And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child.

Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that {were} therein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah: because they opened not {to him}, therefore he smote {it; and} all the women therein that were with child he ripped up.

O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy {shall he be}, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. {destroyed: Heb. wasted} {rewardeth...: Heb. recompenseth unto thee thy deed which thou didst to us}

Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.

Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away {the punishment} thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border: {ripped...: or, divided the mountains}

Yet {was} she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.

Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. {Their heart...: or, He hath divided their heart} {break...: Heb. behead} {images: Heb. statues, or, standing images}

Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof. {oppressed: or, oppressions}

The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.

And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, {and} as the waters {that are} poured down a steep place. {a steep...: Heb. a descent}

Woe to them {that are} at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, {which are} named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came! {are at...: or, are secure} {chief: or, firstfruits}

Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.

For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria. {the riches...: or, he that is before the king of Assyria shall take away the riches, etc}

And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, {and} they rebel against me.

For the head of Syria {is} Damascus, and the head of Damascus {is} Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. {that...: Heb. from a people}

In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor {by} the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,

I saw the Lord standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered. {lintel: or, chapiter, or, knop} {cut...: or, wound them}

For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people. {For the...: or, For he doth much keep the, etc} {desolation: or, astonishment}

Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon {her} children.

And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour {them}, because of their own counsels.

Happy {shall he be}, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. {the stones: Heb. the rock}

And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child.

Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon {her} children.

For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed {are} the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.

In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor {by} the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away {the punishment} thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border: {ripped...: or, divided the mountains}

Yet {was} she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.

And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour {them}, because of their own counsels.

Therefore also will I make {thee} sick in smiting thee, in making {thee} desolate because of thy sins.

And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

{Their} bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.

Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that {were} therein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah: because they opened not {to him}, therefore he smote {it; and} all the women therein that were with child he ripped up.

Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.

And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, {even} the whole seed of Ephraim.

The LORD'S voice crieth unto the city, and {the man of} wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. {the man...: or, thy name shall see that which is}

But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

And at the end of three years they took it: {even} in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that {is} the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.

And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, {and} they rebel against me.

Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, {is} planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.

Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. {Their heart...: or, He hath divided their heart} {break...: Heb. behead} {images: Heb. statues, or, standing images}

A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: {of fierce...: Heb. strong of face}

For, behold, the LORD commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts. {breaches: or, droppings}

They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again. {manner: Heb. way}

Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, {and} as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.