1 Kings 16
16
1Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hana´ni against Ba´asha, saying, 2Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jerobo´am, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins; 3behold, I will take away the posterity of Ba´asha, and the posterity of his house; and will make thy house like the house of Jerobo´am the son of Nebat. 4Him that dieth of Ba´asha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat.
5Now the rest of the acts of Ba´asha, and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? 6So Ba´asha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah: and Elah his son reigned in his stead. 7And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hana´ni came the word of the Lord against Ba´asha, and against his house, even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, in provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jerobo´am; and because he killed him.
The Reigns of Elah and Zimri
8In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Ba´asha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years. 9And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of his house in Tirzah. 10And Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead.
11And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he slew all the house of Ba´asha: he left him not one that pisseth against a wall, neither of his kinsfolk, nor of his friends. 12Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Ba´asha, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake against Ba´asha by Jehu the prophet, 13for all the sins of Ba´asha, 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. 14Now 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?
15In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. And the people were encamped against Gib´bethon, which belonged to the Philistines. 16And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also slain the king: wherefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp. 17And Omri went up from Gib´bethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. 18And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and died, 19for his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the Lord, in walking in the way of Jerobo´am, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to sin. 20Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he wrought, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel?
The Reign of Omri
21Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; and half followed Omri. 22But the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and Omri reigned. 23In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah. 24And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria.
25But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him. 26For he walked in all the way of Jerobo´am the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities. 27Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? 28So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria: and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.
The Reign of Ahab
29And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years. 30And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. 31And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jerobo´am the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jez´ebel the daughter of Ethba´al king of the Zido´ni-ans, and went and served Ba´al, and worshipped him. 32And he reared up an altar for Ba´al in the house of Ba´al, which he had built in Samaria. 33And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. 34#Josh 6.26. In his days did Hi´el the Beth´–elite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abi´ram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun.
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
1 Kings 16
16
1The LORD sent Jehu son of Hanani to say to Baasha:
2Nobody knew who you were until I, the LORD, chose you#16.2 Nobody…you: Hebrew “I pulled you up out of the dust”. to be the leader of my people Israel. And now you're acting exactly like Jeroboam by causing the Israelites to sin. What you've done has made me so angry 3that I will destroy you and your family, just as I did the family of Jeroboam. 4Dogs will eat the bodies of your relatives who die in town, and vultures will eat the bodies of those who die in the country.
5-7Baasha made the LORD very angry, and that's why the LORD gave Jehu this message for Baasha and his family. Baasha constantly disobeyed the LORD by following Jeroboam's sinful example—but even worse, he killed everyone in Jeroboam's family!
Everything else Baasha did while he was king, including his brave deeds, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel. Baasha died and was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah became king.
King Elah of Israel
8Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel after Asa had been king of Judah for twenty-five years, and he ruled from Tirzah for two years.
9Zimri commanded half of Elah's chariots, and he made plans to kill Elah.
One day, Elah was in Tirzah, getting drunk at the home of Arza, his prime minister, 10when Zimri went there and killed Elah. So Zimri became king in the twenty-seventh year of Asa's rule in Judah.
11As soon as Zimri became king, he killed everyone in Baasha's family. Not one man or boy in his family was left alive—even his close friends were killed. 12Baasha's family was completely wiped out, just as the LORD's prophet Jehu had warned. 13Baasha and Elah sinned and caused the Israelites to sin, and they made the LORD angry by worshipping idols.
14Everything else Elah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Israel.
King Zimri of Israel
15-16Zimri became king of Israel in Asa's twenty-seventh year as king of Judah, but he ruled only seven days from Tirzah.
Israel's army was camped near Gibbethon in Philistia under the command of Omri. The soldiers heard that Zimri had killed Elah, and they made Omri their king that same day. 17At once, Omri and his army marched to Tirzah and attacked. 18When Zimri saw that the town was captured, he ran into the strongest part of the palace and killed himself by setting it on fire. 19Zimri had disobeyed the LORD by following the evil example of Jeroboam, who had caused the Israelites to sin.
20Everything else Zimri did while he was king, including his rebellion against Elah, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel.
King Omri of Israel
21After Zimri died, some of the Israelites wanted Tibni son of Ginath to be king, but others wanted Omri. 22Omri's followers were stronger than Tibni's, so Tibni was killed, and Omri became king of Israel 23in the thirty-first year of Asa's rule in Judah.
Omri ruled Israel for twelve years. The first six years he ruled from Tirzah, 24then he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for six thousand pieces of silver. He built a town there and named it Samaria, after Shemer who had owned the hill.
25Omri did more evil things than any king before him. 26He acted just like Jeroboam and made the LORD God of Israel angry by causing the Israelites to sin and to worship idols.
27Everything else Omri did while he was king, including his brave deeds, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel. 28Omri died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab became king.
King Ahab of Israel
29Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa's rule in Judah, and he ruled twenty-two years from Samaria.
30Ahab did more things to disobey the LORD than any king before him. 31He acted just like Jeroboam. Even worse, he married Jezebel the daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon#16.31 Sidon: One of the most important cities in Phoenicia. It was on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of Israel, in what is today southern Lebanon. and started worshipping Baal. 32Ahab built an altar and temple for Baal in Samaria 33and set up a sacred pole#16.33 sacred pole: See the note at 14.15. for worshipping the goddess Asherah. Ahab did more to make the LORD God of Israel angry than any king of Israel before him.
34While Ahab was king, a man from Bethel named Hiel rebuilt the town of Jericho. But while Hiel was laying the foundation for the town wall, his eldest son Abiram died. And while he was finishing the gates, his youngest son Segub died. This happened just as the LORD had told Joshua to say many years ago.#16.34 a man from Bethel…ago: See Joshua 6.26.#Js 6.26.
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