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

Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah alone.

And the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, "Look, he has come out to make war with you." So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

'Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered?

For the head of Syria [is] Damascus, And the head of Damascus [is] Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken, [So that it will] not [be] a people.

The head of Ephraim [is] Samaria, And the head of Samaria [is] Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, Surely you shall not be established." ' "

"for before the child shall have knowledge to cry 'My father' and 'My mother,' the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria."

The fortress also will cease from Ephraim, The kingdom from Damascus, And the remnant of Syria; They will be as the glory of the children of Israel," Says the LORD of hosts.

" Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, And in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say: 'Assemble on the mountains of Samaria; See great tumults in her midst, And the oppressed within her.

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "An adversary [shall be] all around the land; He shall sap your strength from you, And your palaces shall be plundered."

Hear and testify against the house of Jacob," Says the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,

I will destroy the winter house along with the summer house; The houses of ivory shall perish, And the great houses shall have an end," Says the LORD.

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who [are] on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor, Who crush the needy, Who say to your husbands, "Bring [wine,] let us drink!"

Woe to you [who are] at ease in Zion, And trust in Mount Samaria, Notable persons in the chief nation, To whom the house of Israel comes!

[Woe to] you who put far off the day of doom, Who cause the seat of violence to come near;

Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, [And] invent for yourselves musical instruments like David;

Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives, And those who recline at banquets shall be removed.

I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and He said: "Strike the doorposts, that the thresholds may shake, And break them on the heads of them all. I will slay the last of them with the sword. He who flees from them shall not get away, And he who escapes from them shall not be delivered.

The mountains will melt under Him, And the valleys will split Like wax before the fire, Like waters poured down a steep place.

For the statutes of Omri are kept; All the works of Ahab's house [are done;] And you walk in their counsels, That I may make you a desolation, And your inhabitants a hissing. Therefore you shall bear the reproach of My people."

Therefore tumult shall arise among your people, And all your fortresses shall be plundered As Shalman plundered Beth Arbel in the day of battle -- A mother dashed in pieces upon [her] children.

Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel, Because of your great wickedness. At dawn the king of Israel Shall be cut off utterly.

And Hazael said, "Why is my lord weeping?" He answered, "Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: Their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword; and you will dash their children, and rip open their women with child."

Then from Tirzah, Menahem attacked Tiphsah, all who [were] there, and its territory. Because they did not surrender, therefore he attacked [it.] All the women there who were with child he ripped open.

O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, Happy the one who repays you as you have served us!

Happy the one who takes and dashes Your little ones against the rock!

Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished.

Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of the people of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away its [punishment,] Because they ripped open the women with child in Gilead, That they might enlarge their territory.

Yet she [was] carried away, She went into captivity; Her young children also were dashed to pieces At the head of every street; They cast lots for her honorable men, And all her great men were bound in chains.