until the Lord removed the Israelites from his presence, just as he had said through all his servants the prophets. So the Israelites were taken out of their land to Assyria, and they have been there to this day.
Some people came to Jerusalem from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon, and Immer, but they could not prove that their ancestors came from Israel. Here are their names and their number:
The people will not stay in the Lord’s land. Israel will return to being captives as they were in Egypt, and in Assyria they will eat food that they are not allowed to eat.
So Moses gave this command to the Israelites: “This is the land you will receive. Throw lots to divide it among the nine and one-half tribes, because the Lord commanded that it should be theirs.
No one born to parents who were forbidden by law to marry may come into the meeting to worship the Lord. The descendants for ten generations may not come in either.
Choose three men from each tribe, and I will send them out to study the land. They will describe in writing the land their tribe wants as its share, and then they will come back to me.