1 Kings 16:8–20

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?