1 Kings 16:21-17:7

English Standard Version

Omri Reigns in Israel

²¹ Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. ²² But the people who followed Omri overcame the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died, and Omri became king. ²³ In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for twelve years; six years he reigned in Tirzah. ²⁴ He bought the hill of ^(A)Samaria from Shemer for two talents^[a] of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city that he built ^(B)Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.

^25 (C)Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil ^(D)than all who were before him. ²⁶ For ^(E)he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, ^(F)provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols. ²⁷ Now the rest of the acts of Omri that he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²⁸ And Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigned in his place.

Ahab Reigns in Israel

²⁹ In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰ And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(G)more than all who were before him. ³¹ And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(H)he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the ^(I)Sidonians, ^(J)and went and served Baal and worshiped him. ³² He erected an altar for Baal in ^(K)the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. ³³ And Ahab made an ^(L)Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger ^(M)than all the kings of Israel who were before him. ^34 (N)In his days Hiel of Bethel built ^(O)Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

Elijah Predicts a Drought

17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of ^(P)Tishbe^[b] in Gilead, said to Ahab, ^(Q)“As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, ^(R)before whom I stand, ^(S)there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” ² And the word of the Lord came to him: ³ “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. ⁴ You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” ⁵ So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. ⁶ And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. ⁷ And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.