Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day. (2 Kings 17:23)
A small remnant remained (see 2 Chron. 34:9). These intermarried with the heathen, adopted their ways, and so far forgot the customs of their fathers that the people of Judah refused to regard them as brethren. After some years they established a temple of their own on Mt. Gerizim, where they worshiped and carried on their ritual as a rival to that of the Temple at Jerusalem. The people who were carried away never returned. Some of their descendants joined the remnant of Judah who returned under the decree of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1-4). Others intermarried with the peoples where they lived, accepted their religion and their ways, and lost their identity. A few, no doubt, remained true to their religious convictions, letting their light shine in the lands to which they were carried, and influencing some there to accept the worship of the only true God.