1 Kings 16

₁The LORD spoke to the prophet Jehu son of Hanani and gave him this message for Baasha: ₂“You were a nobody, but I made you the leader of my people Israel. And now you have sinned like Jeroboam and have led my people into sin. Their sins have aroused my anger, ₃and so I will do away with you and your family, just as I did with Jeroboam. ₄Any members of your family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and any who die in the open country will be eaten by vultures.”

₅Everything else that Baasha did and all his brave deeds are recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. ₆Baasha died and was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah succeeded him as king.

₇That message from the LORD against Baasha and his family was given by the prophet Jehu because of the sins that Baasha committed against the LORD. He aroused the LORD's anger not only because of the evil he did, just as King Jeroboam had done before him, but also because he killed all Jeroboam's family.

₈In the 26th year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he ruled in Tirzah for two years. ₉Zimri, one of his officers who was in charge of half the king's chariots, plotted against him. One day in Tirzah, Elah was getting drunk in the home of Arza, who was in charge of the palace. ₁₀Zimri entered the house, assassinated Elah, and succeeded him as king. This happened in the 27th year of the reign of King Asa of Judah.

₁₁As soon as Zimri became king he killed off all the members of Baasha's family. Every male relative and friend was put to death. ₁₂And so, in accordance with what the LORD had said against Baasha through the prophet Jehu, Zimri killed all the family of Baasha. ₁₃Because of their idolatry and because they led Israel into sin, Baasha and his son Elah had aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel. ₁₄Everything else that Elah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

₁₅In the 27th year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Zimri ruled in Tirzah over Israel for seven days. The Israelite troops were besieging the city of Gibbethon in Philistia, ₁₆and when they heard that Zimri had plotted against the king and assassinated him, then and there they all proclaimed their commander Omri king of Israel. ₁₇Omri and his troops left Gibbethon and went and besieged Tirzah. ₁₈When Zimri saw that the city had fallen, he went into the palace's inner fortress, set the palace on fire, and died in the flames. ₁₉This happened because of his sins against the LORD. Like his predecessor Jeroboam he displeased the LORD by his own sins and by leading Israel into sin. ₂₀Everything else that Zimri did, including the account of his conspiracy, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

₂₁The people of Israel were divided: some of them wanted to make Tibni son of Ginath king, and the others were in favour of Omri. ₂₂In the end, those in favour of Omri won; Tibni died and Omri became king. ₂₃So in the 31st year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he ruled for twelve years. The first six years he ruled in Tirzah, ₂₄and then he bought the hill of Samaria for 6,000 pieces of silver from a man named Shemer. Omri fortified the hill, built a town there, and named it Samaria, after Shemer, the former owner of the hill.

₂₅Omri sinned against the LORD more than any of his predecessors. ₂₆Like Jeroboam before him, he aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, by his sins and by leading the people into sin and idolatry. ₂₇Everything else that Omri did and all his accomplishments are recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. ₂₈Omri died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab succeeded him as king.

₂₉In the 38th year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for 22 years. ₃₀He sinned against the LORD more than any of his predecessors. ₃₁It was not enough for him to sin like King Jeroboam; he went further and married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon, and worshipped Baal. ₃₂He built a temple to Baal in Samaria, made an altar for him, and put it in the temple. ₃₃He also put up an image of the goddess Asherah. He did more to arouse the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel before him. ₃₄During his reign Hiel from Bethel rebuilt Jericho. As the LORD had foretold through Joshua son of Nun, Hiel lost his eldest son Abiram when he laid the foundation of Jericho, and his youngest son Segub when he built the gates.