1 Kings 16–18

Chapter 16

¹And the word of Jehovah came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, ²Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel, and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins; ³behold, I will take away Baasha and his house, and will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ⁴Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat, and him that dieth of his in the field shall the fowl of the heavens eat. ⁵And the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁶And Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah; and Elah his son reigned in his stead. ⁷And also through the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani the word of Jehovah came against Baasha, and against his house, even for all the evil that he did in the sight of Jehovah, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam; and because he had smitten him. ⁸In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah for two years. ⁹And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him; and he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was the steward of his house in Tirzah; ¹⁰and Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned in his stead. ¹¹And it came to pass when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, he slew all the house of Baasha: he left him not a male, neither of his kinsmen nor of his friends. ¹²And Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spoke against Baasha through Jehu the prophet, ¹³for all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and wherewith they made Israel to sin, provoking Jehovah the God of Israel to anger with their vanities. ¹⁴And the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that 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 seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. ¹⁶And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri has conspired, and has also smitten the king; and all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp. ¹⁷And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸And it came to pass when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the citadel of the king’s house, and burned the king’s house over him with fire; ¹⁹and he died for his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of Jehovah, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, making Israel to sin. ²⁰And the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his conspiracy which he wrought, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ²¹Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; and half followed Omri. ²²But the people that followed Omri overcame the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath; and Tibni died, and Omri reigned. ²³In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, —twelve years; he reigned six years in Tirzah. ²⁴And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver; and built on the hill, and called the name of the city that he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria. ²⁵And Omri wrought evil in the sight of Jehovah, and did worse than all that were before him. ²⁶And he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sins wherewith he made Israel to sin, provoking Jehovah the God of Israel to anger with their vanities. ²⁷And the rest of the acts of Omri, what he did, and his might which he shewed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ²⁸And Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.

²⁹And Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰And Ahab the son of Omri wrought evil in the sight of Jehovah more than all that were before him. ³¹And it came to pass, as if it was a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshipped him. ³²And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. ³³And Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did more to provoke Jehovah the God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. ³⁴In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundation in Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates in Segub his youngest, according to the word of Jehovah which he spoke through Joshua the son of Nun.

Chapter 17

¹And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, As Jehovah the God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except by my word. ²And the word of Jehovah came to him saying, ³Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the torrent Cherith, which is before the Jordan. ⁴And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the torrent; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. ⁵And he went and did according to the word of Jehovah; he went and abode by the torrent Cherith, which is before the Jordan. ⁶And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the torrent. ⁷And it came to pass after a while that the torrent dried up, for there had been no rain in the land.

⁸And the word of Jehovah came to him saying, ⁹Arise, go to Zarephath, which is by Zidon, and abide there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to maintain thee. ¹⁰And he arose and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the entrance of the city, behold, a widow woman was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. ¹¹And she went to fetch it, and he called to her and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand. ¹²And she said, As Jehovah thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse; and behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. ¹³And Elijah said to her, Fear not; go, do as thou hast said; but make me thereof a little cake first; and bring it to me; and afterwards make for thee and for thy son. ¹⁴For thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: The meal in the barrel shall not waste, neither shall the oil in the cruse fail, until the day that Jehovah sendeth rain upon the face of the earth! ¹⁵And she went and did according to the word of Elijah; and she, and he, and her house, ate a whole year. ¹⁶The meal in the barrel did not waste, neither did the oil in the cruse fail, according to the word of Jehovah which he had spoken through Elijah.

¹⁷And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. ¹⁸And she said to Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come to me to call mine iniquity to remembrance, and to slay my son? ¹⁹And he said to her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. ²⁰And he cried to Jehovah and said, Jehovah, my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? ²¹And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to Jehovah and said, Jehovah, my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again! ²²And Jehovah heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he lived. ²³And Elijah took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and delivered him to his mother; and Elijah said, See, thy son lives. ²⁴And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of Jehovah in thy mouth is truth.

Chapter 18

¹And it came to pass after many days, that the word of Jehovah came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself to Ahab; and I will send rain upon the face of the earth. ²And Elijah went to shew himself to Ahab. And the famine was severe in Samaria. ³And Ahab called Obadiah, who was the steward of his house (now Obadiah feared Jehovah greatly; ⁴and it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Jehovah, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and maintained them with bread and water); ⁵and Ahab said to Obadiah, Go through the land, to all the fountains of water and to all the torrents, perhaps we may find grass to save the horses and the mules alive, so that we may not have to destroy some of our beasts. ⁶And they divided the land between them to pass through it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. ⁷And as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him; and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Is it indeed thou, my lord Elijah? ⁸And he said to him, I am he: go, say to thy lord, Behold Elijah! ⁹And he said, What have I sinned, that thou givest thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to put me to death? ¹⁰As Jehovah thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom whither my lord has not sent to seek thee; and when they said, He is not here, he took an oath of the kingdom or nation…