Beginning
Abijam (Abijah) Son of Rehoboam, King of Judah
15 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam[a] became king over Judah. 2 He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Ma’akah, granddaughter of Abishalom.[b] 3 He walked in all the sins which his father had practiced before him, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord as the heart of his grandfather David had been. 4 But for the sake of David, the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up his son after him and by making Jerusalem strong. 5 He did this because David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and he did not turn from all that the Lord commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
6 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. 7 As for the rest of Abijam’s acts and everything he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 8 Abijam rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then his son Asa became king in his place.
Asa Son of Abijam, King of Judah
9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa king of Judah became king. 10 He ruled for forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother’s[c] name was Ma’akah granddaughter of Abishalom. 11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as his father David had done. 12 He drove the male shrine prostitutes out of the land, and he removed all the filthy idols which his fathers had made. 13 In addition, he also removed his grandmother Ma’akah from being queen mother because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. Asa cut down her obscene image and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 But the high places were not removed. Nevertheless, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his days. 15 He brought silver and gold and vessels and utensils into the House of the Lord as dedicated offerings for himself and his father.
16 There was war between Asa and Ba’asha king of Israel throughout all their days. 17 Ba’asha king of Israel attacked Judah, and he fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. 18 So Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the House of the Lord and the treasuries of the king’s palace, and he gave them to his officials. Then King Asa sent them to Ben Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion king of Aram, who was living in Damascus. 19 He said, “There should be a treaty between you and me as there was between my father and your father. Look, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Come, break your treaty with Ba’asha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
20 Ben Hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his army against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Ma’akah, and all of Kinneret, as well as all the land of Naphtali. 21 When Ba’asha heard about this, he stopped fortifying Ramah, and he stayed in Tirzah. 22 Then King Asa summoned all Judah—no one was exempt—and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timber with which Ba’asha had been building, and King Asa used them to fortify Geba in Benjamin and Mizpah.
(2 Chronicles 16:11–17:1)
23 As for all the rest of Asa’s acts and all his mighty deeds and everything else he did and the cities he built, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Judah? But in his old age his feet became diseased. 24 Asa rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then his son Jehoshaphat became king in his place.
Nadab Son of Jeroboam, King of Israel
25 Nadab son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah. He ruled over Israel for two years. 26 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He walked in the ways of his father and in the sin which he had caused Israel to commit. 27 Ba’asha son of Ahijah from the house of Issachar conspired against him and struck him down in Gibbethon, which belongs to the Philistines. (Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.) 28 Ba’asha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and became king in his place.
Ba’asha Son of Ahijah, King of Israel
29 When Ba’asha became king, he struck down the whole house of Jeroboam, until it was exterminated according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken through his servant Ahijah from Shiloh. For Jeroboam’s house he did not spare anyone who breathed, 30 because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he caused Israel to commit when he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger.
31 As for the rest of Nadab’s acts and everything he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel? 32 There was war between Asa and Ba’asha king of Israel all their days. 33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Ba’asha son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah and reigned for twenty-four years. 34 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by walking in the way of Jeroboam and in the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.
God’s Judgment on Ba’asha
16 Then this word of the Lord came to Jehu son of Hanani against Ba’asha: 2 “I raised you up from the dust and appointed you leader over my people Israel, but you have walked in the ways of Jeroboam, and you have caused my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sin. 3 Look! I am about to burn up Ba’asha and his house. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat. 4 The dogs will eat those who belong to Ba’asha who die in the city, and the birds of the air will eat those who die in the country.”
5 As for the rest of Ba’asha’s acts and everything he did and his mighty deeds, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel? 6 Ba’asha rested with his fathers, and he was buried in Tirzah. Then his son Elah became king in his place.
Elah Son of Ba’asha, King of Israel
7 The word of the Lord had come against Ba’asha and his house through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani, because of all the evil which he had done in the eyes of the Lord, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands by becoming like the house of Jeroboam, and also because he had struck down Jeroboam.
8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Ba’asha became king over Israel in Tirzah for two years. 9 But his officer Zimri, the commander of half his chariots, conspired against him while Elah was in Tirzah getting drunk at the house of Arza, the palace administrator of Tirzah. 10 Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and he became king in his place.
