When my childhood friends get sent away to prison on their first offense
It's fucked up but listen, we study God but don't know him

from Kendrick Lamar (Ft. Punch) – Dreams Lyrics on Rap Genius

He’s saying that a lot of his friends had studied God growing up (perhaps going to church sometimes, or hearing about various popular biblical stories, etc.) but they didn’t really know him because they didn’t make an effort to change their lifestyles and become more spiritual people. The lifestyles they continued to live caused some of his friends to get locked up.

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