Beginning
Abijam King of Judah
15 Abijam became king of Judah. This was during the eighteenth year Jeroboam son of Nebat ruled Israel. 2 And Abijam ruled in Jerusalem for three years. His mother was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. 3 He did all the same sins his father before him had done. Abijam was not faithful to the Lord his God. In this way he was not like David, his great-grandfather. 4 Because the Lord had loved David, the Lord gave Abijam a kingdom in Jerusalem. And the Lord allowed him to have a son to be king after him. The Lord also kept Jerusalem safe. 5 David had always done what the Lord said was right. All his life he had always obeyed the Lord’s commands. There was only one time David did not obey the Lord. This was when he sinned against Uriah the Hittite.
6 Now there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam during Abijam’s lifetime. 7 Everything else Abijam did is written down. It is in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. During the time Abijam ruled, there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 8 And Abijam died and was buried in Jerusalem. Abijam’s son Asa became king in his place.
Asa King of Judah
9 During the twentieth year Jeroboam was king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah. 10 Asa ruled in Jerusalem for 41 years. His grandmother’s name was Maacah. She was the daughter of Abishalom.
11 Asa did what the Lord said was right. This was as his ancestor David had done. 12 There were male prostitutes at the places where false gods were worshiped. Asa forced them to leave the country. He also took away the idols that his ancestors had made. 13 His grandmother Maacah had made a terrible Asherah idol. So Asa removed her from being queen. He cut down this idol and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 Asa was faithful to the Lord all his life. But he did not destroy the places where false gods were worshiped. 15 Asa and his father had given some things to God. They had given gifts of gold, silver and other objects. Asa put all these things in the Temple.
16 There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel. 17 Baasha fought against Judah. He wanted to stop people from leaving or entering Asa’s country, Judah. So he made the city of Ramah very strong.
18 Then Asa took all the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord and his own palace. He gave it to his officers. And he sent them to Ben-Hadad king of Aram. (Ben-Hadad was the son of Tabrimmon. And he was the son of Hezion.) Ben-Hadad was ruling in the city of Damascus. 19 Asa sent this message: “My father and your father had a peace agreement. I am sending you a gift of gold and silver. Break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will leave my land.”
20 Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa. So he sent his army to fight against the towns of Israel. He defeated the towns of Ijon, Dan and Abel Bethmaacah. And he defeated all the land near Lake Galilee and the area of Naphtali. 21 Baasha heard about these attacks. So he stopped building up Ramah and returned to Tirzah. 22 Then King Asa gave an order to all the people of Judah. Everyone had to help. They carried away all the stones and wood Baasha had been using in Ramah. King Asa used those things to build up Geba and Mizpah. (Geba was in the land of Benjamin.)
23 Everything else Asa did is written down. His victories and the cities he built are written down. They are in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. When he became old, he got a disease in his feet. 24 Then Asa died. And he was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem. It was the city of David, his ancestor. Then Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became king in his place.
Nadab King of Israel
25 Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel. This was during the second year Asa was king of Judah. And Nadab was king of Israel for two years. 26 He did what the Lord said was wrong. Jeroboam had caused the people of Israel to sin. Nadab sinned in the same way his father Jeroboam had sinned.
27 Baasha son of Ahijah was from the tribe of Issachar. He made plans to kill Nadab. Nadab and all Israel were attacking the Philistine town of Gibbethon. So Baasha killed Nadab there. 28 This happened during Asa’s third year as king of Judah. And Baasha became the next king of Israel.
Baasha King of Israel
29 As soon as Baasha became king, he killed all of Jeroboam’s family. He left no one in Jeroboam’s family alive. This happened as the Lord had said it would. The Lord had said this through his servant Ahijah from Shiloh. 30 This happened because King Jeroboam had sinned very much. And he had caused the people of Israel to sin. Jeroboam had made the Lord, the God of Israel, very angry.
