Aholah's, Samaria's, wickedness is described first. It began with Jeroboam's idolatry (1 Kings xii:25) and became worse and worse. They went to Assyria and shared their corruption in idolatry and made a covenant with that nation (Hosea xii:2). Thus Samaria played the harlot by forsaking the Lord and turning to Assyria, trusting on Assyria instead of on the Lord, and then she defiled herself with all their idols. Hosea described their condition. "Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart; they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria. When they shall go I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard. Woe unto them! for they have fled from me; destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me, though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me" (Hosea vii:11-13). The judgment of Samaria is also mentioned. The Lord delivered the people into the hands of the nation with which they had become enamored, to discover their nakedness. "Wherefore, I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted." The historical record of this is found in 2 Kings xvii, when Hoshea, King of Samaria, became servant to Shalmaneser, King of Assyria. And when Hoshea acted treacherously, Shalmaneser imprisoned Samaria's king and led the people away into Assyria. III. The Wickedness of Aholibah. And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredom more than her sister in her whoredom. She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men. Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way, And that she increased her whoredom: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermillion, Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of their nativity: And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea. And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them. So she discovered her whoredom, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister. Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising