SAMARITANS The prophet Jeremiah preaching In 772 B .C., the king of Assyria invaded Israel, the kingdom of the north . The capital, Samaria, was captured after a three-year siege . According to the custom at the time, part of the population of the kingdom of Israel was deported, meaning that they were forced to leave for different regions of Assyria . Assyrians came and settled in Israel in their place . (This mingling of the two populations would give birth to the people called Samaritans in the New Testament .) 93 Indeed, a few years later, the kingdom of Israel was invaded by the Assyrians, who killed many Israelites and tookmanymore as slaves. That day, people realized Amos had been right! Yet Amos was not a fortune-teller. He simply warned the people that bad actions have bad consequences and invited them to return to God. But they did not listen to him. LEAVING THE PROMISED LAND In 587 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, invaded the kingdom of Judah and captured Jerusalem. The city was looted and set on fire. The Temple was demolished, and a large part of the population was taken by force to Babylon, present-day Iraq. They had to leave the Promised Land and return to slavery. What a tragedy for the people!
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