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1Judah also did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced.
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And the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them
2and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had cast them out of his sight.
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3When he had torn Israel from the house of David,
4they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD
5and made them commit great sin.
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The people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did. They did not depart from them,
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until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight,
6as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets.
7So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.
Assyria Resettles Samaria
24 8And the king of Assyria brought people from
9Babylon, Cuthah,
10Avva,
11Hamath, and
12Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.
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And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them.
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So the king of Assyria was told, "The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land."
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Then the king of Assyria commanded, "Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land."
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So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in
13Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD.
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But every nation still made gods of its own and put them
14in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived.