1 KingsChapter 16

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¹Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu son of Hanani. It was against Baasha. The LORD said, ²"I lifted you up out of the dust. I made you ruler over my people Israel. But you have lived the way Jeroboam lived. You have made my people Israel sin. Their sins have made me angry. ³So now I will wipe out Baasha and his family. I will make your family like the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat. ⁴Dogs will eat anyone from Baasha's family who dies in the city. Birds will eat anyone who dies in the open country." ⁵The rest of what Baasha did is written in the Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. It tells all he did and about his power. ⁶Baasha died and was laid to rest with his ancestors. He was buried in Tirzah. His son Elah became king after him. ⁷The word of the LORD also came through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani. It was against Baasha and his family. That was because of all the evil Baasha had done in the LORD's eyes. He made the LORD angry by what he did with his hands. He became like Jeroboam's family. And he had also killed Jeroboam's family. ⁸Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel in the twenty-sixth year that Asa was king of Judah. Elah ruled in Tirzah for two years. ⁹Elah had a servant named Zimri. Zimri was in charge of half of Elah's chariots. He made a secret plan against Elah. One day Elah was in Tirzah getting drunk. He was at the house of Arza, the man in charge of his palace there. ¹⁰Zimri went in and struck Elah down and killed him. This was in the twenty-seventh year that Asa was king of Judah. Then Zimri became king in his place. ¹¹As soon as Zimri began to rule and sat on the throne, he killed Baasha's whole family. He did not leave a single male alive. He killed both relatives and friends. ¹²So Zimri destroyed Baasha's whole family. It happened just as the LORD had said against Baasha through Jehu the prophet. ¹³This happened because of all the sins of Baasha and his son Elah. They sinned, and they made Israel sin too. They made the LORD, the God of Israel, angry with their worthless idols. ¹⁴The rest of what Elah did is written in the Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. All he did is written there. ¹⁵Zimri ruled in Tirzah for seven days. This was in the twenty-seventh year that Asa was king of Judah. At that time the army was camped near Gibbethon to attack it. It belonged to the Philistines. ¹⁶The people in the camp heard that Zimri had made a secret plan against the king. They heard he had killed him. So that same day in the camp, all Israel made Omri king over Israel. Omri was the commander of the army. ¹⁷Then Omri and all the Israelites marched up from Gibbethon. They surrounded Tirzah and attacked it. ¹⁸Zimri saw that the city had been captured. So he went into the strong tower of the king's palace. He set the palace on fire around himself. So he died. ¹⁹He died because of the sins he had done. He did evil in the LORD's eyes. He followed Jeroboam's example. He did the same sin Jeroboam had done and made Israel do. ²⁰The rest of what Zimri did is written in the Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. It tells about how he turned against the king. ²¹At that time the people of Israel were split into two groups. Half of the people wanted Tibni son of Ginath to be king. The other half wanted Omri. ²²But Omri's followers were stronger than the followers of Tibni son of Ginath. So Tibni died, and Omri became king. ²³Omri became king of Israel in the thirty-first year that Asa was king of Judah. Omri ruled for twelve years. Six of those years he ruled in Tirzah. ²⁴He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver. That was about 150 pounds. He built a city on the hill. He named it Samaria after Shemer, who had owned the hill.a ²⁵But Omri did evil in the LORD's eyes. He was more wicked than all the kings before him. ²⁶He lived in all the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat. He did the same sins Jeroboam had made Israel do. They made the LORD, the God of Israel, angry with their worthless idols. ²⁷The rest of what Omri did is written in the Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. It tells all he did and about the power he showed. ²⁸Omri died and was laid to rest with his ancestors. He was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab became king after him. ²⁹Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel in the thirty-eighth year that Asa was king of Judah. Ahab ruled in Samaria for twenty-two years. ³⁰But Ahab son of Omri did evil in the LORD's eyes. He did more evil than all the kings before him. ³¹He did the same sins as Jeroboam son of Nebat. But that was not enough for him. He even married Jezebel. She was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the people of Sidon. Then Ahab began to serve and worship Baal. ³²First, Ahab set up an altar for Baal. He put it in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria. ³³Then he set up an Asherah pole. Ahab did more to make the LORD, the God of Israel, angry than all the kings of Israel before him. ³⁴While Ahab was king, Hiel from Bethel rebuilt Jericho. When he laid its foundation, it cost him the life of Abiram, his oldest son. When he set up its gates, it cost him the life of Segub, his youngest son. It happened just as the LORD had said through Joshua son of Nun.