31 Everything else Nadab did is written down. It is in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. 32 There was war between Asa king of Judah and Baasha king of Israel all the time they were kings.
33 Baasha son of Ahijah became king of Israel. This was during Asa’s third year as king of Judah. And Baasha ruled in Tirzah for 24 years. 34 But Baasha did what the Lord said was wrong. Jeroboam had caused the people of Israel to sin. And Baasha sinned in the same way Jeroboam had sinned.
16 Then Jehu son of Hanani spoke the word of the Lord against King Baasha. 2 The Lord said, “You were nothing. Then I took you and made you a leader over my people Israel. But you have followed the ways of Jeroboam. You have caused my people Israel to sin. Their sins have made me angry. 3 So, Baasha, I will destroy you and your family. I will do to you what I did to the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat. 4 Anyone from your family who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs. And anyone from your family who dies in the fields will be eaten by birds.”
5 Everything else Baasha did and all his victories are written down. They are in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. 6 So Baasha died and was buried in Tirzah. His son Elah became king in his place.
7 The Lord spoke his word through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani. The Lord’s message was against Baasha and his family. Baasha had done many things the Lord said were wrong. This made the Lord very angry. Baasha did the same things that Jeroboam’s family had done before him. The Lord was also angry because Baasha killed all of Jeroboam’s family.
Elah King of Israel
8 Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel. This was during Asa’s twenty-sixth year as king of Judah. And Elah ruled in Tirzah for two years.
9 Zimri was one of Elah’s officers. He commanded half of Elah’s chariots. But Zimri made plans against Elah.
Elah was in Tirzah, getting drunk at Arza’s home. (Arza was the man in charge of the palace at Tirzah.) 10 So Zimri went into Arza’s house and killed Elah. This was during Asa’s twenty-seventh year as king of Judah. Then Zimri became king of Israel in Elah’s place.
Zimri King of Israel
11 As soon as Zimri became king, he killed all of Baasha’s family. He did not let any man of Baasha’s family or friends live. 12 So Zimri destroyed all of Baasha’s family. This happened as the Lord had said it would. The Lord had spoken this against Baasha through the prophet Jehu. 13 This happened because of all the sins of Baasha and his son Elah. They sinned and caused the people of Israel to sin. They also made the Lord, the God of Israel, angry because they had made worthless idols.
14 Everything else Elah did is written down. It is in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.
15 So Zimri became king of Israel. This was during Asa’s twenty-seventh year as king of Judah. Zimri ruled in Tirzah seven days. This is what happened:
The army of Israel was camped near Gibbethon, a Philistine town. 16 The men in the camp heard that Zimri had made secret plans against the king. And they heard that Zimri had killed him. So that day in the camp they made Omri king over Israel. (Omri was commander of the army.) 17 So Omri and all the Israelites left Gibbethon and attacked Tirzah. 18 Zimri saw that the city had been captured. So he went into the palace and set it on fire. He burned the palace and himself with it. 19 So Zimri died because he had sinned. He did what the Lord said was wrong. Jeroboam had caused the people of Israel to sin. And Zimri sinned in the same way Jeroboam had sinned.
20 Everything else Zimri did is written down. It is in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. The story of how Zimri turned against King Elah is also written there.
Omri King of Israel
21 The people of Israel were divided into two groups. Half of the people wanted Tibni to be king. He was the son of Ginath. The other half of the people wanted Omri. 22 But Omri’s followers were stronger than the followers of Tibni son of Ginath. So Tibni died, and Omri became king.
23 Omri became king of Israel. This was during the thirty-first year Asa was king of Judah. And Omri ruled Israel for 12 years. Six of those years he ruled in the town of Tirzah. 24 Omri bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer. He paid about 150 pounds of silver for it. Omri built a city on that hill. And he called it Samaria after the name of its earlier owner, Shemer.
