1 Kings 16
EasyEnglish Bible
16 Then God gave a message to Hanani's son Jehu about punishment for King Baasha. 2 This was the message: ‘Even though you were not an important person, I made you the leader of my people, the Israelites. But then you did all the bad things that Jeroboam did! Also, you caused my people the Israelites to do bad things. Their sins have caused me to become very angry. 3 So now I am ready to destroy you and your family. I will remove your family as I did to the family of Nebat's son Jeroboam. 4 If people of your family die in the city, dogs will eat their bodies. If they die in the country, vultures will eat them.’
5 The other things that happened while Baasha was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Israel's kings’. It tells about all the things that Baasha did and about his power. 6 Baasha died and they buried him in Tirzah. His son Elah became king after him.
7 Hanani's son Jehu, the prophet, had received a message from the Lord about Baasha and his family. Baasha had done many things that the Lord said were evil, in the same way that Jeroboam had done. Baasha had even destroyed Jeroboam's whole family. These bad things made the Lord very angry.
Elah, king of Israel
8 When Asa had been king of Judah for 26 years, Baasha's son Elah became king of Israel. He ruled as king in Tirzah for two years.
9 Zimri was one of Elah's officers. He had authority over half of Elah's chariots. Zimri decided to kill King Elah. One day, Elah was in the home of a man called Arza, an officer who had authority over the king's palace in Tirzah. Elah was drinking too much wine and he became drunk. 10 Zimri came in to Arza's house. He hit Elah and he killed him. When this happened, Asa had been king of Judah for 27 years. Zimri made himself king instead of Elah.
11 When Zimri began to rule Israel as king, he killed everybody in Baasha's family. He did not leave any of Baasha's male relatives alive. He even killed Baasha's friends. 12 Zimri killed everybody in Baasha's family, as the Lord had said it would happen. The prophet Jehu had spoken the Lord's message against Baasha. 13 This happened because of all the sins that Baasha and his son Elah had done. They had also caused the Israelites to do bad things. The useless idols that they worshipped had made the Lord, Israel's God, very angry.
14 The other things that happened while Elah was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Israel's kings’. It tells about all the things that Elah did.
Zimri, king of Israel
15 When Asa had been king of Judah for 27 years, Zimri became king of Israel. He ruled as king in Tirzah for seven days.
When Zimri killed King Elah, Israel's army was attacking a Philistine town called Gibbethon. 16 The army received this message: ‘Zimri has turned against the king and he has killed King Elah.’ Omri was the officer who led Israel's army. That day, Omri's soldiers decided to make Omri the king of Israel, while they were in their camp at Gibbethon. 17 So Omri and all Israel's army left Gibbethon and they went to attack Tirzah. 18 Zimri saw that Omri had taken power over the city. So he went into the strong buildings of the king's palace. He lit a fire to burn the palace all around him. Zimri himself died in the fire. 19 This happened because of the sins that he had done. He did things that the Lord says are evil. He did the same bad things that Jeroboam had done. He also caused the Israelites to continue doing bad things.
20 The other things that happened while Zimri was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Israel's kings’. It tells about how he killed King Elah, as well as the other things that he did.
Omri, king of Israel
21 At that time, half of the Israelite people wanted Omri to be their king. But half of the people wanted Ginath's son Tibni to be their king. The two groups of people could not agree together. 22 But the group who wanted Omri to be king was stronger than the other group. As a result, Tibni died. Then Omri became the king of Israel.[a]
23 Omri became king of Israel when Asa had been king of Judah for 31 years. Omri ruled Israel as king for 12 years. He lived in Tirzah for the first six years. 24 Then Omri bought a hill from a man called Shemer. He paid Shemer 70 kilograms of silver for it. He built a city on the hill and he called the city Samaria. That was because the hill had belonged to Shemer.[b]
25 But Omri did many things that the Lord said were evil. He did more evil things than all the kings of Israel who lived before him. 26 He did the same bad things that Nebat's son Jeroboam had done and that he caused the Israelites to do. The useless idols that they worshipped caused the Lord, Israel's God, to be very angry.
27 The other things that happened while Omri was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Israel's kings’. It tells about the things that he did and the power that he had. 28 Omri died and they buried him in Samaria. His son Ahab became king of Israel after him.
Ahab, king of Israel
29 Omri's son Ahab became king of Israel when Asa had been king of Judah for 38 years. Ahab ruled Israel as king in Samaria for 22 years.
