2 Kings 17:17-31

17Then 1they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and 2practiced divination and enchantments, and 3sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him. 18So the Lord was very angry with Israel and 4removed them from His 5sight; 6none was left except the tribe of Judah.

19Also 7Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but 8walked in the 9customs 10which Israel had 11introduced. 20The Lord rejected all the 12descendants of Israel and afflicted them and 13gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them 14out of His sight.

21When 15He had torn Israel from the house of David, 16they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then 17Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the Lord and made them 18commit a great sin. 22The sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them 2319until the Lord removed Israel from His sight, 20as He spoke through all His servants the prophets. 21So Israel was carried away into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.

2422The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon and from Cuthah and from 2324Avva and from 25Hamath and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. So they possessed Samaria and lived in its cities. 25At the beginning of their living there, they 26did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them which killed some of them. 26So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations whom you have carried away into exile in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the god of the land; so he has sent lions among them, and behold, they kill them because they do not know the custom of the god of the land.”

27Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Take there one of the priests whom you carried away into 27exile and let 28him go and live there; and let him teach them the custom of the god of the land.” 28So one of the priests whom they had carried away into exile from Samaria came and lived at Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

29But every nation still made gods of its own and put them 29in the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived. 3030The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and 31the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to 32Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of 33Sepharvaim.