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16 Then the Devar Hashem came to Yehu Ben Chanani against Ba’asha, saying,

Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the aphar (dust), and made thee nagid over My people Yisroel; and thou hast walked in the derech Yarov‘am, and hast caused My people Yisroel to sin, to provoke Me to anger with their chattot;

Hineni, I will sweep away after Ba’asha, and after his Bais; and I will make thy Bais like the Bais Yarov‘am Ben Nevat.

Him that dieth of Ba’asha in the Ir shall the kelavim eat; and him that dieth of his in the sadeh (country) shall the oph HaShomayim eat.

Now the rest of the acts of Ba’asha, and what he did, and his gevurah, are they not written in the Sefer Divrei HaYamim L’Malkhei Yisroel?

So Ba’asha slept with his avot, and was buried in Tirtzah: and Elah Bno reigned as Melech in his place.

And also by the yad HaNavi Yehu Ben Chanani came the Devar Hashem against Ba’asha, and against his Bais, even for all ra’ah that he did in the eyes of Hashem, in provoking Him to anger by the ma’aseh (work) of his hands, in becoming like the Bais Yarov‘am; and because he struck it.

In the twenty and sixth year of Asa Melech Yehudah began Elah Ben Ba’asha to reign as Melech over Yisroel in Tirtzah, reigning two years.

And his eved (official) Zimri, captain of half his chariots, plotted a kesher against him, while Elah was in Tirtzah, drinking himself shikkor in the bais Artza, who was in charge of the Bais (palace) in Tirtzah.

10 And Zimri went in and struck him down, killed him, in the 27th year of Asa Melech Yehudah, and reigned as Melech in his place.

11 And it came to pass, when he began to reign as king, as soon as he sat on his kisse, that he slaughtered kol Bais Ba’asha; he spared him not one mashtin b’kir (one urinating against a wall, i.e., one male), not go’alim (redeemers) of his nor re’a of his.

12 Thus Zimri destroyed kol Bais Ba’asha, according to Devar Hashem, which He spoke against Ba’asha by Yehu HaNavi [2Chr 19:2; 20:34].

13 For all the chattot of Ba’asha, and the chattot of Elah Bno, by which they sinned, and by which they made Yisroel to sin, in provoking Hashem Elohei Yisroel to anger with their havalim (vanities, nothingnesses, i.e., idols).

14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Sefer Divrei HaYamim L’Malkhei Yisroel?

15 In the twenty and seventh year of Asa Melech Yehudah did Zimri reign as Melech shivah yamim in Tirtzah. And the army was encamped against Gibeton, which belonged to the Pelishtim.

16 And the army that was encamped heard say, Zimri hath plotted a kesher, and hath also slain HaMelech; wherefore kol Yisroel made Omri, the Sar Tzava, Melech over Yisroel that day in the machaneh.

17 And Omri withdrew from Gibeton, and kol Yisroel with him, and they laid siege to Tirtzah.

18 And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the Ir was taken, that he went into the armon (palace, castle) of the Bais HaMelech, and he burned the Bais HaMelech over him with eish, and died.

19 For his chattot which he sinned in doing rah (evil) in the eyes of Hashem, in walking in the derech Yarov‘am, and in his chattat which he did, to make Yisroel to sin.

20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his kesher that he plotted, are they not written in the Sefer Divrei HaYamim L’Malkhei Yisroel?

21 Then were HaAm Yisroel divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tivni Ben Ginat, to make him Melech; and half followed Omri.

22 But the people that followed Omri were stronger against the people that followed Tivni Ben Ginat; so Tivni died, and Omri reigned as Melech.

23 In the thirty and first year of Asa Melech Yehudah began Omri to reign as Melech over Yisroel, reigning twelve years; shesh shanim reigned he in Tirtzah.

24 And he bought the Har Shomron from Shemer for two talents of kesef, and built on the hill, and called the shem of the Ir which he built, after the shem of Shemer, adonei hahar (owner of the hill), Shomron.

25 But Omri wrought rah in the eyes of Hashem, and did sin more than all that were before him.

26 For he walked in all the derech Yarov‘am Ben Nevat, and in his chattat wherewith he made Yisroel to sin, to provoke Hashem Elohei Yisroel to anger with their havalim (vanities, nothingnesses, i.e., idols)

27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his gevurah that he did, are they not written in the Sefer Divrei HaYamim L’Malkhei Yisroel?

