Beginning

Abijah’s Reign over Judah^(A)

15 Abijah reigned over Judah starting in the eighteenth year of Nebat’s son Jeroboam’s reign. ² He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. ³ He practiced the same sins that his father committed before he was born. Unlike his ancestor David, his heart never became devoted to the Lord his God. ⁴ Nevertheless, for the sake of David, the Lord his God maintained a lamp for David^[a] in Jerusalem by raising up his son after him so that Jerusalem would be established, ⁵ because David had practiced what the Lord considered to be right. He never avoided anything that the Lord had commanded him during his entire lifetime, except for the case of Uriah the Hittite.

⁶ There was continual military conflict between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout his entire lifetime. ⁷ The rest of Abijah’s accomplishments, including everything he undertook, are written in the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? And a state of war continued to exist between Abijah and Jeroboam. ⁸ Eventually, Abijah died, as did his ancestors, and he was buried in the City of David. His son Asa succeeded him as king.

Asa Reigns over Judah^(B)

⁹ Asa began to reign as Judah’s king during the twentieth year of the reign of^[b] Jeroboam as king over Israel. ¹⁰ He reigned 41 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. ¹¹ Asa practiced what the Lord considered to be right, just like his ancestor David. ¹² He also removed the male cult prostitutes^[c] from the land and destroyed all the idols that his ancestors had made. ¹³ He removed his mother Maacah from her position as Queen Mother because she had made a detestable image dedicated to Asherah.^[d] Asa cut down his mother’s idol, crushed it, and burned it at the Kidron Brook. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, the high places were not removed, even though Asa’s heart was blameless toward the Lord all of his life. ¹⁵ Asa brought into the Lord’s Temple the things that his father had dedicated, as well as his own dedicated gifts such as silver, gold, and temple service^[e] implements.

Alliances with Aram against Israel^(C)

¹⁶ A state of continual military unrest existed between Asa and King Baasha of Israel throughout their lifetimes. ¹⁷ King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and interdicted Ramah by building fortifications around it so no one could enter or leave to join King Asa of Judah. ¹⁸ But Asa removed all the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple and from his royal palace, placed them into the care of some servants, and then sent them to Tabrimmon’s son King Ben-hadad of Aram, the grandson of Hezion, who lived in Damascus.

¹⁹ “Let’s make a treaty between you and me,” he said, “just like the one between my father and your father. Notice that I’ve sent you silver and gold to break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he’ll retreat from his attack^[f] on me.”

²⁰ So King Ben-hadad did just what King Asa had asked: he sent his commanding officers to attack the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, all of Chinneroth,^[g] and the territory of Naphtali. ²¹ When Baasha learned of this, he stopped fortifying Ramah and remained in Tirzah, ²² so King Asa published a proclamation throughout Judah (no one was left out) and they carried away the stones and timber with which Baasha had been fortifying Judah. King Asa used them to fortify Geba in Benjamin and Mizpah.

²³ The rest of Asa’s accomplishments, his strength, everything that he undertook, and the cities that he fortified are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? However, as he approached old age, he became diseased in his feet. ²⁴ Then Asa died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David, his ancestor. His son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place.

Nadab Reigns over Israel

²⁵ Jeroboam’s son Nadab became king over Israel during the second year of the reign of^[h] King Asa over Judah. He reigned over Israel for two years, ²⁶ practicing what the Lord considered to be evil, living the way his father did, committing sins, and leading Israel to sin. ²⁷ So Ahijah’s son Baasha from the household of Issachar conspired against him and killed Nadab at Gibbethon in Philistia while Nadab and all of Israel were attacking Gibbethon. ²⁸ Baasha killed him during the third year of the reign of^[i] King Asa of Judah and took Nadab’s^[j] place as king.

²⁹ As soon as he was established as king, he killed everyone in the household of Jeroboam. He left not even one single person alive. He destroyed them completely, just as the Lord had spoken through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite,^{[k] 30} because of the sins that Jeroboam had committed, and because he led Israel into sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to become angry.

