9. The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God, and those things were wrong! The Israelites built high places in all their cities—from the smallest town to the largest city.
10. They put up memorial stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
11. They burned incense there in all those places for worship. They did these things like the nations that the Lord forced out of the land before them. The Israelites did evil things that made the Lord angry.
12. They served idols, and the Lord had said to them, “You must not do this.”
13. The Lord used every prophet and every seer to warn Israel and Judah. He said, “Turn away from the evil things you do. Obey my commands and laws. Follow all the law that I gave to your ancestors. I used my servants the prophets to give this law to you.”
14. But the people would not listen. They were very stubborn like their ancestors. Their ancestors did not believe the Lord their God.
15. They refused to follow his laws and the agreement he made with their ancestors. They would not listen to his warnings. They worshiped idols that were worth nothing and they themselves became worth nothing. The Lord had warned them not to do the evil things that the people in the nations around them did. But they lived the same way those people lived.
16. The people stopped following the commands of the Lord their God. They made two gold statues of calves. They made Asherah poles. They worshiped all the stars of heaven and served Baal.
17. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They used magic and witchcraft to try to learn the future. They sold themselves to do what the Lord said was evil. They did this to make him angry.
18. So the Lord became very angry with Israel and removed them from his sight. There were no Israelites left, except the tribe of Judah.