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But even Judah did not obey the commands of the Lord their God. They did what the Israelites had done,
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so the Lord rejected all the people of Israel. He punished them and let others destroy them; he threw them out of his presence.
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When the Lord separated them from the family of David, the Israelites made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam led the Israelites away from the Lord and led them to sin greatly.
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So they continued to do all the sins Jeroboam did. They did not stop doing these sins
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until the Lord removed the Israelites from his presence, just as he had said 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.
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The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and put them in the cities of Samaria to replace the Israelites. These people took over Samaria and lived in the cities.
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At first they did not worship the Lord, so he sent lions among them which killed some of them.
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The king of Assyria was told, "You sent foreigners into the cities of Samaria who do not know the law of the god of the land. This is why he has sent lions among them. The lions are killing them because they don't know what the god wants."
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Then the king of Assyria commanded, "Send back one of the priests you took away. Let him live there and teach the people what the god wants."
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So one of the priests who had been carried away from Samaria returned to live in Bethel. And he taught the people how to honor the Lord.
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But each nation made gods of its own and put them in the cities where they lived and in the temples where gods were worshiped. These temples had been built by the Samaritans.