³¹ Now the rest of Nadab’s accomplishments, including everything he undertook, are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, are they not? ³² Meanwhile, a state of war continued to exist between Asa and Baasha king of Israel, throughout their reigns.

Baasha Reigns over Israel

³³ During the third year of the reign of^[l] King Asa of Judah, Ahijah’s son Baasha became king over all of Israel. He reigned for 24 years at Tirzah. ³⁴ He practiced what the Lord considered to be evil, living like Jeroboam did and leading Israel into sin.

Jehu Rebukes Baasha

16 Later, a message came from the Lord to Hanani’s son Jehu. It was directed to rebuke Baasha, and this is what it said:

⁵ Now the rest of Baasha’s accomplishments, including everything that he undertook, as well as his strengths, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, are they not? ⁶ Eventually, Baasha died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried in Tirzah. His son Elah was installed as king in his place.

⁷ In addition, a message from the Lord came through Hanani’s son Jehu the prophet against Baasha and his household, not only because of all of the things that Baasha^[o] did that the Lord considered to be evil, including provoking the Lord^[p] to anger by what he did and by being like the household of Jeroboam, but also because Baasha^[q] had destroyed Jeroboam’s household.^[r]

Elah Reigns over Israel

⁸ During the twenty-sixth year of the reign of^[s] King Asa of Judah, Baasha’s son Elah became king over Israel and reigned at Tirzah for two years. ⁹ But his servant Zimri, who commanded half of his chariot forces, conspired against Elah while he was drinking himself drunk in the home of Arza, who managed the household at Tirzah. ¹⁰ Zimri went inside, attacked him, and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, and then became king in Elah’s place. ¹¹ As soon as he had consolidated his reign, he executed the entire household of Baasha. He did not leave a single male alive, including any of Baasha’s relatives or friends. ¹² In doing so, Zimri destroyed the entire household of Baasha, in keeping with the message from the Lord that he had spoken against Baasha through Jehu the prophet ¹³ because of all the sins that Baasha and his son Elah had committed and because of what they did to lead Israel into sin, thus provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idolatry. ¹⁴ Now the rest of Elah’s accomplishments, including everything he undertook, are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, are they not?

Zimri Reigns over Israel

¹⁵ Zimri reigned for seven days at Tirzah during the twenty-seventh year of the reign of^[t] King Asa of Judah. At that time, the army was encamped in a siege against Gibbethon of Philistia. ¹⁶ The army at the encampment heard this report: “Zimri has conspired against the king and killed him.” So the entire army of^[u] Israel made Omri, their commander, king over Israel. ¹⁷ Then Omri and the entire army of^[v] Israel left from Gibbethon and attacked Tirzah. ¹⁸ When Zimri observed that the city had been captured, he retreated into the king’s palace, set fire to the citadel, and died when the palace burned down around him ¹⁹ because of the sins that he committed by doing what the Lord considered to be evil, living like Jeroboam did, and sinning so as to lead Israel into sin. ²⁰ The rest of Zimri’s accomplishments, including his conspiracy that he carried out, are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, are they not?

Omri Reigns over Israel and Builds Samaria

²¹ The army^[w] of Israel was divided into two parties: half of the army^[x] were loyal to Ginath’s son Tibni and wanted to make him king, and half were loyal to Omri. ²² But the army^[y] that was loyal to Omri was victorious over Ginath’s son Tibni. Tibni later died and Omri became king. ²³ During the thirty-first year of the reign of^[z] King Asa of Judah, Omri became king over Israel. He reigned for twelve years, six of them at Tirzah. ²⁴ He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents^[aa] of silver, fortified the hill, and named the city Samaria after Shemer, the former owner of the hill. ²⁵ Omri practiced what the Lord considered to be evil, doing far more evil than anyone who had reigned before him. ²⁶ He lived just like Nebat’s son Jeroboam, and by his sin he led Israel into sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel with their idolatry. ²⁷ Now the rest of Omri’s accomplishments, including the power that he demonstrated, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, are they not? ²⁸ So Omri died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab became king in his place.

