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