2 Kings 17:7-9

Expanded Bible

Israelites Punished for Sin

⁷ All these things happened because the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] had sinned against the Lord their God. He had brought them out of Egypt and had rescued them from the ·power [^Lhand] of Pharaoh the king of Egypt [Ex. 20:2], but ·the Israelites [^Lthey] had ·honored [revered; feared] other gods [Deut. 29:26]. ⁸ They ·lived like [followed/^Lwalked in the practices of] the nations the Lord had ·forced [driven] out of the land ahead of them. They lived as their evil kings had shown them, ⁹ secretly ·sinning [doing things that were not right] against the Lord their God. They ·built [set up] ·places to worship gods [^Lhigh places; 12:3] in all their cities, from the watchtower to the ·strong, walled [fortified] city.