12. They served idols when the Lord had said, “You must not do this.”
13. The Lord used every prophet and seer to warn Israel and Judah. He said, “Stop your evil ways and obey my commands and laws. Follow all the teachings that I commanded your ancestors, the teachings that I gave you through my servants the prophets.”
14. But the people would not listen. They were stubborn, just as their ancestors had been who did not believe in the Lord their God.
15. They rejected the Lord’s laws and the agreement he had made with their ancestors. And they refused to listen to his warnings. They worshiped useless idols and became useless themselves. They did what the nations around them did, which the Lord had warned them not to do.
16. The people rejected all the commands of the Lord their God. They molded statues of two calves, and they made an Asherah idol. They worshiped all the stars of the sky and served Baal.
17. They made their sons and daughters pass through fire and tried to find out the future by magic and witchcraft. They always chose to do what the Lord said was wrong, which made him angry.
18. Because he was very angry with the people of Israel, he removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left.
19. But even Judah did not obey the commands of the Lord their God. They did what the Israelites had done,
20. so the Lord rejected all the people of Israel. He punished them and let others destroy them; he threw them out of his presence.
21. When the Lord separated them from the family of David, the Israelites made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam led the Israelites away from the Lord and led them to sin greatly.
22. So they continued to do all the sins Jeroboam did. They did not stop doing these sins
23. until the Lord removed the Israelites from his presence, just as he had said through all his servants the prophets. So the Israelites were taken out of their land to Assyria, and they have been there to this day.
24. The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and put them in the cities of Samaria to replace the Israelites. These people took over Samaria and lived in the cities.
25. At first they did not worship the Lord, so he sent lions among them which killed some of them.
26. The king of Assyria was told, “You sent foreigners into the cities of Samaria who do not know the law of the god of the land. This is why he has sent lions among them. The lions are killing them because they don’t know what the god wants.”
27. Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send back one of the priests you took away. Let him live there and teach the people what the god wants.”
28. So one of the priests who had been carried away from Samaria returned to live in Bethel. And he taught the people how to honor the Lord.