26. Some people said to the king of Assyria, “The people who you took away and put in the cities of Samaria don’t know the law of the god of that country. So that god sent lions to attack them. The lions killed them because they don’t know the law of the god of that country.”
27. So the king of Assyria gave this command: “You took some priests from Samaria. Send one of them who I captured back to Samaria. Let that priest go and live there. Then he can teach the people the law of the god of that country.”
28. So one of the priests who the Assyrians had carried away from Samaria came to live in Bethel. He taught the people how they should honor the Lord.
29. But all those people made gods of their own. They put them in the temples at the high places that the people of Samaria had made. They did this wherever they lived.
30. The people of Babylon made the false god Succoth Benoth. The people of Cuthah made the false god Nergal. The people of Hamath made the false god Ashima.
31. The people of Avva made the false gods Nibhaz and Tartak. The people from Sepharvaim also burned their children in the fire to honor their false gods, Adrammelech and Anammelech.
32. But they also worshiped the Lord. They chose priests for the high places from among the people. These priests made sacrifices for the people in the temples at those places of worship.
33. They respected the Lord but also served their own gods, just as they did in their own countries.
34. Even today, they live the same way they did in the past. They don’t honor the Lord. They don’t obey the rules and commands of the Israelites. They don’t obey the law or the commands that the Lord gave to the children of Jacob.
35. The Lord made an agreement with the Israelites. He commanded them, “You must not honor other gods. You must not worship them or serve them or offer sacrifices to them.
36. But you must follow the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt. He used his great power to save you. You must worship him and make sacrifices to him.
37. You must obey the rules, laws, teachings, and commands that he wrote for you. You must obey these things all the time. You must not respect other gods.
38. You must not forget the agreement that I made with you. You must not respect other gods.
39. No, you must respect only the Lord your God. Then he will save you from all your enemies.”
40. But the Israelites did not listen. They kept on doing the same things they did before.
41. So now those other nations respected the Lord, but they also served their own idols. Their children and grandchildren did the same thing their ancestors did. They still do these things to this day.