1 Kings 16
Expanded Bible
16 Jehu son of Hanani spoke the word of the Lord against King Baasha. 2 The Lord said, “·You were nothing, but I took you [L I raised/exalted you from the dust] and made you ·a leader [ruler] over my people Israel. But you have ·followed [L walked in] the ·ways [paths] of Jeroboam and have led my people Israel to sin. Their sins have ·made me angry [provoked/aroused me to anger], 3 so, Baasha, I will soon ·destroy [consume; wipe out] you and your ·family [L house]. I will do to you what I did to the ·family [L house] of Jeroboam son of Nebat. 4 Anyone ·from your family [L of Baasha] who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone from your ·family [L house] who dies in the ·fields [country] will be eaten by ·birds [vultures; L birds of the air/sky].”
5 Everything else Baasha did and all his victories ·are [L are they not…?] written down in the book of the ·history [chronicles; annals; 14:19] of the kings of Israel. 6 So Baasha ·died [L lay down/T slept with his fathers/ancestors] and was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah became king in his place.
7 The Lord spoke his word against Baasha and his ·family [L house] through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani. Baasha had done ·many things the Lord said were wrong [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord], ·which made the Lord very angry [L provoking/arousing him to anger with the works of his hand]. He did the same evil deeds that Jeroboam’s ·family [L house] had done before him. ·The Lord also spoke against Baasha because he killed all of [And Baasha had also destroyed/struck] Jeroboam’s ·family [L house].
Elah King of Israel
8 Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel during Asa’s twenty-sixth year as king of Judah, and Elah ruled in Tirzah for two years.
9 Zimri, one of Elah’s ·officers [officials; L servants], commanded half of Elah’s chariots. Zimri ·made plans [plotted; conspired] against Elah while the king was in Tirzah, getting drunk at Arza’s home. (Arza was ·in charge of the palace [L over the household] at Tirzah.) 10 Zimri went into Arza’s house and ·killed [L struck down and killed] Elah during Asa’s twenty-seventh year as king of Judah. Then Zimri became king of Israel in Elah’s place.
Zimri King of Israel
11 As soon as Zimri became king, he killed all of Baasha’s ·family [L house], not allowing ·any of Baasha’s family [L any male/one who urinates against the wall, of his relatives] or friends to live. 12 So Zimri destroyed all of Baasha’s ·family [L house] ·just as the Lord had said it would happen [L according to the word of the Lord as spoken] through the prophet Jehu. 13 Baasha and his son Elah sinned and led the people of Israel to sin, ·provoking [arousing] the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger because of their worthless idols.
14 Everything else Elah did ·is [L is it not…?] written in the book of the ·history [chronicles; annals; 14:19] of the kings of Israel.
15 So during Asa’s twenty-seventh year as king of Judah, Zimri became king of Israel and ruled in Tirzah seven days.
The ·army of Israel [people] was camped near Gibbethon, a Philistine town. 16 The men in the camp heard that Zimri had ·made secret plans [plotted; conspired] against King Elah and had killed him. So that day in the camp ·they [L all Israel] made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel. 17 So Omri and all the Israelite army left Gibbethon and ·attacked [besieged] Tirzah. 18 When Zimri saw that the city had been captured, he went into the ·palace [L citadel of the king’s house] and set it on fire, burning the palace and himself with it. 19 So Zimri died because he had sinned by doing ·what the Lord said was wrong [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord]. Jeroboam had led the people of Israel to sin, and Zimri ·sinned in the same way as [L walked in the way/path of] Jeroboam.
20 Everything else Zimri did and ·the story of how he turned [his conspiracy] against King Elah ·are [L are they not…?] written down in the book of the ·history [chronicles; annals; 14:19] of the kings of Israel.
Omri King of Israel
21 The people of Israel were divided into two ·groups [factions; parts]. Half of the people ·wanted [followed; supported] Tibni son of Ginath to be king, while the other half ·wanted [followed; supported] Omri. 22 Omri’s followers ·were stronger than [prevailed over; overcame] the followers of Tibni son of Ginath, so Tibni died, and Omri became king.
23 Omri became king of Israel during the thirty-first year Asa was king of Judah. Omri ruled Israel for twelve years, six of those years in the city of Tirzah. 24 He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for ·about one hundred fifty pounds [L two talents] of silver. Omri built a ·city [fortified city] on that hill and called it Samaria after the name of its earlier owner, Shemer.
25 But Omri did ·what the Lord said was wrong [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord]; he did more evil than all the kings who came before him. 26 Jeroboam son of Nebat had led the people of Israel to sin, and Omri ·sinned in the same way as [L walked in the way/path of] Jeroboam. The Israelites ·provoked [aroused] the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger ·because they worshiped [with their] worthless idols.
