2 Kings 17:32-41

32The foreign people in Samaria also worshipped the Lord. They chose some of their own people to serve as priests at the altars on the hills.

33In this way, they worshipped the Lord, but they also served their own gods. They did that in the way that they had always done in their own countries. That was what they did before the Assyrians sent them to live in Samaria.

34Even today, they still do things in the same way that they have always done them. They do not truly worship the Lord. They do not obey his rules, his laws or his teaching. They do not obey the commands that the Lord gave to the descendants of Jacob. Jacob was the man that the Lord gave a new name to. He gave him the name ‘Israel’.

35The Lord made a covenant with the descendants of Israel. He said to them, ‘Do not worship any other gods. Do not bend down low to give them honour. Do not serve them. Do not offer any sacrifices to them.

36Instead, you must worship only the Lord. He is the one who used his great power to bring you safely out of Egypt. Bend down low to give him honour. Offer sacrifices to him.

37You must be careful to obey his rules, his teaching, his laws and his commands that he wrote for you. You must not worship other gods.

38Never forget the covenant that I made with you. Do not worship any other gods.

39Instead, you must only worship the Lord your God. It is he who will save you from the power of all your enemies.’

40But the foreign people who now lived in Samaria would not accept the Lord's teaching. They continued to live in the way that they always had done.

41Even while they were worshipping the Lord, they continued to serve their own idols. Their children and their grandchildren continue to live as their fathers did, even today.