Beginning

Abijah, King of Judah^(A)

15 Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijah became king over Judah. ² He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maakah, the daughter of Abishalom.

³ He walked in all the sins of his father that he had done before him, and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God as the heart of his father David had been. ⁴ Nevertheless, for David’s sake, the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem, ⁵ because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter involving Uriah the Hittite.

⁶ The war begun between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continued all the days of his life. ⁷ Now the rest of the acts of Abijah and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ⁸ Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David, and Asa his son reigned in his place.

Asa, King of Judah^(B)

⁹ In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king over Judah. ¹⁰ He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem, and his grandmother’s name was Maakah, the daughter of Abishalom.

¹¹ Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. ¹² He expelled the male cult prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. ¹³ In addition he even deposed his grandmother Maakah as queen, because she had made an idol in a grove. Asa destroyed her idol and burned it by the Kidron brook. ¹⁴ But the high places were not all removed, even though Asa’s heart was wholly devoted to the Lord all his days. ¹⁵ He brought into the house of the Lord the things that both his father and he himself had dedicated, the silver and gold and cups.

¹⁶ There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. ¹⁷ Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah so he could prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.

¹⁸ Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord, as well as the treasures of the king’s house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants, and he sent them to Ben-Hadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Aram, who lived at Damascus, saying, ¹⁹ “There is a treaty between me and you and between my father and your father. I have sent to you a present of silver and gold. Come and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so he will depart from me.”

²⁰ So Ben-Hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel and conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maakah, and all Kinnereth, along with all the land of Naphtali. ²¹ When Baasha heard about it, he halted the fortification of Ramah and moved to Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah—none was exempted—and they took away the stones of Ramah and the timber with which Baasha had built, and King Asa used them to build Geba of Benjamin as well as Mizpah.

²³ The rest of all the acts of Asa and all his might and all that he did and the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? When he was old, he got a disease in his feet. ²⁴ Asa then slept with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of his father David, and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

Nadab, King of Israel

²⁵ Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah and reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶ He did evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin.

²⁷ Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha killed him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon. ²⁸ It was in the third year of Asa king of Judah that Baasha killed him and took his throne.

²⁹ When he became king, Baasha killed all the house of Jeroboam. No one from Jeroboam’s family was left breathing. He completely destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, ³⁰ because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation with which he provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger.

³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ³² And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

Baasha, King of Israel

³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, and he did so twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin.

16 Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, ² “I exalted you out of the dust and made you prince over My people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made My people Israel to sin, to provoke Me to anger with their sins. ³ See, I will take away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house and will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ⁴ Those from the house of Baasha who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the fields will be eaten by the birds of the air.”

⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁶ So Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah, and Elah his son reigned in his place.

⁷ And so it was by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani that the word of the Lord came against Baasha and his house, for all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands because he acted like the house of Jeroboam and also because he killed it.

Elah, King of Israel

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he did so two years.

⁹ His servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him, and when he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, manager of his house in Tirzah, ¹⁰ Zimri went in and smote him and killed him. This took place in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and Zimri reigned in his place.

¹¹ When he began to reign, as soon as he was seated on his throne, he executed all the household of Baasha. He left no males, neither of his relatives nor of his friends. ¹² Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, ¹³ because of all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, by which they sinned and by which they made Israel to sin in provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities.

¹⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Zimri, King of Israel

¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. ¹⁶ The troops who were encamped heard how Zimri had conspired and had slain the king. As a result, all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. ¹⁷ Omri went up from Gibbethon and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸ When Zimri saw that the city had fallen, he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over him with fire, and he died, ¹⁹ because of his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the Lord, in walking in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he did to make Israel to sin.

²⁰ Now the rest of the acts of Zimri and his treason, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Omri, King of Israel

²¹ Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath to make him king, and half followed Omri. ²² But the people who followed Omri defeated the people who followed Tibni, the son of Ginath. So Tibni died, and Omri reigned.

²³ In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he did so twelve years. He reigned six years in Tirzah. ²⁴ He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents^[a] of silver. He fortified the hill and named the city he built after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, calling it “Samaria.”

²⁵ But Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did worse than all who preceded him, ²⁶ for he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities.

²⁷ Now the rest of the acts Omri performed and his might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ²⁸ So Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigned in his place.

Ahab Reigns in Israel

²⁹ In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰ Ahab the son of Omri did more evil in the sight of the Lord than all who were before him. ³¹ The sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat were seen as minor for him to walk in, for he took Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, as his wife and went and served Baal and worshipped him. ³² He raised an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. ³³ Ahab made an Asherah and did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who preceded him.

³⁴ In his days, Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. He laid the foundation at the expense of his firstborn Abiram and set up the gates at the cost of the life of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

Elijah’s Prediction of Drought

17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was one of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives before whom I stand, there will not be dew or rain these years except by my word.”

² The word of the Lord came to him, saying, ³ “Go from here and turn eastward and hide by the Kerith brook, which is east of the Jordan. ⁴ You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”

⁵ So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the Kerith brook, which is east of the Jordan. ⁶ The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

The Widow of Zarephath

⁷ After some time, the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. ⁸ The word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁹ “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there. I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” ¹⁰ So he got up and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and said, “Please get a small cup of water for me to drink.” ¹¹ As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

¹² She said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, but only a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil in a jar. I am gathering two sticks, that I can go in and make it for me and my son, so we may eat it and die.”

¹³ Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make a little cake for me first, and bring it to me, and afterward, make some for your son and you, ¹⁴ for thus says the Lord God of Israel: The barrel of meal will not run out, nor will the jar of oil empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.”

¹⁵ She went and did what Elijah told her to do, and she, he, and her household ate many days. ¹⁶ The barrel of meal did not run out, nor did the jar of oil empty, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke by Elijah.

¹⁷ Later on, the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became terribly sick, so much so that he had no breath left in him. ¹⁸ She said to Elijah, “What do I have to do with you, O you man of God? Have you come to remind me of my sin and to kill my son?”

¹⁹ And he said to her, “Give me your son,” and he took him out of her arms and carried him up to a loft where he slept and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰ He cried to the Lord and said, “O Lord, my God, have You brought tragedy upon the widow with whom I live by killing her son?” ²¹ And he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord and said, “O Lord, my God, I pray that You let this child’s soul come into him again.”

²² The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he was revived. ²³ Elijah took the child and brought him down out of the chamber into the house and returned him to his mother, and Elijah said, “See, your son lives!”

²⁴ The woman said to Elijah, “Now, because of this, I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth!”