⁸In the 26th year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he ruled in Tirzah for two years. ⁹Zimri, one of his officers who was in charge of half the king’s chariots, plotted against him. One day in Tirzah, Elah was getting drunk in the home of Arza, who was in charge of the palace. ¹⁰Zimri entered the house, assassinated Elah, and succeeded him as king. This happened in the 27th year of the reign of King Asa of Judah.

¹¹As soon as Zimri became king he killed off all the members of Baasha’s family. Every male relative and friend was put to death. ¹²And so, in accordance with what the Lord had said against Baasha through the prophet Jehu, Zimri killed all the family of Baasha. ¹³Because of their idolatry and because they led Israel into sin, Baasha and his son Elah had aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁴Everything else that Elah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

King Zimri of Israel

¹⁵In the 27th year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Zimri ruled in Tirzah over Israel for seven days. The Israelite troops were besieging the city of Gibbethon in Philistia, ¹⁶and when they heard that Zimri had plotted against the king and assassinated him, then and there they all proclaimed their commander Omri king of Israel. ¹⁷Omri and his troops left Gibbethon and went and besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸When Zimri saw that the city had fallen, he went into the palace’s inner fortress, set the palace on fire, and died in the flames. ¹⁹This happened because of his sins against the Lord. Like his predecessor Jeroboam he displeased the Lord by his own sins and by leading Israel into sin. ²⁰Everything else that Zimri did, including the account of his conspiracy, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

Read in Logos