2 Kings 17: The Fall of Israel – Clear & Engaging Audio Bible Reading | Assyrian Conquest, Israel’s Sinful Nature, and Abandonment of God

Listen to this clear and engaging audio recording of 2 Kings 17, as it recounts the fall of Israel to the Assyrians. Follow the story of how Israel’s sinful nature led to their ultimate abandonment of God, and how the Assyrians conquered them. Perfect for study, reflection, or meditation, immerse yourself in this powerful and sobering chapter of the Bible.

2 KINGS 17 (NIV)

1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king
of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years.

2 He did evil in the eyes of
the Lord, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.

3 Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up to attack Hoshea, who had been
Shalmaneser’s vassal and had paid him tribute.

4 But the king of Assyria
discovered that Hoshea was a traitor, for he had sent envoys to So king of
Egypt, and he no longer paid tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done
year by year. Therefore Shalmaneser seized him and put him in prison.

5 The
king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid
siege to it for three years.

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of
Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled
them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes.

7 All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their
God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king
of Egypt. They worshiped other gods

8 and followed the practices of the
nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the
kings of Israel had introduced.

9 The Israelites secretly did things against
the Lord their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they
built themselves high places in all their towns.

10 They set up sacred stones
and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree.

11 At
every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the Lord had driven
out before them had done. They did wicked things that aroused the Lord’s
anger.

12 They worshiped idols, though the Lord had said, “You shall not do
this.”

13 The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers:
“Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with
the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to
you through my servants the prophets.”

14 But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who
did not trust in the Lord their God.

15 They rejected his decrees and the
covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them
to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They
imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not
do as they do.”

16 They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves
two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to
all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal.

17 They sacrificed their sons
and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens and sold
themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.

18 So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence.
Only the tribe of Judah was left,

19 and even Judah did not keep the commands
of the Lord their God. They followed the practices Israel had introduced.

20
Therefore the Lord rejected all the people of Israel; he afflicted them and
gave them into the hands of plunderers, until he thrust them from his
presence.

21 When he tore Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of
Nebat their king. Jeroboam enticed Israel away from following the Lord and
caused them to commit a great sin.

22 The Israelites persisted in all the sins
of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them

23 until the Lord removed them
from his presence, as he had warned through all his servants the prophets. So
the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria, and
they are still there.

24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and
Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites.
They took over Samaria and lived in its towns.

25 When they first lived there,
they did not worship the Lord; so he sent lions among them and they killed
some of the people.

26 It was reported to the king of Assyria: “The people you
deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of
that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them
off, because the people do not know what he requires.”

27 Then the king of Assyria gave this order: “Have one of the priests you took
captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god
of the land requires.”

28 So one of the priests who had been exiled from
Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the Lord.

29 Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods in the several towns
where they settled, and set them up in the shrines the people of Samaria had
made at the high places.

30 The people from Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth, those
from Kuthah made Nergal, and those from Hamath made Ashima;

31 the Avvites
made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire
as sacrifices to Adrammelek and Anammelek, the gods of Sepharvaim.

32 They
worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to
officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places.

33 They
worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the
customs of the nations from which they had been brought.

34 To this day they persist in their former practices. They neither worship
the Lord nor adhere to the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands that
the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel.

35 When the Lord
made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: “Do not worship any
other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them.

36 But the
Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm,
is the one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer
sacrifices.

37 You must always be careful to keep the decrees and regulations,
the laws and commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods.

38 Do not
forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods.

39
Rather, worship the Lord your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand
of all your enemies.”

40 They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices.

41
Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their
idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their
ancestors did.