American King James Version - AKJV - 1999
2 Kings 17
1
In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.
2
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.
3
Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.
Reference
People
Parallel theme
Hosea 10:14
4
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.
People
5
Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
Reference
Parallel theme
Hosea 13:16
6
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.
Reference
📍 Locations
7
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,
Reference
8
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.
Reference
9
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.
Reference
Parallel theme
2 Kings 18:8
11
And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and worked wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger:
12
For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said to them, You shall not do this thing.
13
Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn you 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.
Reference
Evil
Jeremiah 18:11
Deuteronomy 31:21
Prophecy
Jeremiah 35:15
1 Samuel 9:9
References Israel
Ezekiel 18:31
14
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.
Reference
15
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.
Reference
Covenant
Jeremiah 31:32
Creation
1 Kings 16:13
Parallel theme
Deuteronomy 32:21
Psalm 115:8
Jeremiah 44:4
Jeremiah 10:8
Jeremiah 10:15
References Lord
Jeremiah 2:5
Jeremiah 8:9
Jeremiah 44:23
16
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.
Reference
Creation
1 Kings 12:28
1 Kings 14:15
1 Kings 16:33
1 Kings 15:13
2 Kings 21:3
Parallel theme
1 Kings 14:23
References Lord
2 Kings 11:18
Worship
1 Kings 16:31
Deuteronomy 4:19
1 Kings 22:53
17
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.
Reference
Evil
2 Kings 21:6
1 Kings 21:20
1 Kings 21:25
Parallel theme
Ezekiel 23:37
Leviticus 19:26
Micah 5:12
References Lord
2 Kings 16:3
Leviticus 18:21
18
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.
Reference
Parallel theme
1 Kings 11:13
1 Kings 11:36
References Israel
1 Kings 11:32
1 Kings 12:20
Hosea 11:12
19
Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.
Reference
20
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.
Reference
21
For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin.
Reference
22
For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them;
23
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 to this day.
Reference
Prophecy
2 Kings 17:13
References Israel
2 Kings 17:6
1 Kings 14:16
References Lord
Amos 5:27
2 Kings 17:20
2 Kings 17:18
24
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 dwelled in the cities thereof.
Reference
📍 Locations
25
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.
Reference
26
Why they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which you have removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he has sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.
27
Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom you brought from there; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.
28
Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelled in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.
29
However, 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 dwelled.
Reference
30
And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
📍 Locations
31
And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
Reference
📍 Sepharvaim
32
So they feared the LORD, and made to themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.
Reference
33
They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from there.
Reference
34
To 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;
Reference
References Israel
Genesis 32:28
Genesis 35:10
References Lord
Isaiah 48:1
2 Kings 17:25
2 Kings 17:33
Word
1 Kings 18:31
35
With whom the LORD had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, You shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:
Reference
Covenant
Joshua 23:16
2 Kings 17:15
Parallel theme
Jeremiah 10:5
References God
Judges 6:10
Joshua 23:7
36
But the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall you fear, and him shall you worship, and to him shall you do sacrifice.
Reference
37
And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, you shall observe to do for ever more; and you shall not fear other gods.
Reference
38
And the covenant that I have made with you you shall not forget; neither shall you fear other gods.
Reference
39
But the LORD your God you shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.
Reference
Parallel theme
Jeremiah 10:7
Nehemiah 9:27
Matthew 10:28
Luke 1:50
References Lord
2 Kings 17:36
1 Samuel 12:24
40
However, they did not listen, but they did after their former manner.
Summary of 2 Kings 17
This chapter records the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel and explains why this disaster occurred. It is one of the most important historical and theological chapters in 2 Kings because it marks the end of Israel as an independent kingdom and connects that destruction with generations of covenant rebellion.
Hoshea becomes the final king of Israel. At first he submits to Assyria and pays tribute to Shalmaneser, but he later stops paying and seeks help from Egypt. Assyria responds by invading Israel and besieging Samaria. After a three-year siege, Samaria falls around 722 BC, and large numbers of Israelites are deported to different parts of the Assyrian Empire.
The writer makes clear that Israel's destruction was not simply the result of Assyria's military power. Israel had repeatedly rejected the Lord. The people worshiped idols, served Baal, maintained golden calves, built high places, worshiped heavenly bodies, practiced sorcery, and even sacrificed their children. God repeatedly sent prophets to warn them, but they refused to listen.
The chapter then describes what happened after the deportation. Assyria brought people from Babylon and several other regions and settled them in the cities of Samaria. These newcomers experienced attacks by lions and concluded that they needed to learn how to worship the God of the land. A priest from Samaria was therefore returned to teach them.
However, the new inhabitants did not completely abandon their former gods. They worshiped the Lord while continuing to serve their own idols. This created a mixed religious system that became characteristic of the later Samaritan population.
The central message of the chapter is that God's judgment followed generations of persistent rebellion and rejected warnings. Israel's fall was not sudden or unexpected. God had repeatedly called the people back to Him, but they refused.
At the same time, the chapter emphasizes God's faithfulness to His covenant. He had clearly told Israel how to live and whom to worship. Their failure to obey eventually brought the consequences He had warned about.
Hoshea becomes the final king of Israel. At first he submits to Assyria and pays tribute to Shalmaneser, but he later stops paying and seeks help from Egypt. Assyria responds by invading Israel and besieging Samaria. After a three-year siege, Samaria falls around 722 BC, and large numbers of Israelites are deported to different parts of the Assyrian Empire.
The writer makes clear that Israel's destruction was not simply the result of Assyria's military power. Israel had repeatedly rejected the Lord. The people worshiped idols, served Baal, maintained golden calves, built high places, worshiped heavenly bodies, practiced sorcery, and even sacrificed their children. God repeatedly sent prophets to warn them, but they refused to listen.
The chapter then describes what happened after the deportation. Assyria brought people from Babylon and several other regions and settled them in the cities of Samaria. These newcomers experienced attacks by lions and concluded that they needed to learn how to worship the God of the land. A priest from Samaria was therefore returned to teach them.
However, the new inhabitants did not completely abandon their former gods. They worshiped the Lord while continuing to serve their own idols. This created a mixed religious system that became characteristic of the later Samaritan population.
The central message of the chapter is that God's judgment followed generations of persistent rebellion and rejected warnings. Israel's fall was not sudden or unexpected. God had repeatedly called the people back to Him, but they refused.
At the same time, the chapter emphasizes God's faithfulness to His covenant. He had clearly told Israel how to live and whom to worship. Their failure to obey eventually brought the consequences He had warned about.