1 Kings 16

Leeser^{(i) 1} Then came the word of the Lord to Jehu the son of Chanani against Ba’sha, saying, ² Forasmuch as I lifted thee up out of the dust, and I set thee as prince over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jerobo’am, and hast induced my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins: ³ Behold, I will sweep out after Ba’sha, and after his house; and I will render thy house like the house of Jerobo’am the son of Nebat; ⁴ Him that dieth of Ba’sha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the field shall the fowls of the heavens eat. ⁵ And the rest of the acts of Ba’sha, and what he did, and his mighty deeds, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ⁶ And Ba’sha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Thirzah: and Elah his son became king in his stead. ⁷ And also by the hand of Jehu the son of Chanani, the prophet, came the word of the Lord against Ba’sha, and against his house, both for all the evil that he did in the eyes of the Lord, to provoke him to anger with the work of his hands, thus being like the house of Jerobo’am; and because he had killed him. ⁸ In the twenty and sixth year of Assa the king of Judah became Elah the son of Ba’sha king over Israel in Thirzah, for two years. ⁹ And there conspired against him his servant Zimri, captain of half the chariots, as he was in Thirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was set over the house in Thirzah. ¹⁰ And Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Assa the king of Judah, and became king in his stead. ¹¹ And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he slew all the house of Ba’sha: he left him not a single male, neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends. ¹² Thus did Zimri exterminate all the house of Ba’sha, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken against Ba’sha by the agency of Jehu the prophet, ¹³ For all the sins of Ba’sha, and the sins of Elah his son, by which they had sinned, and by which they had induced Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord the God of Israel to anger with their vanities. ¹⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ¹⁵ In the twenty and seventh year of Assa the king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Thirzah: and the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. ¹⁶ And when the people that were encamped heard it said, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also slain the king: all Israel made ‘Omri, the captain of the army, king over Israel on that day in the camp. ¹⁷ And ‘Omri went up, and all Israel with him from Gibbethon, and they besieged Thirzah. ¹⁸ And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was captured, that he went into the strong-hold of the king’s house, and burnt the king’s house over him with fire, and he died; ¹⁹ For his sins which he had sinned, in doing what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, to walk in the way of Jerobo’am, and in his sin which he did, to induce Israel to sin. ²⁰ And the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his conspiracy that he contrived, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ²¹ At that time were the people of Israel divided into two parts: one half of the people followed Thibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; and the other half followed ‘Omri. ²² But the people that followed ‘Omri prevailed against the people that followed Thibni the son of Ginath: and Thibni also died, and ‘Omri became king. ²³ In the thirty and first year of Assa the king of Judah became ‘Omri king over Israel, for twelve years; in Thirzah he reigned six years. ²⁴ And he bought the mount Samaria, of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the mount, and called the name of the city which he had built, after the name of Shemer, the Lord of the mount, Samaria. ²⁵ And ‘Omri did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him. ²⁶ And he walked in all the way of Jerobo’am the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he induced Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities. ²⁷ Now the rest of the acts of ‘Omri which he did, and his mighty deeds that he displayed, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ²⁸ And ‘Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria: and Achab his son became king in his stead. ²⁹ And Achab the son of ‘omri became king over Israel in the thirty and eighth year of Assa the king of Judah; and Achab the son of ‘Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years. ³⁰ And Achab the son of ‘Omri did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord more than all that had been before him. ³¹ And it came to pass, as if it had been too light a thing for him to walk in the sins of Jerobo’am the son of Nebat, that he took for wife Izebel the daughter of Ethba’al the king of the Zidonians, and went and served Ba’al, and worshipped him. ³² And he erected an altar for Ba’al in the house of Ba’al, which he had built in Samaria. ³³ And Achab made a grove; and Achab did yet more, so as to provoke the Lord the God of Israel to anger, than all the kings of Israel that had been before him. ³⁴ In his days did Chiel the Beth-elite build Jericho: with Abiram his first-born laid he the foundation thereof, and with Segub his youngest son set he up the gates thereof, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by means of Joshua the son of Nun.