2 Kings 17:9–23

⁹The people of Israel did things against the Lord their God in secret. What they did wasn’t right. They built high places for worship in all of their towns. They built them at lookout towers. They also built them at cities that had high walls around them. ¹⁰They set up sacred stones. And they set up poles that were used to worship the goddess Asherah. They did that on every high hill and under every green tree.

¹¹The Lord had driven out nations to make room for Israel. But the people of Israel burned incense at every high place, just as those nations had done. The Israelites did evil things that made the Lord very angry. ¹²They worshiped statues of gods. They did it even though the Lord had said, “Do not do that.”

¹³The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all of his prophets and seers. He said, “Turn from your evil ways. Keep my commands and rules. Obey every part of my Law. I commanded your people who lived long ago to obey it. And I gave it to you through my servants the prophets.”

¹⁴But the people wouldn’t listen. They were as stubborn as their people of long ago had been. Those people didn’t trust in the Lord their God. ¹⁵They refused to obey his rules. They broke the covenant he had made with them. They didn’t pay any attention to the warnings he had given them. They worshiped worthless statues of gods. Then they themselves became worthless. They followed the example of the nations that were around them. They did it even though the Lord had ordered them not to. He had said, “Do not do as they do.” They did the very things the Lord had told them not to do.

¹⁶They turned away from all of the commands of the Lord their God. They made two statues of gods for themselves. The statues were shaped like calves. They made a pole that was used to worship the goddess Asherah. They bowed down to all of the stars. And they worshiped the god Baal.

¹⁷They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced all kinds of evil magic. They gave themselves over to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord. All of those things made him very angry.

¹⁸So the Lord was filled with anger against Israel. He removed them from his land. Only the tribe of Judah was left. ¹⁹And even Judah didn’t obey the commands of the Lord their God. They followed the practices Israel had started.

²⁰So the Lord turned his back on all of the people of Israel. He made them suffer. He handed them over to people who stole everything they had. And finally he threw them out of his land.

²¹He tore Israel away from the royal house of David. The people of Israel made Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, their king. Jeroboam tried to get Israel to stop following the Lord. He caused them to commit a terrible sin. ²²The people of Israel were stubborn. They continued to commit all of the sins Jeroboam had committed. They didn’t turn away from them.

²³So the Lord removed them from his land. That’s what he had warned them he would do. He had given that warning through all of his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken away from their country. They were forced to go to Assyria. And that’s where they still are.