7. This happened because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who brought them up from the land of Egypt and freed them from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods;
8. they observed the practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from before Israel, and followed the example of the kings of Israel.
9. The Israelites said things about the Lord their God that were not right. They built high places in all their cities, from the watchtower to the fortress.