2 Kings 17:9–23

⁹The sons of Israel ¹did things secretly which were not right against the Lord their God. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from ^awatchtower to fortified city.

^10aThey set for themselves sacred pillars and ^1bAsherim on every high hill and under every green tree,

¹¹and there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did which the Lord had carried away to exile before them; and they did evil things provoking the Lord.

¹²They served idols, ^aconcerning which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.”

¹³Yet the ^aLord warned Israel and Judah ^bthrough all His prophets and ^cevery seer, saying, “^dTurn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets.”

¹⁴However, they did not listen, but ^astiffened their neck ¹like their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God.

^15aThey rejected His statutes and ^bHis covenant which He made with their fathers and His warnings with which He warned them. And ^cthey followed vanity and ^dbecame vain, and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which the ^eLord had commanded them not to do like them.

¹⁶They forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves molten images, even ^atwo calves, and ^bmade an ¹Asherah and ^cworshiped all the host of heaven and ^dserved Baal.

¹⁷Then ^athey made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and ^bpracticed divination and enchantments, and ^csold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him.

¹⁸So the Lord was very angry with Israel and ^aremoved them from His ¹sight; ^bnone was left except the tribe of Judah.

¹⁹Also ^aJudah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but ^bwalked in the ¹customs ²which Israel had ³introduced.

²⁰The Lord rejected all the ¹descendants of Israel and afflicted them and ^agave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them ²out of His sight.

²¹When ^aHe had torn Israel from the house of David, ^bthey made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then ^cJeroboam drove Israel away from following the Lord and made them ¹commit a great sin.

²²The sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them

^23auntil the Lord removed Israel from His sight, ^bas He spoke through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.