Ahab Reigns over Israel and Marries Jezebel

²⁹ Omri’s son Ahab became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of King Asa of Judah. He^[ab] reigned over Israel in Samaria for 22 years. ³⁰ Omri’s son Ahab practiced more of what the Lord considered to be evil than anyone who had lived before him. ³¹ In fact, as if it were nothing for him to live like Nebat’s son Jeroboam, Ahab married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon. Then he went out to serve Baal and worship him. ³² He built an altar for Baal in a temple for Baal that he constructed in Samaria. ³³ Ahab also erected an Asherah, doing more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all of the kings of Israel who had reigned before him. ³⁴ It was during Ahab’s reign that Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations just as his firstborn son Abiram was dying, and he erected its gates while his youngest son Segub was dying, thus fulfilling the message that the Lord delivered through Nun’s son Joshua.^[ac]

Elijah Calls for a Drought

17 Elijah the foreigner,^[ad] who was an alien resident from Gilead, told Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, in whose presence I’m standing, there will be neither dew nor rain these next several years, except when I say so.”

² Later, this message came to him from the Lord: ³ “Leave here and go into hiding at the Wadi^[ae] Cherith, where it enters the Jordan River.^{[af] 4} You will be able to drink from that brook, and I’ve commanded some crows to sustain you there.”

⁵ So Elijah^[ag] left and did exactly what the Lord had told him to do—he went to live near the Wadi^[ah] Cherith, where it enters the Jordan River. ⁶ Crows would bring him bread and meat both in the morning and in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. ⁷ But after a while,^[ai] the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

Elijah Visits the Widowed Mother of Zarephath

⁸ Then this message came to him from the Lord: ⁹ “Get up, move to Zarephath in Sidon, and stay there. Look! I’ve commanded a widow to sustain you there.”

¹⁰ So he got up and went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the entrance to the city, a widow was there gathering sticks. So he asked her, “Please, may I have some water in a cup so I can have a drink.” ¹¹ While she was on her way to get the water, he called out to her, “Would you please also bring me a piece of bread while you’re at it?”^[aj]

¹² “As the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have so much as a muffin, just a handful of flour in a bowl and some oil left in a bottle. Now I’m going to find some sticks so I can cook a last meal for my son and for me. Then we’re going to eat it and die.”

¹³ But Elijah told her, “You can stop being afraid. Go and do what you said, but first make me a muffin and bring it to me. Then make a meal for yourself and for your son, ¹⁴ because this is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘That jar of flour will not run out, nor will that bottle of oil become empty until the very day that the Lord sends rain on the surface of the ground.’”

¹⁵ So she went out and did precisely what Elijah told her to do. As a result, Elijah,^[ak] the widow,^[al] and her son^[am] were fed for days. ¹⁶ The jar of flour never ran out and the bottle of oil never became empty, just as the Lord had promised^[an] through^[ao] Elijah.

Elijah Restores the Widow’s Son

¹⁷ Sometime later, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. In fact, his illness became so severe that he died.^{[ap] 18} “What do we have in common, you man of God?” she accused Elijah. “You came to me so you could uncover my guilt! And you’re responsible for the death of my son!”

¹⁹ “Give me your son,” he replied. Then he took him from her lap, carried him upstairs to the room where he lived, and laid him on his bed. ²⁰ Then he called out to the Lord and asked him, “Lord my God, have you also brought evil to this dear widow with whom I am living as her guest? Have you caused the death of her son?” ²¹ Then he stretched himself three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, please cause the soul of this little boy to return to him.”

²² The Lord listened to Elijah, and the soul of the little boy returned to him, and he revived. ²³ Then Elijah took the little boy downstairs from the upper chamber back into the main house and delivered him to his mother. “Look,” Elijah told her, “your son is alive.”

²⁴ The woman responded to Elijah, “Now at last I’ve really learned that you are a man of God and that what you have to say about the Lord^[aq] is the truth.”