17:35 The Lord made an agreement 1 with them 2 and instructed them, “You must not worship other gods. Do not bow down to them, serve them, or offer sacrifices to them.
17:36 Instead you must worship the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt by his great power and military ability; 3 bow down to him and offer sacrifices to him.
17:37 You must carefully obey at all times the rules, regulations, law, and commandments he wrote down for you. You must not worship other gods.
17:38 You must never forget the agreement I made with you, and you must not worship other gods.
17:39 Instead you must worship the Lord your God; then he will rescue you from the power of all your enemies.”
17:40 But they 4 pay no attention; instead they observe their earlier practices.
17:41 These nations are worshiping the Lord and at the same time serving their idols; their sons and grandsons do just as their fathers have done, to this very day.
1 tn Or “covenant.”
2 sn That is, the descendants of Jacob/Israel (see v. 35b).
3 tnHeb “and outstretched arm.”
4 sn This refers to the foreigners whom the king of Assyria settled in the land (see v. 35a).