¹⁷ In the thirty-ninth year of the reign of^[a] Azariah, king of Judah, Gadi’s son Menahem began a ten-year reign over Israel from Samaria. ¹⁸ He did what the Lord considered to be evil by never abandoning the sins of Nebat’s son Jeroboam, who caused Israel to sin, as long as he lived.

¹⁹ Later on, King Pul of Aram attacked the land, and Menahem paid Pul 1,000 silver talents^[b] so Pul^[c] would join forces with Menahem^[d] to secure his hold on the kingdom. ²⁰ Menahem exacted the money from all of Israel’s powerful and wealthy men, 50 shekels^[e] from each, to pay the king of Aram. As a result, the king of Aram retreated and did not remain there in the land. ²¹ The rest of Menahem’s activities, including everything that he did, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, are they not?