But those leaders sinned against the God that their ancestors [49] worshiped. They began worshiping the false gods of the people living there—and those were the people God destroyed.
Pul king of Assyria came to fight against Israel. Menahem gave Pul 75,000 pounds [176] of silver. He did this so Pul would support Menahem and make Menahem’s kingdom stronger.
These were the family leaders from half of Manasseh’s family group: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. They were all strong and brave men. They were famous men. And they were leaders in their families.
The names of all the people of Israel were listed in their family histories. Those family histories were put in the book The History of the Kings of Israel.
“Be careful not to make any agreements with the people who live in that land. If you do this, then you might join them when they worship their gods. Those people will invite you to join them, and you will eat their sacrifices. [344]
This was the Lord’s first message to Hosea. The Lord said, “Go, marry a prostitute {\cf2\super [1]} that has had children as a result of her prostitution. Why? Because the people in this country have acted like prostitutes—they have been unfaithful to the Lord.”
Israel, don’t celebrate like the nations do! Don’t be happy! You acted like a prostitute {\cf2\super [84]} and left your God. You did your sexual sin {\cf2\super [85]} on every threshing floor. {\cf2\super [86]}
The Lord had brought the people of Israel out of Egypt. And the ancestors [17] of these people had worshiped the Lord. But the people of Israel quit following the Lord. The people of Israel began to worship the false gods of the people living around them. That made the Lord angry.
But the people of Israel did not listen to their judges. The people of Israel were not faithful to God—they followed other gods. [19] In the past, the ancestors [20] of the people of Israel obeyed the Lord’s commands. But now the people of Israel changed and stopped obeying the Lord.