Ezra 4:10

¹⁷Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions who live in Samaria, and in the rest of the country beyond the River: Peace.

¹¹This is the copy of the letter that they sent: To King Artaxerxes, from your servants, the people beyond the River.

¹²Artaxerxes, king of kings, To Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the perfect God of heaven. Now

²⁴The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, from Cuthah, from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria and lived in its cities. ²⁵So it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they didn’t fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. ²⁶Therefore they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations which you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria don’t know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them; and behold, they kill them, because they don’t know the law of the god of the land.”

²⁷Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Carry there one of the priests whom you brought from there; and let him ^[+] go and dwell there, and let him teach them the law of the god of the land.”

²⁸So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.

²⁹However every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived. ³⁰The men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, ³¹and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. ³²So they feared the LORD, and also made from among themselves priests of the high places for themselves, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. ³³They feared the LORD, and also served their own gods, after the ways of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. ³⁴To this day they do what they did before. They don’t fear the LORD, and they do not follow the statutes, or the ordinances, or the law, or the commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; ³⁵with whom the LORD had made a covenant and commanded them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them; ³⁶but you shall fear the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, and you shall bow yourselves to him, and you shall sacrifice to him. ³⁷The statutes and the ordinances, and the law and the commandment which he wrote for you, you shall observe to do forever more. You shall not fear other gods. ³⁸You shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods. ³⁹But you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.”

⁴⁰However they didn’t listen, but they did what they did before. ⁴¹So these nations feared the LORD, and also served their engraved images. Their children did likewise, and so did their children’s children. They do as their fathers did to this day.

¹Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to the LORD, the God of Israel,

⁷Therefore give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.