2Ki 17:24-41, Ezr 4:1 | 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 .

w[See ver. 35 above]

y[See ver. 35 above]

z[See ver. 36 above]

2 Kings 17:24-41

Assyria Resettles Samaria

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 4:1

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,