1In the twelfth year of Akhaz, King of Yehuda, Hosha, son of Elah, was made king over Israel in Samaria nine years. 2And he did evil before LORD JEHOVAH, however, not as the Kings of Israel who were before him. 3Shalmanesar, King of Assyria, went up against him, and Hosha was a Servant to him and he brought him a gift. 4And the King of Assyria found rebellion in Hosha, and he sent Messengers to So, King of Egypt, and he offered no gift to the King of Assyria as that in every year before, and the King of Assyria held him and bound him in the house of prisoners.

5And the King of Assyria came up against all the land and came up to Samaria and he encamped against it three years.

6And in the ninth year of Hosha, the King of Assyria subdued Samaria, and he led captive the children of Israel to Assyria and settled them in Khalakh and at Khabar the River of Gawzan, cities of Media.

7And it was when the children of Israel sinned against LORD JEHOVAH their God who brought them forth from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods 8And they walked in the custom of the Gentiles whom LORD JEHOVAH destroyed from before the children of Israel 9And the children of Israel spoke words that are not good against LORD JEHOVAH their God, they and their Kings, and built up for themselves high places in all their cities, from the tower of Watchmen and unto the city fortress 10And they appointed to themselves statues and idols on every hill that is high and under every tree that is thick 11And they placed incense there on the high places like the Gentiles whom LORD JEHOVAH destroyed from before them, and they did evil things to provoke anger before LORD JEHOVAH 12And they worked for idols of which LORD JEHOVAH said to them: “You shall not do this thing” 13And LORD JEHOVAH testified in Israel and in Yehuda by the hand of all of his Servants the Prophets and all the Seers, and he said: “Return from your evil ways and keep my commands and my covenant according to the Law that I commanded your fathers and like that which I sent to them by the hand of my Servants the Prophets” 14And they did not listen, and they hardened their necks more than the necks of their fathers, and they did not believe in LORD JEHOVAH their God 15And they rejected my covenant and my commandments that I commanded their fathers, and the testimonies that I testified to them, and they went after nothing and they gained nothing, but they went after the Gentiles concerning which LORD JEHOVAH commanded them: ”You shall not do as they do” 16And they abandoned all the commandments of LORD JEHOVAH their God, and they made for themselves molten images, two calves, and they made sacrifices to feared things, and they bowed to all the host of Heaven and they worked for Baal 17And they put their children and their daughters into fire and they divined oracles and they practiced sorcery and they conceived to do everything that is evil before LORD JEHOVAH to anger him 18And LORD JEHOVAH was very angry against Israel, and he removed them from before him, and none was left except the tribe of Yehuda only

19Also, the children of Yehuda did not keep the commandments of LORD JEHOVAH their God, and they walked in the law of Israel which had done evil before LORD JEHOVAH, and they angered him all the days 20And LORD JEHOVAH despised all the seed of Israel, and he despised them and delivered them into the hand of plunderers until he drove them out from before his face.

21Because those of the house Israel had departed from following after David, and they made Yorbaam, son of Nebat, king over them, and Yorbaam led Israel astray after LORD JEHOVAH and caused them to sin great sin. 22And the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Yorbaam that he did, and they did not depart from them 23Until LORD JEHOVAH removed Israel from before him, as LORD JEHOVAH had said by the agency of all the Prophets, and he led the children of Israel captive from their land to Assyria until today.

24And the King of Assyria brought some from Babel, and from Kuth, and from Awa, and from Khamath and from Sepharvaim, and he settled them in the towns of Samaria in the place of the children Israel, and they possessed Samaria and they dwelt in its towns. 25And from the beginning, when they dwelt there, they were not in awe of LORD JEHOVAH, and LORD JEHOVAH sent lionesses against them, and they were killing among them. 26And they told the King of Assyria, and they said to him: “The nations which you took captive and you have settled in the towns of Samaria do not know the judgment of the God of the land, and he sent lionesses upon them, and behold, they are killing among them, because they do not know the judgment of the God of the land!”

27And the King of Assyria commanded and said: “Bring out there one of the Priests whom you have taken captive from there, and he shall go and he shall dwell there and shall teach them the judgment of the God of the land.” 28And one of the Priests whom they took captive from Samaria came and he dwelt in Bayth Eil, and he was teaching them so that they would stand in awe before LORD JEHOVAH.

29And they were serving each people its god, and they abandoned the houses of the high places that they had made in Samaria with the people in their towns, wherever they were dwelling. 30And the men of Babel were serving Sakuth Benuth, and the men of Kuth were serving Nergel, and the men of Khamath were serving Ashima. 31And the Avites were serving Yabzakh and Tartaq and the Sepharvites were burning up their children in fire for Ardamlek and Amaliq, the gods of Sapharvim. 32And they were worshiping LORD JEHOVAH and made some of them Priests of the high places for themselves, and they were serving them in a house of high places. 33They were worshiping LORD JEHOVAH and they were working for their gods, according to the custom of the Gentiles, and they led the children of Israel captive from their land until today

34Because they forsook LORD JEHOVAH and they did according to the custom of the Gentiles and did not stand in awe of LORD JEHOVAH, and they did not do according to the covenant or according to the judgment or according to the law or according to the commandment that LORD JEHOVAH had commanded the children of Yaqob, whom he named with his name Israel. 35And LORD JEHOVAH covenanted a covenant with them and commanded them and said: “You shall not fear other gods and you shall not worship them and you shall not work for them and you shall not sacrifice to them. 36But work for LORD JEHOVAH who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with a high arm; work for him and worship him, and to him do sacrifice. 37And the covenants and the judgments and the laws and the commandments that he wrote to you, keep and do all the days. You shall not be in awe of other gods. 38And the covenant that I have covenanted with you, you shall not forget, and you shall not fear the gods of the Gentiles. 39But revere LORD JEHOVAH your God, and he delivers you from the hand of all your enemies.” 40And they did not listen, but they were doing according to their former custom. 41And there were also these Gentiles who dwelt in Samaria who worshiped LORD JEHOVAH, and they were working for their carved images, as were also their children, also their grandchildren, and as their fathers had done, they have been doing also until today.