1 Kings 16–18

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 house of Baal which he had built in Samaria. ³³Ahab also made the sacred pole, and he continued to provoke^f Yahweh the God of Israel more than all the kings of Israel who were before him. ³⁴In his days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho; at the cost of Abiram his firstborn he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his younger sibling, he set up its gates, according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke by the hand of Joshua the son of Nun.

The Prophet Elijah Arises

17Elijah the Tishbite from Tishbe of Gilead said to Ahab, “As Yahweh lives,^a the God of Israel before whom I stand, there shall surely not be dew nor rain these years except by my command.”^{b 2}Then the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, ³“Go from this place and turn to the east; you must hide yourself in the Wadi^c Kerith which faces the Jordan.^{d 4}It shall be that you shall drink from the wadi,^e and I have commanded the crows to sustain you there.” ⁵So he went and did according to the word of Yahweh. He went and stayed in the Wadi^f Kerith which faces the Jordan.^{g 6}The crows were bringing bread and meat in the morning for him and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the wadi.^{h 7}It happened after a whileⁱ that the wadi^j dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

⁸Then the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, ⁹“Get up and go to Zarephath which belongs to Sidon and stay there. Look, I have commanded a woman there, a widow, to sustain you.” ¹⁰So he arose and went to Zarephath and came to the gate of the city. There was a widow woman gathering wood, so he called to her, and he said, “Please bring a little water for me in a vessel so that I can drink.” ¹¹She went to fetch it, and he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” ¹²She said, “As Yahweh your God lives,^k surely I do not have a cake, but only a handful of flour^l in the jar and a little olive oil in the jug. Here I am gathering a few pieces of wood, and I will go and prepare it for me and my son, that we might eat it and die.” ¹³Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go and do according to your word; only make for me a small bread cake from it first, and bring it out to me. Make it for yourself and for your son afterward. ¹⁴For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘The jar of flour will not be emptied and the jug of olive oil will not run out until the day Yahweh gives rain on the surface of the earth.’ ” ¹⁵So she went and did according to the word of Elijah; then both she and he ate with her household for many days. ¹⁶The jar of flour was not emptied and the jug of olive oil did not run out, according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke by the hand of Elijah.

¹⁷It happened after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; and his illness was very severe until there was no breath left in him. ¹⁸She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me,^m O man of God, that you have come to me to make known my guilt and to cause my son to die?” ¹⁹Then he said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him from her lap and carried him up to the upper room where he was staying, and he laid him on his bed. ²⁰Then he called to Yahweh and said, “O Yahweh my God, are you also causing evil to come upon the widow with whom I am dwelling as an alien by causing her son to die?” ²¹He stretched himself out on the child three times and called to Yahweh and said, “O Yahweh my God, please let the life of this child return within him.” ²²Yahweh listened to the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned within him, and he lived. ²³Elijah then took the child and brought him down from the upper room to the house and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, “Look, your son is alive.” ²⁴Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now this I know, that you are a man of God and the word of Yahweh in your mouth is truth.”

War between Elijah and the Prophets of Baal

18It happened many days later that the word of Yahweh came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab so that I may give rain on the surface of the earth.” ²So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. ³Ahab summoned Obadiah who was over the house. (Now Obadiah was fearing Yahweh greatly. ⁴It had happened that when Jezebel killed the prophets of Yahweh, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties^a in the cave and sustained them with food and water.) ⁵Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the wadis.^b Perhaps we may find green grass that we may keep horses and mules alive and that we might not lose any of the animals.” ⁶So they divided the land for themselves in order to pass through it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

⁷It happened that Obadiah was on the way, and suddenly Elijah was there to meet him. When he recognized him, he fell on his face and said, “Is this you, my lord Elijah?” ⁸He said to him, “I am. Go, say to your lord, ‘Elijah is here.’ ” ⁹He said, “How have I sinned that you are giving your servant into the hand…