people - just anyone - who sacrificed for them at the shrine buildings on the high places."
I care far more about the sincerity and integrity of your heart than about ticking the right procedural boxes. But going through empty motions while missing the substance underneath rarely brings the peace people are actually looking for.
"They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. "
"They feared the LORD, and yet also served their own gods, according to the customs of the nations they had been brought from."
Trying to have it both ways with your deepest commitments tends to leave you at peace with neither. I'd rather you wrestle honestly with one real conviction than manage a comfortable but hollow arrangement of several.
"Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; "
"To this day they still follow their former customs. They don't truly fear the LORD, and they don't follow the statutes, ordinances, law, or commandment that the LORD gave to the descendants of Jacob, whom he renamed Israel."
Just living near good teaching, or having heard it many times, doesn't by itself change anyone - I'm looking for a heart that actually turns, not just years spent in the vicinity of the right ideas. It's never too late to let it actually land.
"With whom the LORD had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them: "
"The LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites and commanded them: 'Do not fear other gods, do not bow down to them, do not serve them, do not sacrifice to them.'"
I ask for one thing, really - your whole heart, not fragments of it divided among a dozen lesser loyalties. That single-mindedness, far from being restrictive, is actually what frees you from constantly managing competing masters.
"But the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice. "
"But the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm - him you shall fear, him you shall worship, and to him you shall offer sacrifice."
I don't ask for your trust out of nowhere - look at what's actually been faithful and freeing in your life, and let that be the foundation you build on, rather than following whatever's simply loud or nearby.
"And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods. "
"You are to observe forever the statutes, ordinances, law, and commandment that he wrote for you - you must not fear other gods."
I'm not interested in short bursts of good behaviour followed by relapse - real change is a whole, ongoing way of living, not a temporary performance. Consistency, over time, is what actually transforms a life.
"And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods. "
"Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not fear other gods."
I'd ask you to build in regular ways of remembering what actually matters to you - because drifting rarely announces itself, it just accumulates quietly until one day you realise you've forgotten who you meant to be.
"But the LORD your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. "
"You shall fear the LORD your God - and he will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies."
I want you to know that what I ask of you isn't a cage - it's actually the path to real freedom and protection from the things that would otherwise destroy you. The relationship was always meant to be for your good.
"Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner. "
"But they did not listen - they carried on in their former ways."
Knowing what's right doesn't automatically translate into doing it - that gap is something I understand deeply, and I'm patient with you in it. But I keep inviting you to close that gap, one honest choice at a time.
"So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day. "
"So these nations feared the LORD while also serving their carved idols - and their children and grandchildren have continued doing exactly what their ancestors did, right up to this day."
I know that patterns passed down through families and communities can feel impossible to break - but I promise you, one person's honest choice to actually change course can be the start of a completely different inheritance for those who come after. You don't have to just repeat what came before you.