28 So one of the priests who the Assyrians had carried away from Samaria came to live in Bethel. He taught the people how they should honor the Lord.
29 But all those people made gods of their own. They put them in the temples at the high places that the people of Samaria had made. They did this wherever they lived.
30 The people of Babylon made the false god Succoth Benoth. The people of Cuthah made the false god Nergal. The people of Hamath made the false god Ashima.
31 The people of Avva made the false gods Nibhaz and Tartak. The people from Sepharvaim also burned their children in the fire to honor their false gods, Adrammelech and Anammelech.
32 But they also worshiped the Lord. They chose priests for the high places from among the people. These priests made sacrifices for the people in the temples at those places of worship.
33 They respected the Lord but also served their own gods, just as they did in their own countries.
34 Even today, they live the same way they did in the past. They don’t honor the Lord. They don’t obey the rules and commands of the Israelites. They don’t obey the law or the commands that the Lord gave to the children of Jacob.