17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They used magic and witchcraft to try to learn the future. They sold themselves to do what the Lord said was evil. They did this to make him angry.
18 So the Lord became very angry with Israel and removed them from his sight. There were no Israelites left, except the tribe of Judah.
19 But even the people of Judah did not obey the commands of the Lord their God. They lived just as the Israelites had.
20 The Lord rejected all the Israelites. He brought them many troubles. He let people destroy them. Finally, he threw them away and removed them from his sight.
21 He tore them from the family of David, and they made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam pulled the Israelites away from following the Lord. He caused them to commit a great sin.
22 So the Israelites sinned in all the ways Jeroboam did. And they did not stop committing these sins
23 until the Lord took Israel away from his sight. And he said this would happen. He sent his prophets to tell the people this would happen. So the Israelites were taken out of their country into Assyria. And they have been there to this day.