3 Kingdoms 16, verse 1. Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 2. “Because I raised you from the earth and made you ruler over My people Israel, and you walked in the way of Jeroboam, and made My people Israel sin and provoke Me to anger with their follies— 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 3. surely I will take away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 4. The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Baasha and dies in the city, and the birds of the sky shall eat whoever dies in the fields.” 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 5. Now the rest of the words of Baasha, what he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 6. So Baasha rested with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah. Then Elah his son reigned in his place in the twentieth year of King Asa. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 7. So the Lord spoke against Baasha and his house by the hand of Jehu, because of all the evil he did before the Lord by provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam; and also because he struck them down.
Elah Is King of Israel
3 Kingdoms 16, verse 8. Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel and reigned for two years in Tirzah. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 9. Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him, and he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, steward of his house in Tirzah. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 10. Then Zimri went in, struck and killed him. He then reigned in his place. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 11. When he began to reign, as soon as he was seated on his throne, he killed all the household of Baasha, 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 12. according to the word the Lord spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 13. for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son which they caused Israel to commit, and provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger with their follies. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 14. Now the rest of the words of Elah and everything he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel?
Zimri's Brief Reign
3 Kingdoms 16, verse 15. Zimri reigned in Tirzah for seven days, and Israel was encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 16. Now the people encamped heard it said, “Zimri conspired and killed the king.” So that day in the camp all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 17. Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon, and they besieged Tirzah. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 18. When Zimri saw the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king's house, and burned the king's house down upon himself, and died. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 19. This he did because of the sins he committed in doing evil before the Lord, in walking in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins he caused Israel to commit. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 20. Now the rest of the words of Zimri and the treason he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel?
Omri Is King of Israel
3 Kingdoms 16, verse 21. Then the people of Israel were divided. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath to make him king, and half followed Omri. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 22. But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died that day, as well as Joram his son, and Omri reigned after Tibni. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 23. In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel, and reigned twelve years. He reigned for six years in Tirzah. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 24. Omri bought the hill of Samaria for two talents of silver from its owner, Shemer. Then he built on the hill, and called the name of the city he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 25. Omri did evil before the Lord, and did worse than all who were before him. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 26. For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins he committed and caused Israel to commit. With their follies, he provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 27. Now the rest of the words of Omri and everything he did, and the might he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 28. So Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. Then Ahab his son reigned in his place.
Jehoshaphat Reigns in Jerusalem
3 Kingdoms 16, verse 29. And in the eleventh year of Omri, Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. The name of his mother was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 30. Now he walked in the way of Asa his father, and he did not turn aside from doing what was upright before the Lord. Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; they sacrificed in the high places and burned incense. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 31. What Jehoshaphat agreed to do, and all the mighty deeds he did, and his deeds in war, behold, have not these things been written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 32. And the rest of the cultic groups which remained from the days of Asa his father he removed from the land. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 33. Now there was no king or king's deputy in Syria, 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 34. and King Jehoshaphat made a ship in Tarshish to go to Ophir for the gold; but they did not go, because the ship was broken to pieces in Ezion-Geber. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 35. Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will send your servants and my servants in the ship”; but Jehoshaphat was not willing. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 36. After this, Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the City of David, and Joram his son reigned in his place.
Ahab Is King of Israel
3 Kingdoms 16, verse 37. In the second year of Jehoshaphat, Ahab the son of Omri became king of Israel. He ruled over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 38. Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil before the Lord, more than all who were before him. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 39. It was not enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, but he also took as his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 40. Then he set up an altar for Baal in the house of his idols which he built in Samaria, 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 41. and also made a sacred grove. Ahab did yet more provocations, so as to provoke the Lord and to destroy his own life; for he did more evil things than all the kings of Israel before him. 3 Kingdoms 16, verse 42. In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by the hand of Joshua the son of Nun.