Hoshea

30Hoshea son of Elah made a secret plan against Pekah son of Remaliah. Hoshea attacked him and killed him. Then Hoshea became king instead. This was in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah.

And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.

31The other things Pekah did are written down. They are in the book called the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

And the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

1Ahaz had been king of Judah for twelve years. Then Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel. He ruled in the city of Samaria for nine years.

In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.

NoteLong before this, God's people split into two countries. The northern one was called Israel. The southern one was called Judah. Samaria was Israel's main city.

2Hoshea did what the LORD said was wrong. But he was not as bad as the kings of Israel before him.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.

NoteThe LORD, written in big letters, is God's own special name. God told his people this name long ago.

3Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, attacked him. Hoshea had to obey him and pay him money each year.

Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.

NoteAssyria was a huge, strong country to the north. Its army beat many smaller countries. A beaten country had to send money every year. That money paid the big king to leave them alone.

4But the king of Assyria found out that Hoshea was making secret plans. Hoshea had sent messengers to So, the king of Egypt. He had also stopped paying the money he owed. So the king of Assyria arrested him and put him in prison.

And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.

NoteEgypt was another strong country, far to the south. Hoshea hoped Egypt would help him fight Assyria. The king of Assyria saw this as breaking his word.

5Then the king of Assyria marched through the whole land. He came to Samaria and surrounded it for three years. No one could get in or out.

Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.

NoteAn army camped all around the city so nothing could come in. They waited until the food inside ran out.

6In Hoshea's ninth year as king, Assyria captured Samaria. They took the people of Israel away to Assyria. The people were made to live in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in towns of the Medes.

In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

NoteThese places were hundreds of miles from home. Assyria often moved beaten people far away. That way they could not join together and fight back.

9In Hezekiah's fourth year as king, Hoshea son of Elah had been king of Israel seven years. That year Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, marched against the city of Samaria. His army surrounded it so no one could go in or out.

And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.

NoteSamaria was the capital city of Israel, the northern land. When an army surrounds a city like this, it is called a siege. The soldiers wait outside until the people inside run out of food.

10After three years the Assyrians captured it. Samaria fell in Hezekiah's sixth year, which was Hoshea's ninth year as king of Israel.

And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.

11The king of Assyria took the people of Israel away to his own land. He settled them in Halah, and in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the towns of the Medes.

And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes:

NoteArmies that won often moved people far from their homes. It kept those people from fighting back later.

12This happened because they had not listened to the LORD their God. They broke their agreement with him. They would not listen to what Moses, God's servant, had told them, and they would not obey.

Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.

NoteThe agreement was the promise between God and his people. They promised to obey him, and he promised to take care of them.