²⁴The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its cities.

²⁵When they first came to live there, they didn’t worship the Lord. So the Lord sent lions to kill some of them. ²⁶Then someone said to the king of Assyria, “The people you took as captives and settled in the cities of Samaria don’t know the customs of the god of that country, so he sent lions. Now the lions are killing them because they don’t know the customs of the god of this country.”

²⁷The king of Assyria gave this command: “Bring one of the priests you captured from there. Let him go back to teach them the customs of the god of that country.” ²⁸So one of the priests who had been taken prisoner from Samaria went to live in Bethel. He taught them how to worship the Lord.

²⁹But each group ⸤that settled in Samaria⸥ continued to make its own gods. They put them at the illegal places of worship, which the people of Samaria had made. Each group did this in the cities where they lived:

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