2 Kings 17:5-12

5The king of Assyria marched through the whole land. He attacked Samaria and besieged it for three years.

6In the ninth year of Hoshea’s reign, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the people of Israel to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes.

7This happened because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who brought them up from the land of Egypt and freed them from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods;

8they observed the practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from before Israel, and followed the example of the kings of Israel.

9The Israelites said things about the Lord their God that were not right. They built high places in all their cities, from the watchtower to the fortress.

10They set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

11They burned incense on all the high places just like the nations whom the Lord had driven away from before them. Their evil practices made the Lord angry.

12They worshiped the disgusting idols in blatant disregard of the Lord’s command.