27 Everything else Omri did and all his successes ·are [L are they not…?] written in the book of the ·history [chronicles; annals; 14:19] of the kings of Israel. 28 So Omri ·died [L lay down/T slept with his fathers/ancestors] and was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab became king in his place.
Ahab King of Israel
29 Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel during Asa’s thirty-eighth year as king of Judah, and Ahab ·ruled [reigned over] Israel in the city of Samaria for twenty-two years. 30 More than any king before him, Ahab son of Omri did ·many things the Lord said were wrong [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord]. 31 He ·sinned in the same ways as [L walked in the ways/paths of] Jeroboam son of Nebat, ·but he did even worse things [L as though it were a light/trivial thing]. He married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal, the king of Sidon. Then Ahab began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He built a ·temple [L house] in Samaria for worshiping Baal and put an altar there for Baal. 33 Ahab also ·made an idol for worshiping Asherah [set up an Asherah pole; 14:15]. He did more things to ·provoke [arouse] the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the other kings before him.
34 During the time of Ahab, Hiel from Bethel rebuilt the city of Jericho. ·It cost Hiel the life of Abiram, his oldest son, to begin work on the city [L With Abiram, his firstborn, he laid its foundation], and ·it cost the life of Segub, his youngest son, to build [L with Segub, his youngest, he set up] the city gates. This happened ·just as the Lord, speaking [L according to the word of the Lord spoken] ·through [L by the hand of] Joshua son of Nun [Josh. 6:26].
1 Kings 16
Amplified Bible
Prophecy against Baasha
16 Now the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, 2 “Because I exalted you [Baasha] from the dust and made you leader over My people Israel, and you walked in the way of Jeroboam and made My people Israel sin, provoking Me to anger with their sins [of idol worship], 3 behold, I am going to sweep away Baasha and his household (family), and I will make your house (royal line) like that of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 4 The dogs will eat anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat anyone belonging to him who dies in the field.”
5 Now as for the rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
The Israelite Kings
6 Baasha slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried in Tirzah. Elah his son became king in his place. 7 Moreover, the word of the Lord came against Baasha and his household through the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani, both for all the evil that Baasha did in the sight of the Lord in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands (idolatry), in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he [willingly] destroyed it (the family of Jeroboam).
8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel in Tirzah, and reigned two years. 9 His servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against Elah. Now Elah was in Tirzah, getting drunk in the house of Arza, who was in charge of the [king’s] household in Tirzah. 10 Then Zimri came in and struck and killed Elah in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and became king in his place. 11 When he became king, as soon as he sat on his throne, he killed the entire household of Baasha; he did not leave a single male [alive], either of his [a]relatives or his friends.
12 Thus Zimri destroyed the entire household of Baasha, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke against Baasha through Jehu the prophet,(A) 13 for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they committed, and made Israel commit, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols. 14 Now as for the rest of the acts of Elah and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned [over Israel] for seven days at Tirzah. Now the troops were camped against Gibbethon, [a city] which belonged to the Philistines, 16 and the people who were camped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired and has also struck down the king.” So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. 17 Then Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. 18 When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the fortress of the king’s palace; and while inside, he set fire to the king’s palace and died, 19 because of the sins he had committed, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, by walking in the way of Jeroboam, and because of his sin he caused Israel to sin. 20 Now as for the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his [treasonous] conspiracy which he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
21 Then the people of Israel were divided in half. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and the other half followed Omri. 22 But the people who followed Omri prevailed over 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 became king over Israel and reigned for twelve years. He reigned six years at Tirzah. 24 Omri bought the hill Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he built a city on the hill [and fortified it], and named the city which he built [b]Samaria, after the owner of the hill, Shemer.
25 But Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and acted more wickedly than all who came before him. 26 He walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sin, which he made Israel commit, provoking the Lord God of Israel, [to anger] with their idols. 27 Now as for the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might which he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 28 So Omri slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried in Samaria. Ahab his son became king in his place.
29 Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years. 30 Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all [the kings] who were before him.
31 It came about, as if it had been a trivial thing for Ahab to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married [c]Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 So he erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made the Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34 In his days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord, which He spoke through Joshua the son of Nun.(B)
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 16:11 Lit blood avengers, referring to relatives who would have the obligation to kill Zimri to avenge Baasha’s death.
- 1 Kings 16:24 Heb Shomeron.
- 1 Kings 16:31 Jezebel was the chief priestess of the cult of Baal worship, which dominated the city of Tyre.
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