Beginning

Chapter 15

Reign of Abijam. ¹ In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, son of Nebat, Abijam became king of Judah; ² he reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah, daughter of Abishalom.

³ He followed all the sins his father had committed before him, and his heart was not entirely with the Lord, his God, as was the heart of David his father. ⁴ Yet for David’s sake the Lord, his God, gave him a holding in Jerusalem, raising up his son after him and permitting Jerusalem to endure, ^5 (A)because David had done what was right in the sight of the Lord and did not disobey any of his commands as long as he lived, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.

⁶ There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. ⁷ The rest of the acts of Abijam, with all that he did, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah. There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. ⁸ Abijam rested with his ancestors; they buried him in the City of David, and his son Asa succeeded him as king.

Reign of Asa. ⁹ In the twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, Asa, king of Judah, became king; ¹⁰ he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s^[a] name was Maacah, daughter of Abishalom. ¹¹ Asa did what was right in the sight of the Lord like David his father, ¹² banishing the pagan priests from the land and removing all the idols his ancestors had made. ¹³ He also deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made an outrageous object for Asherah. Asa cut down this object and burned it in the Wadi Kidron. ¹⁴ The high places did not disappear; yet Asa’s heart was entirely with the Lord as long as he lived. ¹⁵ He brought into the house of the Lord his father’s and his own votive offerings of silver and gold and various vessels. ¹⁶ There was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days. ¹⁷ Baasha, king of Israel, attacked Judah and fortified Ramah to blockade Asa, king of Judah. ¹⁸ Asa then took all the silver and gold remaining in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the house of the king. Entrusting them to his ministers, King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad, son of Tabrimmon, son of Hezion, king of Aram,^[b] who ruled in Damascus. He said: ¹⁹ “There is a treaty between you and me, as there was between your father and my father. I am sending you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha, king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” ²⁰ Ben-hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the leaders of his troops against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinnereth, besides all the land of Naphtali. ²¹ When Baasha heard of it, he left off fortifying Ramah, and stayed in Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa summoned all Judah without exception, and they carried away the stones and beams with which Baasha was fortifying Ramah. With them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah. ²³ All the rest of the acts of Asa, with all his valor and all that he did, and the cities he built, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah. But in his old age, Asa had an infirmity in his feet. ²⁴ Asa rested with his ancestors; he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David his father, and his son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king.

Reign of Nadab. ²⁵ Nadab, son of Jeroboam, became king of Israel in the second year of Asa, king of Judah. For two years he reigned over Israel.

²⁶ He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, walking in the way of his father and the sin he had caused Israel to commit. ²⁷ Baasha, son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, plotted against him and struck him down at Gibbethon of the Philistines, which Nadab and all Israel were besieging. ²⁸ Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa, king of Judah, and succeeded him as king. ^29 (B)Once he was king, he killed the entire house of Jeroboam, not leaving a single soul but destroying Jeroboam utterly, according to the word of the Lord spoken through his servant, Ahijah the Shilonite, ³⁰ because of the sins Jeroboam committed and caused Israel to commit, by which he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger.

³¹ The rest of the acts of Nadab, with all that he did, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ³² There was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days.

Reign of Baasha. ³³ In the third year of Asa, king of Judah, Baasha, son of Ahijah, became king of all Israel in Tirzah for twenty-four years.

³⁴ He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, walking in the way of Jeroboam and the sin he had caused Israel to commit.

Chapter 16

¹ The word of the Lord came to Jehu, son of Hanani, against Baasha: ² Inasmuch as I exalted you from the dust and made you ruler of my people Israel, but you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have caused my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger by their sins, ^3 (C)I will burn up what is left of Baasha and his house; I will make your house like that of Jeroboam, son of Nebat:

⁵ The rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did and his valor, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ⁶ Baasha rested with his ancestors; he was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah succeeded him as king. ⁷ (Through the prophet Jehu, son of Hanani, the word of the Lord came against Baasha and his house, because of all the evil Baasha did in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger by his deeds so that he became like the house of Jeroboam, and because of what he destroyed.)

Reign of Elah. ⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa, king of Judah, Elah, son of Baasha, became king of Israel in Tirzah for two years.

⁹ His servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, plotted against him. As he was in Tirzah, drinking to excess in the house of Arza, master of his palace in Tirzah, ^10 (E)Zimri entered; he struck and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa, king of Judah, and succeeded him as king. ¹¹ Once he was king, seated on the throne, he killed the whole house of Baasha, not sparing a single male relative or friend of his. ^12 (F)Zimri destroyed the entire house of Baasha, according to the word the Lord spoke against Baasha through Jehu the prophet, ¹³ because of all the sins which Baasha and his son Elah committed and caused Israel to commit, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols.

