⁶ And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

²⁰ Yes, but remember—those branches were broken off because they didn’t believe in Christ, and you are there because you do believe. So don’t think highly of yourself, but fear what could happen.

²⁰ Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.”

¹⁰ All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son.

²⁵ So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said.

¹² This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:

⁶ “My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, but they have rejected it. They are rejoicing over what will happen to^[a] King Rezin and King Pekah.^{[b] 7} Therefore, the Lord will overwhelm them with a mighty flood from the Euphrates River^[c]—the king of Assyria and all his glory. This flood will overflow all its channels ⁸ and sweep into Judah until it is chin deep. It will spread its wings, submerging your land from one end to the other, O Immanuel.

²⁴ Then Omri bought the hill now known as Samaria from its owner, Shemer, for 150 pounds of silver.^[a] He built a city on it and called the city Samaria in honor of Shemer.

²⁵ But Omri did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, even more than any of the kings before him. ²⁶ He followed the example of Jeroboam son of Nebat in all the sins he had committed and led Israel to commit. The people provoked the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, with their worthless idols.

²⁷ The rest of the events in Omri’s reign, the extent of his power, and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. ²⁸ When Omri died, he was buried in Samaria. Then his son Ahab became the next king.

Ahab Rules in Israel

²⁹ Ahab son of Omri began to rule over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria twenty-two years.

¹¹ But the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to the ship’s captain and the owner than to Paul.