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:

The word of Yahweh came to Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha, saying,

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.

“Although I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, so as to provoke me to anger with 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.

See, I will completely sweep away Baasha and his family and I will make your family like the family 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.”

The dogs will eat anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat anyone who dies in the fields.”

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’.

As for the other matters concerning Baasha, what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel?

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

Baasha slept with his ancestors and was buried in Tirzah, and Elah his son became king in his place.

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.

So by the prophet Jehu son of Hanani the word of Yahweh came against Baasha and his family, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of Yahweh, so as to provoke him to anger with the work of his hands, like the family of Jeroboam, and also because he had killed all of Jeroboam's family.

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.

In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah; he reigned 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.

His servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now Elah was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in 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 in, attacked him and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and became king in his place.

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.

When Zimri began to reign and was seated on his throne, he killed all the family of Baasha. He did not leave alive a single male belonging to Baasha's relatives or friends.

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

So Zimri destroyed all the family of Baasha, according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke against Baasha by 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.

for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son that they committed, and by which they had led Israel to sin, so that they provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger with their idols.

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

As for the other matters concerning Elah, all that he did, are they not written in the book of the events 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.

In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned only for seven days in Tirzah. Now the army was camped by Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.

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.

The army camped there heard it said, “Zimri has plotted and has killed the king.” So that day in the camp, all Israel declared Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel.

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 went up from Gibbethon and all Israel with him, and they 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].

So when Zimri saw that the city had been taken, he went into the fortress attached to the king's palace and set fire to the building over him; in this way he died in the flames.

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.

This was for the sins that he had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, by walking in the way of Jeroboam and in the sin that he had committed, so as to lead Israel to sin.

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’.

As for the other matters concerning Zimri, and the treason that he carried out, are they not written in the book of the events 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].

Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri.

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

But the people who followed Omri were stronger than the people who followed Tibni son of Ginath. So Tibni died, 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 began to reign over Israel in the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned twelve years. He reigned from Tirzah for six years.

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 bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver. He built a city on the hill and called the name of the city Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the past 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 sight of Yahweh and acted more wickedly than all who had been 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 walked in all the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in his sins by which he led Israel to sin, to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to be angry with their worthless idols.

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’.

As for the other matters concerning Omri which he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel?

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

So Omri slept with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria and Ahab his son became king in his place.

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

In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri began to reign over Israel. Ahab son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria 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 what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, more than all those who were 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].

It was to Ahab a trivial thing to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, so he took as his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; he went and worshiped Baal and bowed down to him.

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.

He built an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which 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.

Ahab made an Asherah pole. Ahab did even more to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who had been 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 rule, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. Hiel laid the foundation of the city at the cost of the life of Abiram, his firstborn son; and Segub, his youngest son, lost his life while he was building the gates of the city, in keeping with the word of Yahweh which he spoke by Joshua son of Nun.