²¹ The Lord took control of Israel away from the royal house of David. The Israelites made Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, their king. Jeroboam tried to get Israel to stop following the Lord. He caused them to commit a terrible sin. ²² The Israelites were stubborn. They continued to commit all the sins Jeroboam had committed. They didn’t turn away from them. ²³ So the Lord removed them from his land. That’s what he had warned them he would do. He had given that warning through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken away from their country. They were forced to go to Assyria. And that’s where they still are.

Assyria Makes Other People Live in Samaria

²⁴ The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim. He made all of them live in the towns of Samaria. They took the place of the people of Israel. They lived in all the towns of Samaria. ²⁵ When they first lived there, they didn’t worship the Lord. So he sent lions among them. And the lions killed some of the people. ²⁶ A report was given to the king of Assyria. He was told, “You forced people to leave their own homes and live in the towns of Samaria. But they don’t know what the god of that country requires. So he has sent lions among them. And the lions are killing the people off. That’s because the people don’t know what that god requires.”

²⁷ Then the king of Assyria gave an order. He said, “Get one of the priests you captured from Samaria. Send him back to live there. Have him teach the people what the god of that land requires.” ²⁸ So a priest went back to live in Bethel. He was one of the priests who had been forced to leave Samaria. He taught the people of Bethel how to worship the Lord.

⁴¹ They worshiped the Lord. But at the same time, they served the statues of their gods. And to this day their children and grandchildren continue to do what their people before them did.

A psalm of David when he was with Abimelek and pretended to be out of his mind. Abimelek drove him away, and David left.

⁶ So make yourselves humble. Put yourselves under God’s mighty hand. Then he will honor you at the right time. ⁷ Turn all your worries over to him. He cares about you.

⁸ Be watchful and control yourselves. Your enemy the devil is like a roaring lion. He prowls around looking for someone to swallow up. ⁹ Stand up to him. Remain strong in what you believe. You know that you are not alone in your suffering. The family of believers throughout the world is going through the same thing.

¹⁰ God always gives you all the grace you need. So you will only have to suffer for a little while. Then God himself will build you up again. He will make you strong and steady. And he has chosen you to share in his eternal glory because you belong to Christ. ¹¹ Give him the power for ever and ever. Amen.

The Disciples Join Jesus Again

²⁷ Just then Jesus’ disciples returned. They were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want from her?” No one asked, “Why are you talking with her?”

²⁸ The woman left her water jar and went back to the town. She said to the people, ²⁹ “Come. See a man who told me everything I’ve ever done. Could this be the Messiah?”

Many Samaritans Believe in Jesus

³⁹ Many of the Samaritans from the town of Sychar believed in Jesus. They believed because of what the woman had said about him. She said, “He told me everything I’ve ever done.” ⁴⁰ Then the Samaritans came to him and tried to get him to stay with them. So he stayed two days. ⁴¹ Because of what he said, many more people became believers.

⁴² They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said. We have now heard for ourselves. We know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”