2 Kings 17:9–23

⁹The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that weren’t right: 

They built for themselves illegal places of worship in all of their cities, from the ⸤smallest⸥ watchtower to the ⸤largest⸥ fortified city. 

¹⁰They set up sacred stones and poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah on every high hill and under every large tree. 

¹¹At all the illegal places of worship, they sacrificed in the same way as the nations that the Lord had removed from the land ahead of them. 

They did evil things and made the Lord furious. 

¹²They served idols, although the Lord had said, “Never do this.” 

¹³The Lord had warned Israel and Judah through every kind of prophet and seer,^a“Turn from your evil ways, and obey my commands and decrees as I commanded your ancestors in all my teachings, the commands I sent to you through my servants the prophets.” ¹⁴But they refused to listen. They became as impossible to deal with as their ancestors who refused to trust the Lord their God. ¹⁵They rejected his decrees, the promise^bhe made to their ancestors, and the warnings he had given them. They went after worthless idols and became as worthless as the idols. They behaved like the nations around them, although the Lord had commanded them not to do that. ¹⁶They abandoned all the commands of the Lord their God: 

They made two calves out of cast metal. 

They made a pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah. 

They prayed to the entire army of heaven. 

They worshiped Baal. 

¹⁷They sacrificed their sons and daughters by burning them alive. 

They practiced black magic and cast evil spells. 

They sold themselves by doing what the Lord considered evil, and they made him furious. 

¹⁸The Lord became so angry with Israel that he removed them from his sight. Only the tribe of Judah was left. ¹⁹Even Judah didn’t obey the commands of the Lord their God but lived according to Israel’s customs. ²⁰So the Lord rejected all of Israel’s descendants, made them suffer, handed them over to those who looted their property, and finally turned away from Israel. 

²¹When he tore Israel away from the family of David, the people of Israel made Jeroboam (Nebat’s son) king. Jeroboam forced Israel away from the Lord and led them to commit a serious sin. ²²The Israelites followed all the sins Jeroboam committed and never turned away from them. ²³Finally, the Lord turned away from Israel as he had said he would through all his servants, the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their land to Assyria as captives, and they are still there today.