1 Kings 15–16

The Reign of Abijam in Judah

15In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. ²Three years he reigned in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ³He walked in all the sins of his father that he had done before him, and his heart was not fully with Yahweh his God as the heart of David his father. ⁴For the sake of David, Yahweh his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by establishing his son after him and by causing Jerusalem to exist; ⁵because David did right in the eyes of Yahweh and he didn’t turn aside from all that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

⁶There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. ⁷The remainder of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? There was also war between Abijam and Jeroboam. ⁸Abijam slept with his ancestors,^a and they buried him in the city of David, and Asa his son became king in his place.

The Reign of Asa in Judah

⁹In the twentieth year of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Asa became the king of Judah. ¹⁰He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ¹¹Asa did right in the eyes of Yahweh, like David his ancestor.^{b 12}He put away the male shrine prostitutes from the land, and he removed all of the idols that his ancestors^c made. ¹³Also, he had Maacah his mother removed from the office of queen mother, as she had made a repulsive image for the Asherah. Asa also cut down her repulsive image and burned it in the Wadi^d Kidron. ¹⁴But the high places he did not remove. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was completely with Yahweh all of his days. ¹⁵He brought the holy objects of his father and his own holy objects to the house of Yahweh, silver and gold and utensils.

¹⁶There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all of their days. ¹⁷Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and he built Ramah to hinder the coming and going of anyone to Asa^e king of Judah. ¹⁸Asa took all of the silver and gold remaining in the storerooms of the house of Yahweh and in the treasury rooms of the house of the king, and he gave them into the hand of his servants; so King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad the son of Tabrimmon the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, ¹⁹“Let there be a covenant between me and you, between my father and your father. Look, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel that he may go up away from me.” ²⁰Ben-Hadad listened to King Asa, and he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel and he attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel-Beth-Maacah, and all of Kinnereth, in addition to all the land of Naphtali. ²¹When Baasha heard, he stopped building Ramah, and he lived in Tirzah. ²²Then King Asa proclaimed among all Judah that there was no one free from obligation, so they carried the stones of Ramah and its wood with which Baasha had built, and King Asa rebuilt Geba in Benjamin with them, and the Mizpah. ²³The remainder of the acts of Asa, all of his achievements, all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? But at the time of his old age, he developed a foot disease.^{f 24}Asa slept with his ancestors^g and was buried with his ancestors^h in the city of David his ancestor;ⁱ Jehoshaphat his son became king in his place.

The Reign of Nadab in Israel

²⁵Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and he walked in the way of his father and in his sin that he caused Israel to commit. ²⁷Baasha son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. Now Nadab and all of Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon, ²⁸and Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa the king of Judah, and he reigned in his place. ²⁹It happened that as soon as he became king, he killed all of the house of Jeroboam. There was no one left of Jeroboam who breathed, until he had destroyed him according to the word of Yahweh that he had spoken by the hand of his servant, Ahijah the Shilonite, ³⁰because of the sins of Jeroboam that he had committed and that he had caused Israel to commit and because of his anger with which he had provoked Yahweh the God of Israel. ³¹Now the remainder of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?

The Reign of Baasha in Israel

³²There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. ³³In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah had become king over all of Israel; he lived in Tirzah twenty-four years. ³⁴He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and he walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin that he caused Israel to commit.

16The word of Yahweh came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, ²“Because I exalted you from the dust and I made you a leader over my people Israel, but you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and you caused my people Israel to sin, to provoke me with their sins, ³I am now about to consume Baasha and his house. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ⁴The one belonging to Baasha who dies in the city, the dogs will eat; and the one belonging to him who dies in the field, the birds of the heavens will eat.”

⁵The remainder of the acts of Baasha, what he did, and his powerful deeds, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel? ⁶Baasha slept with his ancestors^a and was buried in Tirzah, and Elah his son became king in his place. ⁷Moreover, the word of Yahweh came to Baasha and to his house by the hand of Jehu the son of Hanani the prophet, because of all the evil that he did in the eyes of Yahweh by provoking him with the work of his hands, by being like the house of Jeroboam; and he destroyed him.

The Reign of Elah in Israel

⁸In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel in Tirzah for two years. ⁹His servant Zimri the commander of half of the chariots conspired against him. Now he had been in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza who was over the palace in Tirzah. ¹⁰Zimri came and struck him down and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah and became king in his place. ¹¹It happened that as soon as he became king, at the moment he sat on his throne, he killed all of the house of Baasha. He left no males^b among his kindred or any of his friends.

¹²So Zimri destroyed all of the house of Baasha according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke against Baasha by the hand of Jehu the prophet ¹³because of all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son which they committed and which they caused Israel to sin by provoking Yahweh the God of Israel with their idols. ¹⁴The remainder of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?

The Very Brief Reign of Zimri in Israel

¹⁵In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the army was encamping against Gibbethon which belonged to the Philistines. ¹⁶The encamping army heard it said, “Zimri has conspired, and moreover he has killed the king.”^c So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel on that day in the camp. ¹⁷Then Omri went up and all Israel with him from Gibbethon, and they besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸It happened that when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went to the citadel fortress of the house of the king, and he burnt the house of the king over him with fire so that he died. ¹⁹This happened because of his sin which he committed by doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh, by going the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he did by causing Israel to sin. ²⁰The remainder of the acts of Zimri and his conspiracy which he made, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?

The Reign of Omri in Israel

²¹At that time, the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people went after Tibni the son of Ginath to make him king, and the other half went after Omri. ²²The people who went after Omri overcame the people who went after Tibni the son of Ginath, so that he died and Omri became king.

²³In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel for twelve years. He reigned in Tirzah six years, ²⁴then bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, fortified the hill, and called the name of the city Samaria that he built after Shemer, the owner of the hill. ²⁵But Omri did evil in the eyes of Yahweh more than all who were before him. ²⁶He went in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sins that he caused Israel to sin by provoking Yahweh the God of Israel with their idols. ²⁷The remainder of the acts of Omri that he did and his powerful deeds, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel? ²⁸Omri slept with his ancestors,^d and he was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son became king in his place.

The Reign of Ahab in Israel

²⁹Now Ahab son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah. Ahab son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰But Ahab son of Omri did evil in the eyes of Yahweh more than all who were before him. ³¹If it wasn’t enough that he went^e after the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he also took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal the king of the Sidonians. He went and served Baal and bowed down to him. ³²And he built an altar to Baal in the…