2 Kings 17:7-23

7Now 1this came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, 2who had brought them up from the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; 3and they had 4feared other gods. 8They also 56followed the 7customs of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from the sons of Israel, and in the customs 8of the kings of Israel which they had 9introduced. 9And the sons of Israel 10did things secretly against the Lord their God which were not right. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from 11watchtower to fortified city. 10And 12they set up for themselves memorial stones and 1314Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11and there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did that the Lord had taken into exile before them; and they did evil things, provoking the Lord. 12They served idols, 15concerning which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” 13Yet the 16Lord warned Israel and Judah 1718through all His prophets and 19every seer, saying, “20Turn back from your evil ways and keep My commandments and My statutes in accordance with all the Law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you 21through My servants the prophets.” 14However, they did not listen, but 22stiffened their neck 23like their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 1524They rejected His statutes and 25His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His warnings which He 26gave them. And 27they followed 28idols and 29became empty, and followed the nations that surrounded them, about which the 30Lord had commanded them not to do as they did. 16And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves cast metal images: 31two calves. And they 32made an 33Asherah, and 34worshiped all the heavenly 35lights, and 36served Baal. 17Then 37they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and they 38practiced divination and interpreting omens, and 39gave themselves over to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him. 18So the Lord was very angry with Israel, and He 40removed them from His 41sight; 42no one was left except the tribe of Judah.

1943Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God either, but they 4445followed the 46customs 47which Israel had 48introduced. 20So the Lord rejected all the 49descendants of Israel and afflicted them and 50handed them over to plunderers, until He had cast them 51out of His sight.

21When 52He had torn Israel from the house of David, 53they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then 54Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the Lord and misled them into a great sin. 22And the sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he committed; they did not desist from them 2355until the Lord removed Israel from His sight, 56just as He had spoken through all His servants the prophets. 57So Israel went into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.