1 Kings 16

1 During the time that Baasha [was king of Israel], [the prophet] Jehu, Hanani’s son, gave Baasha this message that he had received from Yahweh:

Then this message from the Lord came to the prophet Jehu, son of Hanani, condemning Baasha.

2 “You were very insignificant/unimportant [IDM] when I caused you to become the ruler of my Israeli people. But you have caused me to become very angry by doing [IDM] the kinds of evil things that King Jeroboam did. You have also caused me to become angry by causing my people to sin.

“Even though I lifted you out of the dust to make you ruler over my people Israel, you have followed the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel sin, making me angry by their sins.

3 So now I will get rid of you and your family [MTY]. I will do to you just like I did to Jeroboam and his family.

Now I'm going to destroy Baasha and his family. Baasha, I will make your family like that of Jeroboam, son of Nebat.

4 [The bodies of] those in your family who die in this city [will not be buried; they] will be eaten by dogs; and [the corpses of] those who die in the fields will be eaten by vultures.”

Those of Baasha's family who die in the town will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the countryside will be eaten by birds.”

5 The other things that happened during the time that Baasha ruled Israel, and the things that he did, are written [RHQ] in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.

The rest of the events of Baasha's reign, everything that he did and what he accomplished, are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

6 When Baasha died, he was buried in Tirzah, [the capital city]. Then his son Elah became king.

Baasha died and was buried in Tirzah. His son Elah succeeded him as king.

7 Yahweh gave that message about Baasha and his family to the prophet Jehu. Baasha had done many things that Yahweh considered to be evil, which caused Yahweh to become angry. Baasha did the same kind of things that King Jeroboam and his family had done previously. Yahweh was also angry with Baasha because he had killed all of Jeroboam’s family.

The message from the Lord condemning Baasha and his family came to the prophet Jehu, son of Hanani. It came because Baasha had done what was evil in the Lord's sight, in the same way as the family of Jeroboam had done, and also because Baasha had killed Jeroboam's family. The Lord was angry because of Baasha's sins.

8 After Asa had been the king of Judah for almost 26 years, Elah became the king of Israel. Elah ruled in Tirzah for [only] two years.

Elah, son of Baasha, became king of Israel in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. He reigned in Tirzah for two years.

9 [A man named] Zimri was one of Elah’s army officers. He commanded the drivers of half of Elah’s army’s (chariots/two-wheeled vehicles pulled by horses). He made plans to kill Elah while Elah was in Tirzah, getting drunk at the house of [a man named] Arza. Arza was the man who took care of the things in the king’s palace.

One of Elah's officials called Zimri who was in charge of half his chariots plotted a rebellion against him. One time Elah was in Tirzah, getting himself drunk at the home of Arza, the palace manager at Tirzah.

10 Zimri went into Arza’s house and killed Elah. Then Zimri became the king of Israel. That was when Asa had been the king of Judah for 27 years.

Zimri went up to him, attacked him, and killed him. This was in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Asa, king of Judah. Then he took over from him as king.

11 As soon as Zimri became king [MTY], he killed all of Baasha’s family [MTY]. That included every male [IDM] in Baasha’s family and all of Baasha’s male friends.

As soon as he became king and was installed on his throne, he killed all of Baasha's family. He did not leave a single male alive, whether of his relatives or of his friends.

12 That was just what Yahweh told the prophet Jehu would happen.

So Zimri destroyed the entire household of Baasha, as the Lord had said in his condemnation of Baasha through Jehu the prophet.

13 Baasha and his son Elah had sinned and led the Israeli people to sin. They caused Yahweh, the God whom the Israeli people worshiped, to become angry, because they both urged the people [to worship] worthless idols.

This was because of all the sins Baasha and his son Elah had committed and had made Israel to commit. Their worship of their useless idols had angered the Lord, the God of Israel.

14 Everything else that Elah did is written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.

The rest of what happened in Elah's reign and everything that he did are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

15 So Zimri became the king of Israel after Asa had been king of Judah for 27 years. But Zimri ruled in Tirzah for only seven days. The Israeli army was beseiging/surrounding Gibeah, a town which belonged to the Philistine people-group.

Zimri became king of Israel in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. He reigned in Tirzah seven days. At that time the Israelite army was attacking the Philistine town of Gibbethon.

16 The men in the Israeli army camp heard that Zimri had secretly planned to kill King Elah, and then had killed him. So on that day the soldiers chose Omri, the commander of their army, to become the king of Israel.

