2 Kings 17:5-12

5Then the king of Assyria attacked the entire country. He attacked Samaria and blockaded it for three years.

6In Hoshea’s ninth year as king of Israel, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and took the Israelites to Assyria as captives. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

7The Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt ⌞and rescued them⌟ from the power of Pharaoh (the king of Egypt). They worshiped other gods

8and lived by the customs of the nations that the Lord had forced out of the Israelites’ way. They also did what their kings wanted them to do.

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.”