Nadab, then Baasha, Rules over Israel

²⁵ Now ^(A)Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and ^(B)walked in the way of his father and ^(C)in his sin which he made Israel sin. ²⁷ Then ^(D)Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at ^(E)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.

²⁸ So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and reigned in his place. ²⁹ It came about as soon as he was king, he struck down all the household of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam ^[a]any persons alive, until he had destroyed them, ^(F)according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, ³⁰ and because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and ^(G)which he made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger.

^31 (H)Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

War with Judah

^32 (I)There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel at Tirzah, and reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and ^(J)walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel sin.

Prophecy against Baasha

16 Now the word of the Lord came to ^(K)Jehu the son of ^(L)Hanani against Baasha, saying, ² “Inasmuch as I ^(M)exalted you from the dust and made you leader over My people Israel, and ^(N)you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made My people Israel sin, provoking Me to anger with their sins, ³ behold, ^(O)I will consume ^(P)Baasha and his house, and ^(Q)I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ^4 (R)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 heavens will eat.”

^5 (S)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?

The Israelite Kings

⁶ And Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried in ^(T)Tirzah, and Elah his son became king in his place. ⁷ Moreover, the word of the Lord through ^(U)the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani also came against Baasha and his household, both because of all the evil which he did in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger with ^(V)the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because ^(W)he struck ^[b]it.

⁸ 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. ⁹ His servant ^(X)Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now he was at Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, ^(Y)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 It came about when he became king, as soon as he sat on his throne, that ^(Z)he ^[c]killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave ^[d]a single male, neither of his ^[e]relatives nor of his friends.

¹² Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, ^(AA)according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke against Baasha through ^(AB)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, ^(AC)provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their ^[f]idols. ^14 (AD)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?

¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days at Tirzah. Now the people were camped against ^(AE)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. ¹⁶ The people who were camped heard ^[g]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 When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over him with fire, and ^(AF)died, ¹⁹ because of his sins which he sinned, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(AG)walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, making Israel sin. ^20 (AH)Now the rest of the acts of Zimri and his conspiracy which he ^[h]carried out, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of 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 ^(AI)Tirzah. ²⁴ He bought the hill ^[i]Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and named the city which he built ^[j](AJ)Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.

^25 (AK)Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and ^(AL)acted more wickedly than all who were before him. ²⁶ For he ^(AM)walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sins which he made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel with their ^[k]idols. ²⁷ Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did and his might which he ^[l]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.

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 Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord ^(AN)more than all who were before him.

³¹ It came about, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that ^(AO)he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the ^(AP)Sidonians, and went to serve Baal and worshiped him. ³² So he erected an altar for Baal in ^(AQ)the house of Baal which he built in Samaria. ³³ Ahab also made ^(AR)the ^[m]Asherah. Thus ^(AS)Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. ^34 (AT)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 the Lord, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

Jehoshaphat Succeeds Asa

17 ^(A)Jehoshaphat his son then became king in his place, and made his position over Israel firm. ² He placed troops in all ^(B)the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim ^(C)which Asa his father had captured.

His Good Reign

³ The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he ^[a]followed the example of his father David’s earlier days and did not seek the Baals, ⁴ but sought the God of his father, ^[b]followed His commandments, ^(D)and did not act as Israel did. ⁵ So the Lord established the kingdom in his ^[c]control, and all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and ^(E)he had great riches and honor. ^6 [d]He took great pride in the ways of the Lord and again ^(F)removed the high places and the Asherim from Judah.

⁷ Then in the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah, ^(G)to teach in the cities of Judah; ⁸ and with them ^(H)the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tobadonijah, the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. ⁹ They taught in Judah, having ^(I)the book of the law of the Lord with them; and they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.

¹⁰ Now ^(J)the dread of the Lord was on all the kingdoms of the lands which were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹ Some of the Philistines ^(K)brought gifts and silver as tribute to Jehoshaphat; the Arabians also brought him flocks, 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats. ¹² So Jehoshaphat grew greater and greater, and he built fortresses and store cities in Judah. ¹³ He had large supplies in the cities of Judah, and warriors, valiant men, in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ This was their muster according to their fathers’ households: of Judah, commanders of thousands, Adnah was the commander, and with him 300,000 valiant warriors; ¹⁵ and next to him was Johanan the commander, and with him 280,000; ¹⁶ and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, ^(L)who volunteered for the Lord, and with him 200,000 valiant warriors; ¹⁷ and of Benjamin, Eliada a valiant warrior, and with him 200,000 armed with bow and shield; ¹⁸ and next to him Jehozabad, and with him 180,000 equipped for war. ¹⁹ These are they who served the king, apart from ^(M)those whom the king put in the fortified cities through all Judah.