So one of the priests that the Assyrians had carried away from Samaria came to live in Bethel. This priest taught the people how they should honor the Lord.
So the king of Assyria gave this command: “You took some priests from Samaria. Send one of those priests that I captured back to Samaria. Let that priest go and live there. Then that priest can teach the people the law of the god of that country.”
But all those people made gods of their own and put them in the temples at the high places [212] the Samarians had made. Those people did this wherever they lived.
My Master says, “These people say they love me. They show honor to me with words from their mouths. But their hearts are far from me. The honor they show me is nothing but human rules they have memorized.
Stay away from the Pharisees. {\cf2\super [208]} They lead the people, but they are like blind men leading other blind men. And if a blind man leads another blind man, then both men will fall into a hole.”