1 Kings 16
1 The word of the LORD came to Jehu son of Hanani concerning Baasha:
2 “I raised you up from the dust and made you leader over my people Israel. But you have followed the way of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins.
3 So I am about to sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat.
4 Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city, the dogs will eat; and anyone who dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat.”
5 The rest of Baasha’s deeds, what he did and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
6 Baasha lay down with his ancestors and was buried in Tirzah. His son Elah reigned in his place.
7 Also, through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani, the word of the LORD came against Baasha and his house because of all the evil he had done in the LORD’s sight, provoking him to anger by the work of his hands and becoming like the house of Jeroboam—and because he had struck it down.
8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned for two years.
9 His servant Zimri, commander of half the chariots, conspired against him. Elah was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was in charge of the palace in Tirzah.
10 Zimri came in, struck him down, and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah; then he reigned in his place.
11 As soon as he became king and sat on his throne, he struck down the whole house of Baasha. He left no male alive, not even any of his kinsmen or friends.
12 So Zimri destroyed the whole house of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD that he had spoken against Baasha through the prophet Jehu.
13 This was because of all the sins of Baasha and the sins of his son Elah, which they had committed and caused Israel to commit, provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger with their worthless idols.
14 The rest of Elah’s deeds, and everything he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah for seven days. The people were camped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.
16 The people in the camp heard it said, “Zimri has conspired and has also struck down the king.” So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that very 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 been taken, he went into the stronghold of the royal palace, set the royal palace on fire over himself, and died.
19 This was because of the sins he had committed, doing what was evil in the LORD’s sight, following the way of Jeroboam and his sin, which he had committed by causing Israel to sin.
20 The rest of Zimri’s deeds, and the conspiracy he plotted, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
21 Then the people of Israel split into two factions: half the people followed Tibni son of Ginath, to make him king, and the other half followed Omri.
22 But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni son of Ginath. Tibni died, and Omri became king.
23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for twelve years; he reigned in Tirzah for six years.
24 He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built on the hill. He named the city he built Samaria, after Shemer, the owner of the hill.
25 Omri did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, and he did worse than all who had come before him.
26 He followed the whole way of Jeroboam son of Nebat and his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit, provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger with their worthless idols.
27 The rest of Omri’s deeds, what he did and the might he displayed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
28 Omri lay down with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab reigned in his place.
29 Ahab son of Omri began to reign over 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 all who had come before him.
31 As if it were a small thing for him to follow the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. He went and served Baal and bowed down to him.
32 He set up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal that he had built in Samaria.
33 Ahab also made an Asherah. Ahab continued to act in ways that provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger more than all the kings of Israel who had come before him.
34 In his days, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of Abiram, his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of Segub, his youngest son, according to the word of the LORD that he had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.
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