1 Kings 15–16

CHAPTER 15

Abijam Reigns over Judah

^1aNow in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah.

²He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ^1aMaacah the daughter of ^2bAbishalom.

³And he walked in all the sins of his father which he had committed before him; and ^ahis heart was not ¹wholly devoted to Yahweh his God, like the heart of his father David.

⁴But for David’s sake Yahweh his God gave him a ^alamp in Jerusalem, to raise up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem;

^5abecause David did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, ^bexcept in the case of Uriah the Hittite.

^6aNow there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.

⁷Now ^athe rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^bAnd there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

^8aAnd Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son became king in his place.

Asa Reigns over Judah

⁹Now in the twentieth year of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Asa began to reign as king of Judah.

¹⁰And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem; and ^ahis mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.

^11aAnd Asa did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, like David his father.

^12aHe also put away the male cult prostitutes from the land and ^bremoved all the idols which his fathers had made.

^131aHe also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image ²for Asherah; and Asa cut down her horrid image and ^bburned it at the brook Kidron.

^14aBut the high places were not removed; nevertheless ^bthe heart of Asa was ¹wholly devoted to Yahweh all his days.

^15aAnd he brought into the house of Yahweh the holy things of his father and his own holy things: silver and gold and utensils.

Asa Wars Against Baasha

^16aNow there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

^17aAnd Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and ^bbuilt up Ramah ^cin order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.

¹⁸Then ^aAsa took all the silver and the gold which were left in the treasuries of the house of Yahweh and the treasuries of the king’s house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants. And ^bKing Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Aram, who lived in ^cDamascus, saying,

¹⁹“Let there be a ^acovenant between ¹you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold; go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.”

²⁰So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his military force against the cities of Israel, and struck down ^aIjon, ^bDan, ^cAbel-beth-maacah and all ^dChinneroth, besides all the land of Naphtali.

²¹Now it happened that when Baasha heard of it, ^ahe ceased building up Ramah and remained in ^bTirzah.

²²Then King Asa caused an announcement to be heard throughout all Judah—none was exempt—and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building. And King Asa built with them ^aGeba of Benjamin and Mizpah.

^23aNow the rest of all the acts of Asa and all his might and all that he did and the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.

²⁴And Asa slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and ^aJehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

Nadab Reigns over Israel

²⁵Now ^aNadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.

²⁶And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and ^awalked in the way of his father and ^bin his sin which he made Israel sin.

²⁷Then ^aBaasha the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at ^bGibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.

²⁸So Baasha put him to death in the third year of Asa king of Judah and became king in his place.

²⁹Now it happened that as soon as he was king, he struck down all the household of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone who drew breath, until he had destroyed them, ^aaccording to the word of Yahweh, which He spoke by the hand of His servant Ahijah the Shilonite,

³⁰and because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and ^awhich he made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger.

^31aNow the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

^32aNow there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

Baasha Reigns over Israel

³³In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel at Tirzah, and reigned twenty-four years.

³⁴And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and ^awalked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel sin.

CHAPTER 16

¹Now the word of Yahweh came to ^aJehu the son of ^bHanani against Baasha, saying,

²“Inasmuch as I ^aexalted you from the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, and ^byou have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made My people Israel sin, provoking Me to anger with their sins,

³behold, ^aI am going to sweep away ^bBaasha and his house, and ^cI will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

⁴“^aAnyone of Baasha who dies in the city the dogs will eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the sky will eat.”

^5aNow 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 ^aTirzah, and Elah his son became king in his place.

⁷Moreover, the word of Yahweh through the hand of ^athe prophet Jehu the son of Hanani also came about against Baasha and his household, both because of all the evil which he did in the sight of Yahweh, provoking Him to anger with ^bthe work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because ^che struck ¹it.

Elah Reigns over Israel

⁸In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel at Tirzah, and reigned two years.

⁹And his servant ^aZimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now he was at Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, ^bwho was over the household at Tirzah.

¹⁰Then Zimri went in and struck him and put him to death in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and became king in his place.

¹¹Now it happened when he became king, as soon as he sat on his throne, that ^ahe struck down all the household of Baasha; he did not leave ¹a single male—not even any of his kinsman redeemers or his friends.

¹²Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, ^aaccording to the word of Yahweh, which He spoke against Baasha by the hand of ^bJehu the prophet,

¹³for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel sin, ^aprovoking Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger with their ¹idols.

^14aNow 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?

Zimri Reigns over Israel

¹⁵In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days at Tirzah. Now the people were camped against ^aGibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.

¹⁶And the people who were camped heard ¹it said, “Zimri has conspired and has also struck down the king.” Therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp.

¹⁷Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah.

¹⁸Now it happened that when Zimri saw that the city was captured, he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over him with fire, and ^adied,

¹⁹because of his sins which he sinned, doing what is evil in the sight of Yahweh, ^awalking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, making Israel sin.

^20aNow the rest of the acts of Zimri and his conspiracy which he ¹carried out, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Omri Reigns over Israel

²¹Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; the other half followed Omri.

²²But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. And Tibni died and Omri became king.

²³In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel and reigned twelve years; he reigned six years at ^aTirzah.

²⁴And he bought the hill ¹Samaria from Shemer for two ²talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and named the city which he built ^3aSamaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.

^25aAnd Omri did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and ^bacted more wickedly than all who were before him.

²⁶For he ^awalked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sins which he made Israel sin, provoking Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger with their ¹idols.

²⁷Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did and his might which he ¹showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

²⁸So Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab his son became king in his place.

Ahab Reigns over Israel

²⁹Now Ahab the son of Omri became king 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 did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh ^amore than all who were before him.

³¹Now it happened, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to…