5. Then the king of Assyria attacked the entire country. He attacked Samaria and blockaded it for three years.
6. In Hoshea’s ninth year as king of Israel, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and took the Israelites to Assyria as captives. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
7. The Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt ⌊and rescued them⌋ from the power of Pharaoh (the king of Egypt). They worshiped other gods
8. and lived by the customs of the nations that the Lord had forced out of the Israelites’ way. They also did what their kings wanted them to do.