⁶ He followed the ways of the kings of Israel,^(A) as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab.^(B) He did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab^(A)

18 Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor,^(B) and he allied^(C) himself with Ahab^(D) by marriage.

¹⁸ He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter^(A) of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

²⁸ After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves.^(A) He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”^{(B) 29} One he set up in Bethel,^(C) and the other in Dan.^{(D) 30} And this thing became a sin;^(E) the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.^[a]

²⁵ I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath^(A) in God’s name and said: “You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves.^{(B) 26} Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him.^(C) He was loved by his God,^(D) and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women.^(E)

² Ahaziah was twenty-two^[a] years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri.

²⁵ But Omri did evil^(A) in the eyes of the Lord and sinned more than all those before him. ²⁶ He followed completely the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused^(B) Israel to commit, so that they aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by their worthless idols.^(C)

²⁷ As for the other events of Omri’s reign, what he did and the things he achieved, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? ²⁸ Omri rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria.^(D) And Ahab his son succeeded him as king.

Ahab Becomes King of Israel

²⁹ In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. ³⁰ Ahab son of Omri did more^(E) evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. ³¹ He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married^(F) Jezebel daughter^(G) of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal^(H) and worship him. ³² He set up an altar^(I) for Baal in the temple^(J) of Baal that he built in Samaria. ³³ Ahab also made an Asherah pole^(K) and did more^(L) to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.