rsv 2Kings:17:24-41 SEEK
Seeker Overlay ON
*
And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon ,
Cuthah ,
Avva ,
Hamath ,
and Sephar-va '
im ,
and placed them in the cities of Sama '
ria instead of the people of Israel ;
and they took possession of Sama '
ria ,
and dwelt in its cities .
*
And at the beginning of their dwelling there ,
they did not fear the LORD ;
therefore the LORD sent lions among them ,
which killed some of them .
*
So the king of Assyria was told , "
The nations which you have carried away and placed in the cities of Sama '
ria do not know the law of the god of the land ;
therefore he has sent lions among them ,
and behold ,
they are killing them ,
because they do not know the law of the god of the land ."
*
Then the king of Assyria commanded , "
Send there one of the priests whom you carried away thence ;
and let him go and dwell there ,
and teach them the law of the god of the land ."
*
So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Sama '
ria came and dwelt in Bethel ,
and taught them how they should fear the LORD .
*
But every nation still made gods of its own ,
and put them in the shrines of the high places which the Samaritans had made ,
every nation in the cities in which they dwelt ;
*
the men of Babylon made Suc '
coth-be '
noth ,
the men of Cuth made Nergal ,
the men of Hamath made Ashi '
ma ,
*
and the Av '
vites made Nibhaz and Tartak ;
and the Sephar '
vites burned their children in the fire to Adram '
melech and Anam '
melech ,
the gods of Sephar-va '
im .
*
They also feared the LORD ,
and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places ,
who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places .
*
So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods ,
after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away .
*
To this day they do according to the former manner .
They do not fear the LORD ,
and they do not follow the statutes or the ordinances or the law or the commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob ,
whom he named Israel .
*
The LORD made a covenant with them ,
and commanded them , "
You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them ;
*
but you shall fear the LORD ,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm ;
you shall bow yourselves to him ,
and to him you shall sacrifice .
*
And the statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which he wrote for you ,
you shall always be careful to do .
You shall not fear other gods ,
*
and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you .
You shall not fear other gods ,
*
but you shall fear the LORD your God ,
and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies ."
*
However they would not listen ,
but they did according to their former manner .
*
So these nations feared the LORD ,
and also served their graven images ;
their children likewise ,
and their children '
s children--as their fathers did ,
so they do to this day .