Chronological
Nadab’s Reign over Israel
25 In the second year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Jeroboam’s son Nadab became the king of Israel; he ruled Israel for two years. 26 He did evil in the sight of[a] the Lord. He followed in his father’s footsteps and encouraged Israel to sin.[b]
27 Baasha son of Ahijah, from the tribe of Issachar, conspired against Nadab[c] and assassinated him in Gibbethon, which was in Philistine territory. This happened while Nadab and all the Israelite army were besieging Gibbethon. 28 Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah and replaced him as king. 29 When he became king, he executed Jeroboam’s entire family.[d] He wiped out[e] everyone who breathed, in keeping with the Lord’s message that he had spoken through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. 30 This happened because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he made Israel commit. These sins angered the Lord God of Israel.[f]
31 The rest of the events of Nadab’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.[g] 32 Asa and King Baasha of Israel were continually at war with each other.
Baasha’s Reign over Israel
33 In the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah; he ruled for twenty-four years. 34 He did evil in the sight of[h] the Lord; he followed in Jeroboam’s footsteps and encouraged Israel to sin.[i]
16 The Lord’s message against Baasha came to[j] Jehu son of Hanani: 2 “I raised you up[k] from the dust and made you ruler over my people Israel. Yet you followed in Jeroboam’s footsteps[l] and encouraged my people Israel to sin; their sins have made me angry.[m] 3 So I am ready to burn up[n] Baasha and his family, and make your family[o] like the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat. 4 Dogs will eat the members of Baasha’s family[p] who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.”
5 The rest of the events of Baasha’s reign, including his accomplishments and successes, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.[q] 6 Baasha passed away[r] and was buried in Tirzah. His son Elah replaced him as king. 7 And so it was the Lord’s message came through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha and his family.[s] This was because of all the evil he had done in the Lord’s view, by angering him with his deeds and becoming like Jeroboam’s dynasty,[t] and because of how he had destroyed Jeroboam’s dynasty.[u]
Elah’s Reign over Israel
8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha’s son Elah became king over Israel; he ruled in Tirzah for two years. 9 His servant Zimri, a commander of half of his chariot force, conspired against him. While Elah was in Tirzah drinking heavily[v] at the house of Arza, who supervised the palace in Tirzah, 10 Zimri came in and struck him dead. (This happened in the twenty-seventh year of Asa’s reign over Judah.) Zimri replaced Elah as king.[w] 11 When he became king and occupied the throne, he killed Baasha’s entire family. He did not spare any male belonging to him; he killed his relatives and his friends.[x] 12 Zimri destroyed Baasha’s entire family, in keeping with the Lord’s message which he had spoken against Baasha through Jehu the prophet. 13 This happened because of all the sins which Baasha and his son Elah committed and which they made Israel commit. They angered the Lord God of Israel with their worthless idols.[y]
14 The rest of the events of Elah’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.[z]
Zimri’s Reign over Israel
15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Zimri became king over Israel; he ruled for seven days in Tirzah. Zimri’s revolt took place while the army was deployed[aa] in Gibbethon, which was in Philistine territory. 16 While deployed there, the army received this report:[ab] “Zimri has conspired against the king and assassinated him.”[ac] So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that very day in the camp. 17 Omri and all Israel went up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah. 18 When Zimri saw that the city was captured, he went into the fortified area of the royal palace. He set the palace on fire and died in the flames.[ad] 19 This happened because of the sins he committed. He did evil in the sight of[ae] the Lord and followed in Jeroboam’s footsteps and encouraged Israel to continue sinning.[af]
20 The rest of the events of Zimri’s reign, including the details of his revolt, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.[ag]
Omri’s Reign over Israel
21 At that time the people of Israel were divided in their loyalties. Half the people supported Tibni son of Ginath and wanted to make him king; the other half supported Omri. 22 Omri’s supporters were stronger than those who supported Tibni son of Ginath. Tibni died; Omri became king.
23 In the thirty-first year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Omri became king over Israel. He ruled for twelve years, six of them in Tirzah. 24 He purchased the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents[ah] of silver. He launched a construction project there[ai] and named the city he built after Shemer, the former owner of the hill of Samaria. 25 Omri did more evil in the sight of[aj] the Lord than all who were before him. 26 He followed in the footsteps of Jeroboam son of Nebat and encouraged Israel to sin;[ak] they angered the Lord God of Israel with their worthless idols.[al]
27 The rest of the events of Omri’s reign, including his accomplishments and successes, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.[am] 28 Omri passed away[an] and was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab replaced him as king.[ao]
Ahab Promotes Idolatry
29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Omri’s son Ahab became king over Israel. Ahab son of Omri ruled over Israel for twenty-two years in Samaria. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the sight of[ap] the Lord than all who were before him. 31 As if following in the sinful footsteps of Jeroboam son of Nebat were not bad enough, he married Jezebel the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians. Then he worshiped and bowed to Baal.[aq] 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal he had built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole; he[ar] did more to anger the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
34 During Ahab’s reign,[as] Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. Abiram, his firstborn son, died when he laid the foundation;[at] Segub, his youngest son, died when he erected its gates,[au] in keeping with the Lord’s message that he had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.[av]
Jehoshaphat Becomes King
17 His son Jehoshaphat replaced him as king and solidified his rule over Israel.[a] 2 He placed troops in all Judah’s fortified cities and posted garrisons[b] throughout the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had seized.
3 The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed in his ancestor[c] David’s footsteps at the beginning of his reign.[d] He did not seek the Baals, 4 but instead sought the God of his ancestors[e] and obeyed[f] his commands, unlike the Israelites.[g] 5 The Lord made his kingdom secure;[h] all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he became very wealthy and greatly respected.[i] 6 He was committed to following the Lord;[j] he even removed the high places and Asherah poles from Judah.
7 In the third year of his reign he sent his officials Ben Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah to teach in the cities of Judah. 8 They were accompanied by the Levites Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tob-Adonijah, and by the priests Elishama and Jehoram. 9 They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the scroll of the law of the Lord. They traveled to all the cities of Judah and taught the people.
10 The Lord put fear into all the kingdoms surrounding Judah;[k] they did not make war with Jehoshaphat. 11 Some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat tribute, including a load of silver. The Arabs brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats from their flocks.
12 Jehoshaphat’s power kept increasing. He built fortresses and storage cities throughout Judah. 13 He had many supplies stored in the cities of Judah and an army of skilled warriors stationed in Jerusalem.[l] 14 These were their divisions by families:
There were 1,000 officers from Judah.[m] Adnah the commander led 300,000 skilled warriors, 15 Jehochanan the commander led 280,000, 16 and Amasiah son of Zikri, who volunteered to serve the Lord, led 200,000 skilled warriors.
17 From Benjamin, Eliada, a skilled warrior, led 200,000 men who were equipped with bows and shields, 18 and Jehozabad led 180,000 trained warriors.
19 These were the ones who served the king, besides those whom the king placed in the fortified cities throughout Judah.
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