Study Desk

In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, ^(C1)Hoshea the son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned for nine years.

He did evil in the sight of the LORD, only not as the kings of Israel who preceded him.

^(C1)Shalmaneser the king of Assyria marched ^(C2)against him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute.

But the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by Hoshea, who had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and had then brought no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; so the king of Assyria arrested him and confined him in prison.

Then the king of Assyria invaded the entire land, and went up to ^(C1)Samaria and besieged it for three years.

In the ninth year of Hoshea, ^(C1)the king of Assyria captured Samaria and ^(C2)led the people of Israel into exile to Assyria, and ^(C3)settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of ^(C4)Gozan, and ^(C5)in the cities of the Medes.

Now ^(C1)this came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, ^(C2)who had brought them up from the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; ^(C3)and they had ^(F1)feared other gods.

They also ^(F1)(C1)followed the ^(F2)customs of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from the sons of Israel, and in the customs ^(C2)of the kings of Israel which they had ^(F3)introduced.