1Then the word of the
Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying,
2“Since I raised you up from the dust and made you a prince over my people Israel, yet you walked in the way of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel to sin, so provoking me to anger with their sins,
3I am now about to eject Baasha and his house and make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
4Dogs will eat whoever of Baasha's
house dies in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat whoever of his
house dies in the field.”
5And the rest of the affairs of Baasha and what he did, and his bravery,
are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
6And Baasha lay with his fathers, and he was buried in Tirzah, and Elah his son reigned in his place.
7So the word of the
Lord through the intermediacy of Jehu the son of Hanani the prophet duly came about against Baasha, and against his house, both for all the evil which he did in the sight of the
Lord – in provoking him to anger, in the undertakings of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam – and because he struck that
house down.
8In twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel in Tirzah, for two years.
9And his servant Zimri, commander of half of his chariot
fleet, conspired against him, when he
was in Tirzah drinking
himself drunk
in the house of Arza who
was in charge of the house in Tirzah.
10And Zimri came and struck him and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned in his place.
11And it came to pass when he
started to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne,
that he struck the whole house of Baasha down – he did not leave him
anyone who urinates against a wall, neither his kinsmen-redeemers nor his entourage.
12So Zimri eliminated the whole house of Baasha according to the word of the
Lord which he spoke to Baasha through the intermediacy of Jehu the prophet,
13for all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, which they committed and because they caused Israel to sin, by provoking the
Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols.
14And the rest of the affairs of Elah, and everything he did,
are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
15In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned for seven days in Tirzah, and the people encamped against Gibbethon, which the Philistines
had held.
16And the people who
were encamped heard
reports saying, “Zimri has conspired and even struck the king down.” And all Israel made Omri,
who was an army commander, king of Israel on that day in the encampment.
17Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon, and they besieged Tirzah.
18And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city had been captured, that he went to the palace of the king's house and burned the king's house
down with fire, on top of himself, and he died
19for his sin which he committed by doing evil in the sight of the
Lord, by walking in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin, which he committed by causing Israel to sin.
20And the rest of the affairs of Zimri, and his conspiracy which he made,
are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
21Then the people of Israel were divided in two – half of the people were in favour of making Tibni the son of Ginath king, and half were in favour of Omri.
22And the people
who were in favour of Omri prevailed over the people
who were in favour of Tibni the son of Ginath, and Tibni died, and Omri reigned.
23In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel for twelve years. He reigned for six years in Tirzah.
24And he purchased Mount Samaria from Shemer for two talents
of silver, and he built
on the mountain, and he called the city which he had built after Shemer, the lord of Mount Samaria.
25And Omri did evil in the
Lord's sight, and he was worse than all those who
were before him.
26And he walked in every way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sins
with which he caused Israel to sin, by provoking the
Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols.
27And the rest of the exploits of Omri which he undertook, and his brave acts which he did,
are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
28And Omri lay with his fathers, and he was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigned in his place.
29And Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years.
30And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the
Lord – more than everyone who
was before him.
31For it really was insufficient for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and he took as his wife
Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and he went
his way and served Baal, and he worshipped him.
32And he set up an altar to Baal
in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria.
33And Ahab made the phallic park, and Ahab did more to provoke the
Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
34In his days Hiel, a Beth-Elite, built Jericho. He founded it at
the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and he set up its gates at
the cost of Segub his younger son, according to the word of the
Lord which he had spoken through the intermediacy of Joshua the son of Nun.
Reference(s) in Chapter 16: v.31 ↔ Revelation 2:20.