1. Hoshea son of Elah became king over Israel. This was during Ahaz’s twelfth year as king of Judah. Hoshea ruled in Samaria nine years.
2. He did what the Lord said was wrong. But he was not as bad as the kings of Israel who had ruled before him.
3. Shalmaneser king of Assyria came to attack Hoshea. Hoshea had been Shalmaneser’s servant. He had made the payments to Shalmaneser that he had demanded.
4. But the king of Assyria found out that Hoshea had made plans against him. Hoshea had sent messengers to So, the king of Egypt. And Hoshea had quit giving Shalmaneser the payments he demanded. In the past Hoshea had paid him every year. So the king put Hoshea in prison.
5. Then the king of Assyria came and attacked all the land of Israel. He surrounded Samaria and attacked it for three years.
6. He defeated Samaria in the ninth year Hoshea was king. He took the Israelites away to Assyria. He settled some of them in Halah. Some were made to settle in Gozan on the Habor River. Others were settled in the cities of the Medes.
7. All these things happened because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God. He had brought them out of Egypt. He had rescued them from the power of the king of Egypt. But the Israelites had honored other gods.
8. They lived like the nations the Lord had forced out of the land ahead of them. They also lived as the evil kings had shown them.
9. They secretly sinned against the Lord their God. They built places in all their cities where false gods were worshiped. They built them everywhere from the watchtower to the strong, walled city.
10. They put up stone pillars for worshiping false gods. And they put up Asherah idols on every high hill and under every green tree.
11. The Israelites burned incense everywhere false gods were worshiped. The nations who lived there before them had done this. And the Lord had forced them out of the land. The Israelites did wicked things that made the Lord angry.
12. They served idols. And the Lord had said, “You must not do this.”
13. The Lord used every prophet and seer to warn Israel and Judah. He said, “Stop your evil ways. Obey my commands and laws. Follow all the teachings that I commanded your ancestors to obey. I sent you this law through my servants the prophets.”