1 In Ahaz’s twelfth year as king of Judah, Hoshea, son of Elah, began to rule as king of Israel in Samaria. He ruled for nine years.
2 He did what the Lord considered evil, but he didn’t do what the kings of Israel before him had done.
3 King Shalmaneser of Assyria defeated Hoshea, who became his servant and was required to make annual payments to him.
4 The king of Assyria found Hoshea to be a traitor. (Hoshea had sent messengers to King Dais of Egypt and had stopped making annual payments to the king of Assyria.) So the king of Assyria arrested him and put him in prison.
5 Then the king of Assyria attacked the entire country. He attacked Samaria and blockaded it for three years.