^3 (A)Shalmaneser the king of Assyria marched ^(B)against him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute. ⁴ 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.

⁵ Then the king of Assyria invaded the entire land, and went up to ^(C)Samaria and besieged it for three years.

Israel Captive

⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, ^(D)the king of Assyria captured Samaria and ^(E)led the people of Israel into exile to Assyria, and ^(F)settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of ^(G)Gozan, and ^(H)in the cities of the Medes.

Cities of Israel Filled with Strangers

^24 (A)Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, ^[a](B)Avva, ^(C)Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. So they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. ²⁵ And at the beginning of their living there, they ^(D)did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them that were killing some of them. ²⁶ So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations whom you have taken into exile and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the God of the land; so He has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them because they do not know the custom of the God of the land.”

²⁷ Then the king of Assyria issued commands, saying, “Take one of the priests there whom you led into ^[b]exile, and have ^[c]him go and live there; and have him teach them the custom of the God of the land.”