2 Kings 17:32–41

^32aThey also feared the Lord and ^1bappointed from among themselves priests of the high places, who acted for them in the houses of the high places.

³³They feared the Lord and served their own gods according to the custom of the nations from among whom they had been carried away into exile.

³⁴To this day they do according to the earlier customs: they do not fear the Lord, nor do they ¹follow their statutes or their ordinances or the law, or the commandments which the Lord commanded the sons of Jacob, ^awhom He named Israel;

³⁵with whom the Lord made a covenant and commanded them, saying, “^aYou shall not fear other gods, nor ^bbow down yourselves to them nor ^cserve them nor sacrifice to them.

³⁶“But the Lord, ^awho brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with ^ban outstretched arm, ^cHim you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow yourselves down, and to Him you shall sacrifice.

³⁷“The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which He wrote for you, ^ayou shall observe to do forever; and you shall not fear other gods.

³⁸“The covenant that I have made with you, ^ayou shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods.

³⁹“But the Lord your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.”

⁴⁰However, they did not listen, but they did according to their earlier custom.

^41aSo while these nations feared the Lord, they also served their ¹idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, as their fathers did, so they do to this day.