11 When Zimri became king, as soon as he was seated on the throne, he struck down the entire house of Ba’asha. He did not leave for him anyone who urinates against the wall,[d] neither relatives nor friends. 12 So Zimri exterminated the entire house of Ba’asha according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to Ba’asha through the prophet Jehu. 13 He did this because of all the sins which Ba’asha and his son Elah committed and which they caused Israel to commit. They provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger with their useless idols. 14 As for the rest of Elah’s acts and everything he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel?
Zimri King of Israel
15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned as king in Tirzah for seven days. The army was laying siege to Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. 16 The army which was laying siege heard the report that Zimri had conspired against the king and had already struck him down. So in the camp on that day all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel. 17 Then Omri and all Israel went up from Gibbethon and laid siege to Tirzah. 18 When Zimri saw that the city had fallen, he went into the fortified part of the palace, and he burned it down on himself. So he died 19 because of the sin he committed by doing evil in the eyes of the Lord by walking in the ways of Jeroboam and in the sin which he had caused Israel to commit. 20 As for the rest of Zimri’s acts and the conspiracy he led, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel?
Omri King of Israel
21 Then the people of Israel were divided. Half of the people supported making Tibni son of Ginath king. Half supported Omri. 22 But the people who were for Omri were stronger than the people who were for Tibni son of Ginath, so Tibni died, and Omri became king.
23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel for twelve years. He ruled for six years in Tirzah. 24 Then he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents[e] of silver. He built up the hill, and he named the city he built after Shemer, the owner of the hill of Samaria.[f]
25 Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He committed more evil than all those who had gone before him. 26 He walked in all the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in the sin which he caused Israel to commit, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger with his useless idols. 27 As for the rest of Omri’s acts, the things he did, and the mighty deeds he accomplished, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel? 28 Omri rested with his fathers, and he was buried in Samaria. Then his son Ahab became king in his place.
Ahab Son of Omri, King of Israel
29 Ahab son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah. Ahab son of Omri ruled over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri committed more evil in the eyes of the Lord than all those who had gone before him. 31 He considered it a trivial thing to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat. He married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. He served Baal and bowed down to him. 32 He erected an altar to Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab made an Asherah pole and did even more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who had gone before him.
34 In the days of Ahab, Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. At the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, he laid its foundations, and at the cost of his youngest son Segub, he set up its gates. This fulfilled the word of the Lord which he had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.
Elijah Stops the Rain
17 Elijah from Tishbe, one of the settlers in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the Lord lives, the God of Israel before whom I stand, there will be no dew or rain during the coming years, except at my word.”
2 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 3 “Leave this place and turn east. Hide yourself by the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the stream, and I will command the ravens to provide for you there.”
5 So Elijah went and did just as the Lord had said. He lived in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening, and he drank from the stream.
Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath
7 After some time the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Get up! Go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there. I have commanded a woman there, a widow, to provide for you.”
10 So he got up and went to Zarephath. He came to the city gate, and there he saw a widow gathering sticks. He called to her and said, “Please give me a little water in a jar, so that I can have something to drink.”
11 When she went to get it, he called to her, “Please bring me a piece of bread.”
12 She said, “As surely as the Lord your God lives, I have no food except a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a pitcher. See, I am gathering a couple of sticks so that I can go and prepare it for myself and my son, so that we can eat it and then die.”
13 Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do just as you said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from the flour and bring it out to me. Then go and make another for you and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. The jar of flour will not run out and the pitcher of oil will not become empty until the day the Lord sends rain to water the surface of the ground.”
15 So she went and did exactly as Elijah said. He and she, as well as her household, were able to eat for many days. 16 The jar of flour did not run out, and the pitcher of oil did not become empty, just as the Lord had said through Elijah.
The Widow’s Son Dies
17 After these events, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. The illness became worse until he stopped breathing.
18 Then she said to Elijah, “What is the issue between us, man of God? Have you come to remind me of my sins and to kill my son?”
19 He said to her, “Bring your son to me.” Then he took him and carried him to the upstairs room where he was living, and he laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, have you sent tragedy on this woman with whom I am staying by killing her son?”
21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times, and he cried out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, let this boy’s soul[g] return to his body!” 22 The Lord listened to Elijah’s voice, and the boy’s soul returned to his body, and he came to life. 23 Then Elijah took the boy and brought him down to the house from his upstairs room, and he gave him to his mother.
Elijah said, “See, your son is alive!”
24 The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is true.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.