2Ki 17:24-41, Ezr 4, Neh 4:1-2, Luk 9:52-56, Act 1:8, 10:28 | ESV | STEP | And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon , Cuthah , Avva , Hamath , and Sepharvaim , 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 .

24 ^aAnd the king of Assyria brought people from ^bBabylon, Cuthah, ^cAvva, ^dHamath, and ^eSepharvaim, 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. 25 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. 26 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.” 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him ^{▼▼Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew them} go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in ^gBethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them ^hin the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. 30 The men of ⁱBabylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites ^jburned their children in the fire to ^kAdrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of ^lSepharvaim. 32 ^mThey also feared the Lord ⁿand appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of ^othe high places. 33 So they feared the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

34 To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the Lord, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, ^pwhom he named Israel. 35 The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, ^q“You shall not fear other gods ^ror bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, 36 but ^syou shall fear the Lord, ^twho brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and ^uwith an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37 And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, ^vyou shall always be careful to do. ^wYou shall not fear other gods, 38 and ^xyou shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. ^yYou shall not fear other gods, 39 but ^zyou shall fear the Lord your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” 40 However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner.

41 ^aaSo these nations feared the Lord and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children’s children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day.

Ezra 4

Adversaries Oppose the Rebuilding

1 Now when ^abthe adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever ^acsince the days of ^adEsarhaddon king of Assyria ^aewho brought us here.” 3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, ^af“You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, ^agas King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”

4 Then ^ahthe people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build 5 and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

6 And in the reign of ^aiAhasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

The Letter to King Artaxerxes

7 In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and ^ajMithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written ^akin Aramaic and translated. ^{▼▼Hebrew written in Aramaic and translated in Aramaic, indicating that 4:8–6:18 is in Aramaic; another interpretation is The letter was written in the Aramaic script and set forth in the Aramaic language} 8 Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: 9 Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the ^amjudges, the ^angovernors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the ^aoElamites, 10 and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble ^apOsnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River. 11 (This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) “To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now 12 be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are ^aqfinishing the walls and repairing the foundations. 13 Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay ^artribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. 14 Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, 15 in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. 16 We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.”

The King Orders the Work to Cease

17 The king sent an answer: “To Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now 18 the letter that you sent to us has been ^asplainly read before me. 19 And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. 20 And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, ^atwho ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom ^autribute, custom, and toll were paid. 21 Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me. 22 And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?”

23 Then, when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. 24 Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Nehemiah 4:1-2

Opposition to the Work

1 ^{▼▼Ch 3:33 in Hebrew} Now when ^awSanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. 2 And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of ^axSamaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? ^{▼▼Or Will they commit themselves to God?} Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?”

Luke 9:52-56

52 And ^azhe sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of ^bathe Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But ^bbthe people did not receive him, because ^bchis face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell ^bdfire to come down from heaven and consume them?” ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add as Elijah did} 55 But he turned and rebuked them. ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add and he said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man came not to destroy people’s lives but to save them”} 56 And they went on to another village.

Acts 1:8

8 But you will receive ^bgpower ^bhwhen the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and ^biyou will be ^bjmy witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and ^bkSamaria, and ^blto the end of the earth.”

Acts 10:28

28 And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew ^bmto associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but ^bnGod has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.