When the troops who were camped there learned that Zimri had plotted rebellion against the king and had murdered him, they made Omri, the army commander, king of Israel that same day in the army camp.

17 The Israeli army was camped near Gibbethon [city]. When they heard what Zimri had done, they left there and went to Tirzah, and surrounded the city.

Omri and the whole Israelite army left Gibbethon and went and besieged Tirzah.

18 When Zimri realized that the city was [about to be] captured, he went into his palace and set it on fire. So the palace burned down, and he died [in the fire].

When Zimri saw that the city had been taken he went into the fortress of the royal palace and set it on fire around him, and he died, because of the sins he had committed.

19 He died because he had sinned by doing the things that Yahweh considered to be evil. Jeroboam had led the Israeli people to sin, and Zimri sinned just like Jeroboam had sinned.

He did evil in the Lord's sight and followed the way of Jeroboam and his sin which he had made Israel commit.

20 All the other things that Zimri did, and the record of how he rebelled [against King Elah], are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.

The rest of what happened in Zimri's reign and his rebellion are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

21 After Zimri died, the Israeli people were divided. One group wanted Tibni, the son of Ginath, to be their king. The other group wanted Omri [to be the king].

After this the people of Israel were divided. Half supported Tibni, son of Ginath, as king, while the other half supported Omri.

22 Those who supported Omri (were stronger than/defeated) those who supported Tibni. So Tibni was killed, and Omri became king.

However, those on Omri's side defeated Tibni's supporters. Tibni was killed and Omri became king.

23 Omri became king when Asa had been king of Judah for almost 31 years. Omri ruled Israel for 12 years. For the first six years he ruled in Tirzah.

Omri became king of Israel in the thirty-first year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. He reigned for a total of twelve years, (six of them were in Tirzah).

24 Then he bought a hill from [a man named] Shemer and paid him about (150 pounds/70 kg.) of silver for it. Then Omri ordered his men to build a city on that hill, and he called it Samaria, to honor Shemer, the man who owned it previously.

He purchased the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver. He fortified the hill, and named the city that he built Samaria, after Shemer, the previous owner of the hill.

25 But Omri did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil. He did more evil deeds than any of the kings who ruled Israel before he did.

Omri did what was evil in the Lord's sight—in fact he did more evil than those who lived before him.

26 [When] Jeroboam [was previously the king, he] had led the Israeli people to sin, and Omri committed the same kind of sins that Jeroboam did. The Israeli people caused Yahweh, the God the Israeli people had worshiped, to become very angry, because they worshiped worthless idols.

For he followed all the ways of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and in his sins which he made Israel commit, worshiping their useless idols which angered the Lord, the God of Israel.

27 Everything that Omri did, and the record of the victories that his [army] won, are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.

The rest of what happened in Omri's reign, what he did, and his achievements are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

28 After Omri died, he was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab became king.

Omri died and was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab succeeded him as king.

29 Ahab became king of Israel when Asa had ruled Judah for almost 38 years. Ahab ruled in Samaria [city] for 22 years.

Ahab, son of Omri, became king of Israel in the thirty-eighth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. He reigned in Samaria for twenty-two years.

30 Ahab did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil. He did more evil things than any of the kings who ruled Israel before he did.

Ahab, son of Omri, did evil in the Lord's sight, more than those who lived before him.

31 He committed the same kind of sins that Jeroboam did, but he did things that were worse than the things that Jeroboam did. He married [a woman named] Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of Sidon [city]. Then Ahab started to worship Baal, [the god that the Canaan people-group worshiped].

He didn't see anything to worry about in following the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and he even married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and started to serve and worship Baal.

32 He built a temple in Samaria in order that the Israeli people could worship Baal there, and he put an altar there for [making sacrifices to] Baal.

Ahab made an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria.

33 He also made an idol that represented Asherah, [Baal’s wife]. He did many more things that caused Yahweh to become angry. He did more evil things than any of the previous kings of Israel had done.

Then he put up an Asherah pole. In this way Ahab did more to anger the Lord, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel before him.

34 During the years that Ahab [ruled], Hiel, a man from Bethel [city], rebuilt Jericho [city]. But when he started to rebuild the city, his oldest son Abiram died. And [when the city was finished, ] while Hiel was building the city gates, his youngest son Segub died. They died just like Yahweh had told Joshua would happen [to the sons of anyone who would rebuild Jericho].

During Ahab's reign Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He sacrificed Abiram his firstborn son when he laid its foundation, and sacrificed Segub his youngest son when he constructed its gates. This fulfilled the message the Lord had given through Joshua, son of Nun.