28 So Omri slept with his avot, and was buried in Shomron; and Ach’av Bno reigned as Melech in his place.

29 And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa Melech Yehudah began Ach’av Ben Omri (Ahab Son of Omri) to reign as Melech over Yisroel; and Ach’av Ben Omri reigned over Yisroel in Shomron twenty and two shanah.

30 And Ach’av Ben Omri did rah in the eyes of Hashem above all that were before him.

31 And it came to pass, as if it had not been enough for him to walk in the chattot Yarov‘am Ben Nevat, he even took as isha Izevel Bat Etba’al Melech Tzidonim, and went and served Ba’al, and worshipped him.

32 And he set up a mizbe’ach for Ba’al in the Bais Ba’al, which he had built in Shomron.

33 And Ach’av made HaAsherah; and Ach’av did more to provoke Hashem Elohei Yisroel to anger than all the Malkhei Yisroel that were before him.

34 In his days did Chiel of Beit-El build up Yericho; he laid the foundation thereof [at the cost of the life of] Aviram his bechor; set up the gates thereof [at the cost of the life of] his youngest, Seguv, according to Devar Hashem, which He spoke by Yehoshua Ben Nun [see Josh. 6:26].

16 Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu(A) son of Hanani(B) concerning Baasha: “I lifted you up from the dust(C) and appointed you ruler(D) over my people Israel, but you followed the ways of Jeroboam and caused(E) my people Israel to sin and to arouse my anger by their sins. So I am about to wipe out Baasha(F) and his house,(G) and I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat. Dogs(H) will eat those belonging to Baasha who die in the city, and birds(I) will feed on those who die in the country.”

As for the other events of Baasha’s reign, what he did and his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals(J) of the kings of Israel? Baasha rested with his ancestors and was buried in Tirzah.(K) And Elah his son succeeded him as king.

Moreover, the word of the Lord came(L) through the prophet Jehu(M) son of Hanani to Baasha and his house, because of all the evil he had done in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger by the things he did, becoming like the house of Jeroboam—and also because he destroyed it.

Elah King of Israel

In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah two years.

Zimri, one of his officials, who had command of half his chariots, plotted against him. Elah was in Tirzah at the time, getting drunk(N) in the home of Arza, the palace administrator(O) at Tirzah. 10 Zimri came in, struck him down and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah. Then he succeeded him as king.(P)

11 As soon as he began to reign and was seated on the throne, he killed off Baasha’s whole family.(Q) He did not spare a single male, whether relative or friend. 12 So Zimri destroyed the whole family of Baasha, in accordance with the word of the Lord spoken against Baasha through the prophet Jehu— 13 because of all the sins Baasha and his son Elah had committed and had caused Israel to commit, so that they aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by their worthless idols.(R)

14 As for the other events of Elah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

Zimri King of Israel

15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah seven days. The army was encamped near Gibbethon,(S) a Philistine town. 16 When the Israelites in the camp heard that Zimri had plotted against the king and murdered him, they proclaimed Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that very day there in the camp. 17 Then Omri and all the Israelites with him withdrew from Gibbethon and laid siege to Tirzah. 18 When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the royal palace and set the palace on fire around him. So he died, 19 because of the sins he had committed, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord and following the ways of Jeroboam and committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.

20 As for the other events of Zimri’s reign, and the rebellion he carried out, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

Omri King of Israel

21 Then the people of Israel were split into two factions; half supported Tibni son of Ginath for king, and the other half supported Omri. 22 But Omri’s followers proved stronger than those of Tibni son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri became king.

23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned twelve years, six of them in Tirzah.(T) 24 He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents[a] of silver and built a city on the hill, calling it Samaria,(U) after Shemer, the name of the former owner of the hill.

25 But Omri did evil(V) in the eyes of the Lord and sinned more than all those before him. 26 He followed completely the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused(W) Israel to commit, so that they aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by their worthless idols.(X)

27 As for the other events of Omri’s reign, what he did and the things he achieved, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 28 Omri rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria.(Y) And Ahab his son succeeded him as king.

Ahab Becomes King of Israel

29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more(Z) evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married(AA) Jezebel daughter(AB) of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal(AC) and worship him. 32 He set up an altar(AD) for Baal in the temple(AE) of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole(AF) and did more(AG) to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.

34 In Ahab’s time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord spoken by Joshua son of Nun.(AH)

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 16:24 That is, about 150 pounds or about 68 kilograms