15. They rejected his regulations and the covenant he had made with their ancestors, along with the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless images so that they too became worthless. And they imitated the neighboring nations that the Lord had forbidden them to imitate.
16. They deserted all the commandments of the Lord their God. They made themselves two metal idols cast in the shape of calves and made a sacred pole. They bowed down to all the heavenly bodies. They served Baal.
17. They burned their sons and daughters alive. They practiced divination and sought omens. They gave themselves over to doing what was evil in the Lord’s eyes and made him angry.
18. So the Lord was very angry at Israel. He removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was spared.
19. But Judah didn’t keep the commands of the Lord their God either. They followed the practices of Israel.
20. So the Lord rejected all of Israel’s descendants. He punished them, and he handed them over to enemies who plundered them until he finally threw them out of his sight.
21. When Israel broke away from David’s dynasty, they made Nebat’s son Jeroboam the king. Jeroboam drove Israel away from the Lord. He caused them to commit great sin.
22. And the Israelites continued walking in all the sins that Jeroboam did. They didn’t deviate from them,
23. and the Lord finally removed Israel from his presence. That was exactly what he had warned through all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from its land to Assyria. And that’s still how it is today.