2 Kings 17:7-12 ▼

7 Now this happened because the sons of Israel had sinned against Yahweh their God—who had brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt—and they had feared other gods

8 and walked in the statutes of the nations whom Yahweh had dispossessed from before the sons of Israel, and in the statutes of the kings of Israel which they had made.

9 And the sons of Israel did things secretly which were not right against Yahweh their God. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from watchtower to fortified city.

10 And they set for themselves sacred pillars and 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 Yahweh had taken away into exile before them; and they did evil things provoking Yahweh to anger.

12 And they served idols, concerning which Yahweh had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.”