"For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me....
"Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up....
"They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it; but the Lord accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt. For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof....
"Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men....
"When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by the arms; but they knew not that I healed them. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them....
"O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.
"O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity."—Hosea, 5-14 chapters.
End of Israel.
About 745 B.C. Tiglath-Pileser III. began his westward conquest, incorporating great areas into his already spacious empire. Heavy tribute was exacted from provinces so annexed. The amount required of the northern kingdom—now known by the name of its new capital, Samaria—was so great that the state soon drooped under the load. Egypt, desiring also a foothold in western Asia, employed agents to stir the conquered countries against Assyria, promising aid in case they would revolt, but meaning only to appropriate territory for the Nile kingdom should confusion make it possible.
Because the tribute was grievous in Samaria, the party opposed to paying it desired an alliance with Egypt. Statesmen saw that such a movement was ill-timed, but their voices were drowned in the multitude. In 735 B.C. a coalition was formed by the sea-coast states against Assyria, and the revolting states refused the yearly tribute. Before the allies could rally, Tiglath-Pileser III. reached the west by forced marches, and defeated each state separately. Much land was laid waste, captives were taken, and Hosea, deemed loyal to the Assyrian government, was made king of Samaria. For ten years the annual levy was paid, but upon the death of the great Assyrian conqueror, Hosea yielded to the popular clamor for a revolt. He himself was soon taken prisoner, but Samaria prepared for a siege. It lasted nearly three years, during which time intense suffering afflicted the city. At last the capital fell to Sargon, who destroyed it, taking 27,290 of its noblest citizens captives, deporting them to distant points. An Assyrian governor was placed over the desolate land and Israel ceased to exist longer as a state.