⁹ The sons of Israel ^[a]did things secretly which were not right against the Lord their God. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from ^(A)watchtower to fortified city. ^10 (B)They set for themselves sacred pillars 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 which the Lord had carried away to 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 ^(F)through all His prophets and ^(G)every seer, saying, “^(H)Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets.” ¹⁴ However, they did not listen, but ^(I)stiffened their neck ^[c]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 with which He warned them. And ^(L)they followed vanity and ^(M)became vain, and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which the ^(N)Lord had commanded them not to do like them. ¹⁶ They forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves molten images, even ^(O)two calves, and ^(P)made an ^[d]Asherah and ^(Q)worshiped all the host of heaven and ^(R)served Baal. ¹⁷ Then ^(S)they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and ^(T)practiced divination and enchantments, and ^(U)sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him. ¹⁸ So the Lord was very angry with Israel and ^(V)removed them from His ^[e]sight; ^(W)none was left except the tribe of Judah.

¹⁹ Also ^(X)Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but ^(Y)walked in the ^[f]customs ^[g]which Israel had ^[h]introduced. ²⁰ The Lord rejected all the ^[i]descendants of Israel and afflicted them and ^(Z)gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them ^[j]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 made them ^[k]commit a great sin. ²² The sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them ^23 (AD)until the Lord removed Israel from His sight, ^(AE)as He spoke through all His servants the prophets. ^(AF)So Israel was carried away 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 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 arose against His people, until there was no remedy. ^17 (G)Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand. ^18 (H)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 of his officers, he brought them all 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 Those who had escaped from the sword he ^(J)carried away 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 sabbath ^[a](O)until seventy years were complete.