2 Kings 17:7-23

International Children’s Bible

Israelites Punished for Sin

⁷ All these things happened because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God. He had brought them out of Egypt. He had rescued them from the power of the king of Egypt. But the Israelites had honored other gods. ⁸ They lived like the nations the Lord had forced out of the land ahead of them. They also lived as the evil kings had shown them. ⁹ They secretly sinned against the Lord their God. They built places in all their cities where false gods were worshiped. They built them everywhere from the watchtower to the strong, walled city. ¹⁰ They put up stone pillars for worshiping false gods. And they put up Asherah idols on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹ The Israelites burned incense everywhere false gods were worshiped. The nations who lived there before them had done this. And the Lord had forced them out of the land. The Israelites did wicked things that made the Lord angry. ¹² They served idols. And the Lord had said, “You must not do this.” ¹³ The Lord used every prophet and seer to warn Israel and Judah. He said, “Stop your evil ways. Obey my commands and laws. Follow all the teachings that I commanded your ancestors to obey. I sent you this law through my servants the prophets.”

¹⁴ But the people would not listen. They were stubborn, just as their ancestors had been. Their ancestors did not believe in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ They rejected the Lord’s laws and the agreement he had made with their ancestors. And they refused to listen to his warnings. They worshiped useless idols and became useless themselves. They did what the nations around them did. And the Lord had warned them not to do this.

¹⁶ The people disobeyed all the commands of the Lord their God. They made statues of two calves from melted metal. And they made an Asherah idol. They worshiped all the stars of heaven and served Baal. ¹⁷ They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. And they tried to find out the future by magic and witchcraft. They always chose to do what the Lord said was wrong. And this made him angry. ¹⁸ So he was very angry with the people of Israel. He removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left.

Judah Is Also Guilty

¹⁹ But even Judah did not obey the commands of the Lord their God. They did what the Israelites had done. ²⁰ So the Lord rejected all the people of Israel. He punished them and let people destroy them. He threw them out of his presence. ²¹ The Lord separated them from the family of David. And the Israelites made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam led the Israelites away from following the Lord. He caused them to sin greatly. ²² So they continued to do all the sins Jeroboam did. They did not stop doing these sins ²³ until the Lord removed the people from his presence. This was just as he had said he would do. He had said this through all his servants the prophets. So the Israelites were taken out of their land to Assyria. And they have been there to this day.