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16 Now the word of Yahweh came to (A)Jehu the son of (B)Hanani against Baasha, saying, “Inasmuch as I (C)exalted you from the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, and (D)you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made My people Israel sin, provoking Me to anger with their sins, behold, (E)I am going to sweep away (F)Baasha and his house, and (G)I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. (H)Anyone of Baasha who dies in the city the dogs will eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the sky will eat.”

(I)Now the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? And Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried in (J)Tirzah, and Elah his son became king in his place. Moreover, the word of Yahweh through the hand of (K)the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani also came about against Baasha and his household, both because of all the evil which he did in the sight of Yahweh, provoking Him to anger with (L)the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because (M)he struck [a]it.

Elah Reigns over Israel

In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel at Tirzah, and reigned two years. And his servant (N)Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now he was at Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, (O)who was over the household at Tirzah. 10 Then Zimri went in and struck him and put him to death in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and became king in his place. 11 Now it happened when he became king, as soon as he sat on his throne, that (P)he struck down all the household of Baasha; he did not leave [b]a single male—not even any of his kinsman redeemers or his friends.

12 Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, (Q)according to the word of Yahweh, which He spoke against Baasha by the hand of (R)Jehu the prophet, 13 for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel sin, (S)provoking Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger with their [c]idols. 14 (T)Now the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Zimri Reigns over Israel

15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days at Tirzah. Now the people were camped against (U)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. 16 And the people who were camped heard [d]it said, “Zimri has conspired and has also struck down the king.” Therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. 17 Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah. 18 Now it happened that when Zimri saw that the city was captured, he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over him with fire, and (V)died, 19 because of his sins which he sinned, doing what is evil in the sight of Yahweh, (W)walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, making Israel sin. 20 (X)Now the rest of the acts of Zimri and his conspiracy which he [e]carried out, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Omri Reigns over 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; the other half followed Omri. 22 But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. And Tibni died and Omri became king. 23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel and reigned twelve years; he reigned six years at (Y)Tirzah. 24 And he bought the hill [f]Samaria from Shemer for two [g]talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and named the city which he built [h](Z)Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.

25 (AA)And Omri did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and (AB)acted more wickedly than all who were before him. 26 For he (AC)walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sins which he made Israel sin, provoking Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger with their [i]idols. 27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did and his might which he [j]showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 28 So Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab his son became king in his place.

Ahab Reigns over Israel

29 Now 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 twenty-two years. 30 And Ahab the son of Omri did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh (AD)more than all who were before him.

31 Now it happened, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that (AE)he took Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the (AF)Sidonians as a wife, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 So he erected an altar for Baal in (AG)the house of Baal which he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made (AH)the [k]Asherah. Thus (AI)Ahab did more to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34 (AJ)In his days Hiel the Bethelite built 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, according to the word of Yahweh, which He spoke by the hand of Joshua the son of Nun.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 16:7 Or him
  2. 1 Kings 16:11 Lit him who urinates against the wall, cf. 1 Sam 25:22, 34; 1 Kin 14:10; 21:21; 2 Kin 9:8
  3. 1 Kings 16:13 Lit vanities
  4. 1 Kings 16:16 Lit saying
  5. 1 Kings 16:20 Lit conspired
  6. 1 Kings 16:24 Heb Shomeron
  7. 1 Kings 16:24 A talent was approx. 75 lb. or 34 kg
  8. 1 Kings 16:24 Heb Shomeron
  9. 1 Kings 16:26 Lit vanities
  10. 1 Kings 16:27 Lit did
  11. 1 Kings 16:33 A wooden symbol of a female deity

The Reigns of Elah, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab

16 Then the word of the Lord came to (A)Jehu the son of (B)Hanani, against (C)Baasha, saying: (D)“Inasmuch as I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, and (E)you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made My people Israel sin, to provoke Me to anger with their sins, surely I will (F)take[a] away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house, and I will make your house like (G)the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. The dogs shall eat (H)whoever belongs to Baasha and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the fields.”

Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did, and his might, (I)are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Baasha [b]rested with his fathers and was buried in (J)Tirzah. Then Elah his son reigned in his place.

And also the word of the Lord came by the prophet (K)Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because (L)he killed them.

Elah Reigns in Israel

In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel, and reigned two years in Tirzah. (M)Now his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him as he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, (N)steward[c] of his house in Tirzah. 10 And Zimri went in and struck him and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

11 Then it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he was seated on his throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha; he (O)did not leave him one male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends. 12 Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, (P)according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, 13 for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, by which they had sinned and by which they had made Israel sin, in provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger (Q)with their [d]idols.

14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Zimri Reigns in Israel

15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri had reigned in Tirzah seven days. And the people were encamped (R)against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. 16 Now the people who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired and also has killed the king.” So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. 17 Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon, and they besieged Tirzah. 18 And it happened, when Zimri saw that the city was [e]taken, that he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house [f]down upon himself with fire, and died, 19 because of the sins which he had committed in doing evil in the sight of the Lord, (S)in walking in the (T)way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he had committed to make Israel sin.

20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the treason he committed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

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 prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri reigned. 23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel, and reigned twelve years. Six years he reigned in (U)Tirzah. 24 And he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; then he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, (V)Samaria,[g] after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill. 25 (W)Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all who were before him. 26 For he (X)walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their (Y)idols.[h]

27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

28 So Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. Then 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 became king over Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. 31 And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, (Z)that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the (AA)Sidonians; (AB)and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 Then he set up an altar for Baal in (AC)the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. 33 (AD)And Ahab made a [i]wooden image. Ahab (AE)did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34 In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation [j]with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, (AF)according to the word of the Lord, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 16:3 consume
  2. 1 Kings 16:6 Died and joined his ancestors
  3. 1 Kings 16:9 Lit. who was over the house
  4. 1 Kings 16:13 Lit. vanities
  5. 1 Kings 16:18 captured
  6. 1 Kings 16:18 Lit. over him
  7. 1 Kings 16:24 Heb. Shomeron
  8. 1 Kings 16:26 Lit. vanities
  9. 1 Kings 16:33 Heb. Asherah, a Canaanite goddess
  10. 1 Kings 16:34 At the cost of the life of