17. They caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, used divination and omens, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord to anger Him.
18. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from His presence. None remained except the tribe of Judah.
19. Judah also did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.
20. The Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, afflicted them, and gave them into the hand of plunderers until He had cast them out of His presence.
21. For He had torn Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Jeroboam diverted Israel from following the Lord and caused them to sin greatly.
22. For the children of Israel walked in all the sins which Jeroboam committed. They did not turn aside from them
23. until the Lord removed Israel from His presence as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their land to Assyria until this day.
24. Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and put them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel. They possessed Samaria and lived in its cities.
25. Right at the beginning of their settling there, they did not fear the Lord, so the Lord sent lions among them, and they killed some of them.
26. So they said to the king of Assyria, “The nations which you have exiled and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore He has sent lions among them; they are killing them, because they do not know the requirements of the god of the land.”
27. Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Escort back one of the priests whom you exiled from there and let him go and dwell there. Let him teach them the law of the god of the land.”
28. Then one of the priests whom they had exiled from Samaria came and lived in Bethel. He taught them how they should fear the Lord.
29. But each nation was making its own gods, and they put them in the houses of the high places that the people of Samaria had made, each nation in the cities where they were living.
30. The men of Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth, the men of Kuthah made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima,