⁹ And the sons of Israel ^[a]did things secretly against the Lord their God which were not right. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from ^(A)watchtower to fortified city. ¹⁰ And ^(B)they set up for themselves memorial stones and ^[b](C)Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, ¹¹ and there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did that the Lord had taken into exile before them; and they did evil things, provoking the Lord. ¹² They served idols, ^(D)concerning which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” ¹³ Yet the ^(E)Lord warned Israel and Judah ^[c](F)through all His prophets and ^(G)every seer, saying, “^(H)Turn back from your evil ways and keep My commandments and My statutes in accordance with all the Law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you ^[d]through My servants the prophets.” ¹⁴ However, they did not listen, but ^(I)stiffened their neck ^[e]like their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. ^15 (J)They rejected His statutes and ^(K)His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His warnings which He ^[f]gave them. And ^(L)they followed ^[g]idols and ^(M)became empty, and followed the nations that surrounded them, about which the ^(N)Lord had commanded them not to do as they did. ¹⁶ And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves cast metal images: ^(O)two calves. And they ^(P)made an ^[h]Asherah, and ^(Q)worshiped all the heavenly ^[i]lights, and ^(R)served Baal. ¹⁷ Then ^(S)they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and they ^(T)practiced divination and interpreting omens, and ^(U)gave themselves over to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him. ¹⁸ So the Lord was very angry with Israel, and He ^(V)removed them from His ^[j]sight; ^(W)no one was left except the tribe of Judah.

^19 (X)Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God either, but they ^[k](Y)followed the ^[l]customs ^[m]which Israel had ^[n]introduced. ²⁰ So the Lord rejected all the ^[o]descendants of Israel and afflicted them and ^(Z)handed them over to plunderers, until He had cast them ^[p]out of His sight.

²¹ When ^(AA)He had torn Israel from the house of David, ^(AB)they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then ^(AC)Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the Lord and misled them into a great sin. ²² And the sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he committed; they did not desist from them ^23 (AD)until the Lord removed Israel from His sight, ^(AE)just as He had spoken through all His servants the prophets. ^(AF)So Israel went into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.

^13 (A)He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear allegiance by God. But ^(B)he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁴ Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of the Lord which He had sanctified in Jerusalem.

¹⁵ Yet the Lord, the God of their fathers, ^(C)sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; ¹⁶ but they continually ^(D)mocked the messengers of God, ^(E)despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, ^(F)until the wrath of the Lord rose against His people, until there was no remedy. ^17 (G)So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or frail; He handed them all over to him. ^18 (H)He brought all the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and his officers, to Babylon. ¹⁹ Then ^(I)they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles. ²⁰ He ^(J)took into exile those who had escaped from the sword to Babylon; and ^(K)they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, ^21 (L)to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until ^(M)the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. ^(N)All the days of its desolation it kept the Sabbath ^[a](O)until seventy years were complete.