25 But Omri did what the Lord said was wrong. He did more evil than all the kings who were before him. 26 Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused the people of Israel to sin. And Omri sinned in the same way Jeroboam had sinned. So the Israelites made the Lord, the God of Israel, very angry. He was angry because they worshiped worthless idols.
27 Everything else Omri did and all his successes are written down. They are all in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. 28 So Omri died and was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab became king in his place.
Ahab King of Israel
29 So Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel. This was during Asa’s thirty-eighth year as king of Judah. Ahab ruled Israel in the town of Samaria for 22 years. 30 Ahab did many things that the Lord said were wrong. He did more evil than any of the kings before him. 31 He sinned in the same ways that Jeroboam son of Nebat had sinned. But he did even worse things. He married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal. (Ethbaal was king of the city of Sidon.) Then Ahab began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He built a temple in Samaria for worshiping Baal. And he put an altar there for Baal. 33 Ahab also made an idol for worshiping Asherah. He did more things to make the Lord, the God of Israel, angry than all the other kings before him.
34 During the time of Ahab, Hiel from Bethel rebuilt the town of Jericho. It cost Hiel the life of Abiram, his oldest son, to begin work on the city. And it cost the life of Segub, his youngest son, to build the city gates. The Lord had said, through Joshua, that this would happen.[a] (Joshua was the son of Nun.)
Elijah Stops the Rain
17 Now Elijah was a prophet from the town of Tishbe in Gilead. Elijah said to King Ahab, “I serve the Lord, the God of Israel. As surely as the Lord lives, I tell you the truth. No rain or dew will fall during the next few years unless I command it.”
2 Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: 3 “Leave this place. Go east and hide near Kerith Ravine. It is east of the Jordan River. 4 You may drink from the brook. And I have commanded ravens to bring you food there.” 5 So Elijah did what the Lord told him to do. He went to Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and lived there. 6 The birds brought Elijah bread and meat every morning and every evening. And he drank water from the brook.
7 After a while the brook dried up because there was no rain. 8 Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah, 9 “Go to Zarephath in Sidon. Live there. I have commanded a widow there to take care of you.”
10 So Elijah went to Zarephath. When he reached the town gate, he saw a widow there. She was gathering wood for a fire. Elijah asked her, “Would you bring me a little water in a cup? I would like to have a drink.” 11 As she was going to get his water, Elijah said, “Please bring me a piece of bread, too.”
12 The woman answered, “As surely as the Lord your God lives, I tell you the truth. I have no bread. I have only a handful of flour in a jar. And I have only a little olive oil in a jug. I came here to gather some wood. I will take it home and cook our last meal. My son and I will eat it and then die from hunger.”
13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t worry. Go home and cook your food as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread from the flour you have. Bring it to me. Then cook something for yourself and your son. 14 The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘That jar of flour will never become empty. The jug will always have oil in it. This will continue until the day the Lord sends rain to the land.’”
15 So the woman went home. And she did what Elijah told her to do. So Elijah, the woman and her son had enough food every day. 16 The jar of flour and the jug of oil were never empty. This happened just as the Lord, through Elijah, said it would.
Elijah Brings a Boy Back to Life
17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. He grew worse and worse. Finally he stopped breathing. 18 So the woman said to Elijah, “You are a man of God. What have you done to me? Did you come here to remind me of my sin? Did you come here to kill my son?”
19 Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” So Elijah took the boy from her and carried him upstairs. Elijah laid the boy on the bed in the room where he was staying. 20 Then he prayed to the Lord. He said, “Lord my God, this widow is letting me stay in her house. Why have you done this terrible thing to her? Why have you caused her son to die?” 21 Then Elijah lay on top of the boy three times. Elijah prayed to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy live again!”
22 The Lord answered Elijah’s prayer. The boy began breathing again, and he was alive. 23 Elijah carried the boy downstairs. He gave the boy to his mother and said, “See! Your son is alive!”
24 The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know you really are a man from God. I know that the Lord truly speaks through you!”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.