17. They passed their sons and daughters through the fire, and practiced divination and omen reading. They committed themselves to doing evil in the sight of the Lord and made him angry.
18. So the Lord was furious with Israel and rejected them; only the tribe of Judah was left.
19. Judah also failed to keep the commandments of the Lord their God; they followed Israel’s example.
20. So the Lord rejected all of Israel’s descendants; he humiliated them and handed them over to robbers, until he had thrown them from his presence.
21. He tore Israel away from David’s dynasty, and Jeroboam son of Nebat became their king. Jeroboam drove Israel away from the Lord and encouraged them to commit a serious sin.
22. The Israelites followed in the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and did not repudiate them.
23. Finally the Lord rejected Israel just as he had warned he would do through all his servants the prophets. Israel was deported from its land to Assyria and remains there to this very day.
24. The king of Assyria brought foreigners from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.
25. When they first moved in, they did not worship the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them and the lions were killing them.