30 Omri's son Ahab did many things that the Lord said were evil. He did more evil things than all the kings of Israel who lived before him. 31 He did the same bad things that Nebat's son Jeroboam had done. He even did something that was even worse. He married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of Sidon. Ahab served Baal as his god and he worshipped him. 32 Ahab built a temple for Baal in Samaria. He made an altar for Baal in this temple. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole to worship. He did many bad things that made the Lord, Israel's God, angry. He did more bad things than all the kings of Israel who lived before him.
34 While Ahab ruled as king, Hiel built Jericho city again. Hiel came from Bethel. Abiram, his firstborn son, died when Hiel built the city's foundation. Segub, his youngest son, died when he built the gates in the city's wall. The Lord had told Nun's son Joshua that this would happen.[c]
Footnotes
- 16:22 It seems that the fight between the two groups continued for four years. See verse 15 and verse 23.
- 16:24 Samaria and Shemer have the same sound.
- 16:34 See Joshua 6:26.
1 Kings 16
Living Bible
16 A message of condemnation from the Lord was delivered to King Baasha at this time by the prophet Jehu:
2 “I lifted you out of the dust,” the message said, “to make you king of my people Israel; but you have walked in the evil paths of Jeroboam. You have made my people sin, and I am angry! 3 So now I will destroy you and your family, just as I did the descendants of Jeroboam. 4-7 Those of your family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the fields will be eaten by the birds.”
The message was sent to Baasha and his family because he had angered the Lord by all his evil deeds. He was as evil as Jeroboam despite the fact that the Lord had destroyed all of Jeroboam’s descendants for their sins.
The rest of Baasha’s biography—his deeds and conquests—are written in The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
8 Elah, Baasha’s son, began reigning during the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, but he reigned only two years. 9 Then General Zimri, who had charge of half the royal chariot troops, plotted against him. One day King Elah was half drunk at the home of Arza, the superintendent of the palace, in the capital city of Tirzah. 10 Zimri simply walked in and struck him down and killed him. (This occurred during the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Asa of Judah.) Then Zimri declared himself to be the new king of Israel.
11 He immediately killed the entire royal family—leaving not a single male child. He even destroyed distant relatives and friends. 12 This destruction of the descendants of Baasha was in line with what the Lord had predicted through the prophet Jehu. 13 The tragedy occurred because of the sins of Baasha and his son Elah; for they had led Israel into worshiping idols, and the Lord was very angry about it. 14 The rest of the history of Elah’s reign is written in The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
15-16 But Zimri lasted only seven days; for when the army of Israel, which was then engaged in attacking the Philistine city of Gibbethon, heard that Zimri had assassinated the king, they decided on General Omri, commander-in-chief of the army, as their new ruler. 17 So Omri led the army of Gibbethon to besiege Tirzah, Israel’s capital. 18 When Zimri saw that the city had been taken, he went into the palace and burned it over him and died in the flames. 19 For he, too, had sinned like Jeroboam; he had worshiped idols and had led the people of Israel to sin with him. 20 The rest of the story of Zimri and his treason are written in The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
21 But now the kingdom of Israel was split in two; half the people were loyal to General Omri, and the other half followed Tibni, the son of Ginath. 22 But General Omri won and Tibni was killed; so Omri reigned without opposition.
23 King Asa of Judah had been on the throne thirty-one years when Omri began his reign over Israel, which lasted twelve years, six of them in Tirzah. 24 Then Omri bought the hill now known as Samaria from its owner, Shemer, for $4,000 and built a city on it, calling it Samaria in honor of Shemer. 25 But Omri was worse than any of the kings before him; 26 he worshiped idols as Jeroboam had and led Israel into this same sin. So God was very angry. 27 The rest of Omri’s history is recorded in The Annals of the Kings of Israel. 28 When Omri died he was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab became king in his place.
29 King Asa of Judah had been on the throne thirty-eight years when Ahab became the king of Israel; and Ahab reigned for twenty-two years. 30 But he was even more wicked than his father Omri; he was worse than any other king of Israel! 31 And as though that were not enough, he married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and then began worshiping Baal. 32 First he built a temple and an altar for Baal in Samaria. 33 Then he made other idols and did more to anger the Lord God of Israel than any of the other kings of Israel before him.
34 (It was during his reign that Hiel, a man from Bethel, rebuilt Jericho. When he laid the foundations, his oldest son, Abiram, died; and when he finally completed it by setting up the gates, his youngest son, Segub, died. For this was the Lord’s curse upon Jericho[a] as declared by Joshua, the son of Nun.)
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 16:34 the Lord’s curse upon Jericho, see Joshua 6:26.
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