2Ki 17:24-41, Luk 9:52-54, Joh 4:5, 9, 20, 22-24, Act 1:8, 8:1, 5-25 | 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.

Luke 9:52-54

52 And ^abhe sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of ^acthe Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But ^adthe people did not receive him, because ^aehis face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell ^affire to come down from heaven and consume them?” ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add as Elijah did}

John 4:5

5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field ^ahthat Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

John 4:9

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” ( ^aiFor Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

John 4:20

20 ^ajOur fathers worshiped on ^akthis mountain, but you say that ^alin Jerusalem is ^amthe place where people ought to worship.”

John 4:22-24

22 ^anYou worship what you do not know; ^aowe worship what we know, for ^apsalvation is ^aqfrom the Jews. 23 But ^arthe hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father ^asin spirit and ^attruth, for the Father ^auis seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Acts 1:8

8 But you will receive ^avpower ^awwhen the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and ^axyou will be ^aymy witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and ^azSamaria, and ^bato the end of the earth.”

Acts 8:1

Saul Ravages the Church

1 And ^bbSaul ^bcapproved of his execution.

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and ^bdthey were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Acts 8:5-25

5 ^bePhilip went down to the city ^{▼▼Some manuscripts a city} of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 ^bgAnd the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him ^bhand saw the signs that he did. 7 For ^biunclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So ^bjthere was much joy in that city.

Simon the Magician Believes

9 But there was a man named Simon, ^bkwho had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, ^blsaying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, ^bm“This man is the power of God that is called ^bnGreat.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had ^boamazed them with his magic. 12 But when ^bpthey believed Philip as he preached good news ^bqabout the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, ^brthey were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And ^bsseeing signs and ^btgreat miracles ^{▼▼Greek works of power} performed, ^bvhe was amazed.

14 Now when ^bwthe apostles at Jerusalem heard that ^bxSamaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them ^bythat they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for ^bzhe had not yet ^cafallen on any of them, but ^cbthey had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then ^ccthey laid their hands on them and ^cdthey received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, ^ce“May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God ^cfwith money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for ^cgyour heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, ^chif possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in ^cithe gall ^{▼▼That is, a bitter fluid secreted by the liver; bile} of bitterness and in ^ckthe bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, ^cl“Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, ^cmpreaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.