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2 Kings 17:1-23 (JDV).

2 Kings 17:1 In the twelfth year of Judah’s King Ahaz, Hoshea son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years.
2 Kings 17:2 He did what was evil in Yahveh’s sight, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.
2 Kings 17:3 King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute.
2 Kings 17:4 But the king of Assyria caught Hoshea in a conspiracy: He had sent envoys to So king of Egypt and had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore, the king of Assyria arrested him and put him in prison.
2 Kings 17:5 The king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.
2 Kings 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria. He deported the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, along the Habor (Gozan’s river), and in the cities of the Medes.
2 Kings 17:7 This disaster happened because the people of Israel failed Yahveh their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt and because they worshiped other gods.
2 Kings 17:8 They lived according to the customs of the nations that Yahveh had dispossessed before the Israelites and according to what the kings of Israel did.
2 Kings 17:9 The Israelites secretly did things against Yahveh their God that were not right. They built high places in all their towns from watchtower to fortified city.
2 Kings 17:10 They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
2 Kings 17:11 They burned incense there on all the high places just like the nations that Yahveh had driven out before them had done. They did evil things, angering Yahveh.
2 Kings 17:12 They served idols, although Yahveh had told them, “You must not do this.”
2 Kings 17:13 Still, Yahveh warned Israel and Judah through every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commands and statutes according to the whole law I commanded your ancestors and sent to you through my servants the prophets.”
2 Kings 17:14 But they would not listen. Instead, they became obstinate like their ancestors who did not believe Yahveh their God.
2 Kings 17:15 They rejected his statutes and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves, following the surrounding nations Yahveh had commanded them not to imitate.
2 Kings 17:16 They abandoned all the commands of Yahveh their God. They made cast images for themselves, two calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed in worship to all the stars in the sky and served Baal.
2 Kings 17:17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and interpreted omens. They devoted themselves to doing what was evil in Yahveh’s sight and angered him.
2 Kings 17:18 Therefore, Yahveh was very angry with Israel, and he removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained.
2 Kings 17:19 Even Judah did not keep the commands of Yahveh their God but lived according to the customs Israel had practiced.
2 Kings 17:20 So Yahveh rejected all the descendants of Israel, punished them, and handed them over to plunderers until he had banished them from his presence.
2 Kings 17:21 When Yahveh tore Israel from the house of David, Israel made Jeroboam son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam led Israel away from following Yahveh and caused them to commit immense sin.
2 Kings 17:22 The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam committed and did not turn away from them.
2 Kings 17:23 Finally, Yahveh removed Israel from his presence just as he had declared through all his servants the prophets. So, Israel has been exiled to Assyria from their homeland to this very day.

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Finally, the LORD had enough. Israel had plunged so deeply into the idolatry that God had forbidden that there was no rescue. God removed them from his sight. He used Assyria to do so. In so doing, he revealed how he works to bring about judgment during this era. The paganism that the Israelites sought after was their undoing. So, today, multitudes are drinking, doping, smoking, and illicit sexing themselves to death. God need not visit us with a plague. We are killing ourselves. The protective hand of God keeps us alive, until even he says “enough.”

LORD, open our eyes to what we are doing to ourselves before it is too late to repent.