King Pul of Assyria came to ⌞attack⌟ the country. So Menahem gave Pul 75,000 pounds of silver to gain his support and help strengthen his hold on the kingdom.
In the days of King Pekah of Israel, King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria took Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee, and the entire territory of Naphtali. He also took the people away to Assyria as captives.
“When Ephraim saw that he was sick and when Judah saw his own wounds, Ephraim went to Assyria to ask the great king for help. But the king couldn’t cure them or heal their wounds.
They don’t return to the Most High. They are like a defective bow. Their officials will die in battle because they curse. The people in Egypt will ridicule them for this.
They offer sacrifices to me and eat the meat of sacrifices, but I, the Lord, do not accept these sacrifices. Now I will remember their wickedness and punish them because of their sins. They will go back to Egypt.
Even if they escape without being destroyed, Egypt will capture them and Memphis will bury them. Weeds will grow over their silver treasures. Thorns will grow over their tents.
I destroyed some of you as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning log snatched from a fire. And you still didn’t return to me, declares the Lord.
I left you with nothing to eat in any of your cities. I left you with no food in your entire land. And you still didn’t return to me, declares the Lord.
The king must never own a large number of horses or make the people return to Egypt to get more horses. The Lord has told you, “You will never go back there again.”