Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent a message to the king of Assyria at Lachish. Hezekiah said, “I have done wrong. Leave me {alone}. Then I will pay anything you want.
The man that took care of Ahab’s house, the man that controlled the city, the elders, and the people who raised {Ahab’s children} sent a message to Jehu. “We are your servants. We will do anything you tell us. We will not make any man king. Do what you think is good.”
The people made a plan against Amaziah in Jerusalem. Amaziah ran away to Lachish. But the people sent men after Amaziah to Lachish. And those men killed Amaziah in Lachish.
Menahem raised the money by making all the rich and powerful men pay taxes. Menahem taxed each man 20 ounces [177] of silver. Then Menahem gave the money to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria left, and did not stay there in Israel.
This was while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem. The army of Babylon was also fighting against the cities of Judah that had not been captured. Those cities were Lachish and Azekah. These were the only fortified cities left in the land of Judah.