¹⁴ The rest of the acts of Elah, with all that he did, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

Reign of Zimri. ¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa, king of Judah, Zimri became king for seven days in Tirzah.

The army was encamped at Gibbethon of the Philistines ¹⁶ when they heard, “Zimri has formed a conspiracy and has killed the king.” So that day in the camp all Israel made Omri, commander of the army, king of Israel. ¹⁷ Omri and all Israel with him marched up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸ When Zimri saw that the city was captured, he entered the citadel of the king’s house and burned it down over him. He died ¹⁹ because of the sins he had committed, doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight by walking in the way of Jeroboam and the sin he had caused Israel to commit.

²⁰ The rest of the acts of Zimri, with the conspiracy he carried out, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

Civil War. ²¹ At that time the people of Israel were divided in two, half following Tibni, son of Ginath, to make him king, and half for Omri. ²² The partisans of Omri prevailed over those of Tibni, son of Ginath. Tibni died and Omri became king.

Reign of Omri. ²³ In the thirty-first year of Asa, king of Judah, Omri became king of Israel for twelve years; the first six of them he reigned in Tirzah.

²⁴ He then bought the mountain of Samaria from Shemer for two silver talents and built upon the mountain the city he named Samaria, after Shemer, the former owner. ²⁵ But Omri did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, more than any of his predecessors. ²⁶ In every way he imitated the sinful conduct of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and the sin he had caused Israel to commit, thus provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols.

²⁷ The rest of the acts of Omri, what he did and his valor, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ²⁸ Omri rested with his ancestors; he was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son succeeded him as king.

Reign of Ahab. ²⁹ Ahab, son of Omri, became king of Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa, king of Judah. Ahab, son of Omri, reigned over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years.

³⁰ Ahab, son of Omri, did what was evil in the Lord’s sight more than any of his predecessors. ³¹ It was not enough for him to follow the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat. He even married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal, and worship him. ³² Ahab set up an altar to Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria, ³³ and also made an asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than any of the kings of Israel before him. ^34 (G)During his reign, Hiel from Bethel rebuilt Jericho. At the cost of Abiram, his firstborn son, he laid the foundation, and at the cost of Segub, his youngest son, he set up the gates, according to the word of the Lord spoken through Joshua, son of Nun.^[c]

IV. The Story of Elijah^[d]

Chapter 17

Elijah Proclaims a Drought.^{[e] 1} Elijah the Tishbite,^[f](H) from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab: “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, during these years there shall be no dew or rain except at my word.” ² The word of the Lord came to Elijah: ³ Leave here, go east and hide in the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. ⁴ You shall drink of the wadi, and I have commanded ravens to feed you there. ⁵ So he left and did as the Lord had commanded. He left and remained by the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. ^6 (I)Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the wadi.

⁷ After some time, however, the wadi ran dry, because no rain had fallen in the land. ^8 (J)So the word of the Lord came to him: ⁹ Arise, go to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow there to feed you. ¹⁰ He arose and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the entrance of the city, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called out to her, “Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.” ¹¹ She left to get it, and he called out after her, “Please bring along a crust of bread.” ¹² She said, “As the Lord, your God, lives, I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a few sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die.” ¹³ Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Afterwards you can prepare something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.” ¹⁵ She left and did as Elijah had said. She had enough to eat for a long time—he and she and her household. ¹⁶ The jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord spoken through Elijah.

^17 (K)Some time later the son of the woman, the owner of the house, fell sick, and his sickness grew more severe until he stopped breathing. ¹⁸ So she said to Elijah, “Why have you done this to me, man of God? Have you come to me to call attention to my guilt and to kill my son?” ¹⁹ Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” Taking him from her lap, he carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰ He called out to the Lord: “Lord, my God, will you afflict even the widow with whom I am staying by killing her son?” ²¹ Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times and he called out to the Lord: “Lord, my God, let the life breath return to the body of this child.” ²² The Lord heard the prayer of Elijah; the life breath returned to the child’s body and he lived. ²³ Taking the child, Elijah carried him down into the house from the upper room and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, “See! Your son is alive.” ²⁴ The woman said to Elijah, “Now indeed I know that you are a man of God, and it is truly the word of the Lord that you speak.”