Study Desk

But one year Hoshea sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, asking for his help, and stopped paying the annual tribute to Assyria. When Shalmaneser learned of this, he had Hoshea arrested and put in prison.

They sacrificed their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to pagan gods; they consulted mediums and fortunetellers, and they devoted themselves completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord 's sight, and so aroused his anger.

until at last the Lord banished them from his sight, as he had warned through his servants the prophets that he would do. So the people of Israel were taken into exile to Assyria, where they still live.

When they first settled there, they did not worship the Lord , and so he sent lions, which killed some of them.

The emperor of Assyria was told that the people he had settled in the cities of Samaria did not know the law of the god of that land, and so the god had sent lions, which were killing them.

So the emperor commanded: "Send back one of the priests we brought as prisoners; have him go back and live there, in order to teach the people the law of the god of that land."

So an Israelite priest who had been deported from Samaria went and lived in Bethel, where he taught the people how to worship the Lord .

So they worshiped the Lord , but they also worshiped their own gods according to the customs of the countries from which they had come.

So those people worshiped the Lord , but they also worshiped their idols; and to this day their descendants continue to do the same.

So the Lord was with him, and he was successful in everything he did. He rebelled against the emperor of Assyria and refused to submit to him.

One of the Assyrian officials told them that the emperor wanted to know what made King Hezekiah so confident.

The Assyrian emperor has sent his chief official to insult the living God. May the Lord your God hear these insults and punish those who spoke them. So pray to God for those of our people who survive."

The Assyrian official learned that the emperor had left Lachish and was fighting against the nearby city of Libnah; so he went there to consult him.

Now, Lord our God, rescue us from the Assyrians, so that all the nations of the world will know that only you, O Lord , are God."

About that same time the king of Babylonia, Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, heard that King Hezekiah had been sick, so he sent him a letter and a present.

King Hezekiah understood this to mean that there would be peace and security during his lifetime, so he replied, "The message you have given me from the Lord is good."

So I, the Lord God of Israel, will bring such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about it will be stunned.

Manasseh killed so many innocent people that the streets of Jerusalem were flowing with blood; he did this in addition to leading the people of Judah into idolatry, causing them to sin against the Lord .

The men in charge of the work are thoroughly honest, so there is no need to require them to account for the funds."

They have rejected me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and so have stirred up my anger by all they have done. My anger is aroused against Jerusalem, and it will not die down.