1 Kings 16–18

16Jehu son of Hanani spoke the word of the Lord against King Baasha. ²The Lord said, “You were nothing, but I took you and made you a leader over my people Israel. But you have followed the ways of Jeroboam and have led my people Israel to sin. Their sins have made me angry, ³so, Baasha, I will soon destroy you and your family. I will do to you what I did to the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat. ⁴Anyone from your family who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone from your family who dies in the fields will be eaten by birds.”

⁵Everything else Baasha did and all his victories are written down in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. ⁶So Baasha died and was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah became king in his place.

⁷The Lord spoke his word against Baasha and his family through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani. Baasha had done many things the Lord said were wrong, which made the Lord very angry. He did the same evil deeds that Jeroboam’s family had done before him. The Lord also spoke against Baasha because he killed all of Jeroboam’s family.

Elah King of Israel

⁸Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel during Asa’s twenty-sixth year as king of Judah, and Elah ruled in Tirzah for two years.

⁹Zimri, one of Elah’s officers, commanded half of Elah’s chariots. Zimri made plans against Elah while the king was in Tirzah, getting drunk at Arza’s home. (Arza was in charge of the palace at Tirzah.) ¹⁰Zimri went into Arza’s house and killed Elah during Asa’s twenty-seventh year as king of Judah. Then Zimri became king of Israel in Elah’s place.

Zimri King of Israel

¹¹As soon as Zimri became king, he killed all of Baasha’s family, not allowing any of Baasha’s family or friends to live. ¹²So Zimri destroyed all of Baasha’s family just as the Lord had said it would happen through the prophet Jehu. ¹³Baasha and his son Elah sinned and led the people of Israel to sin, and they made the Lord, the God of Israel, angry because of their worthless idols.

¹⁴Everything else Elah did is written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.

¹⁵So during Asa’s twenty-seventh year as king of Judah, Zimri became king of Israel and ruled in Tirzah seven days.

The army of Israel was camped near Gibbethon, a Philistine town. ¹⁶The men in the camp heard that Zimri had made secret plans against King Elah and had killed him. So that day in the camp they made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel. ¹⁷So Omri and all the Israelite army left Gibbethon and attacked Tirzah. ¹⁸When Zimri saw that the city had been captured, he went into the palace and set it on fire, burning the palace and himself with it. ¹⁹So Zimri died because he had sinned by doing what the Lord said was wrong. Jeroboam had led the people of Israel to sin, and Zimri sinned in the same way as Jeroboam.

²⁰Everything else Zimri did and the story of how he turned against King Elah are written down in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.

Omri King of Israel

²¹The people of Israel were divided into two groups. Half of the people wanted Tibni son of Ginath to be king, while the other half wanted Omri. ²²Omri’s followers were stronger than the followers of Tibni son of Ginath, so Tibni died, and Omri became king.

²³Omri became king of Israel during the thirty-first year Asa was king of Judah. Omri ruled Israel for twelve years, six of those years in the city of Tirzah. ²⁴He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for about one hundred fifty pounds of silver. Omri built a city on that hill and called it Samaria after the name of its earlier owner, Shemer.

²⁵But Omri did what the Lord said was wrong; he did more evil than all the kings who came before him. ²⁶Jeroboam son of Nebat had led the people of Israel to sin, and Omri sinned in the same way as Jeroboam. The Israelites made the Lord, the God of Israel, very angry because they worshiped worthless idols.

²⁷Everything else Omri did and all his successes are written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. ²⁸So Omri died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab became king in his place.

Ahab King of Israel

²⁹Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel during Asa’s thirty-eighth year as king of Judah, and Ahab ruled Israel in the city of Samaria for twenty-two years. ³⁰More than any king before him, Ahab son of Omri did many things the Lord said were wrong. ³¹He sinned in the same ways as Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he did even worse things. He married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal, the king of Sidon. Then Ahab began to serve Baal and worship him. ³²He built a temple in Samaria for worshiping Baal and put an altar there for Baal. ³³Ahab also made an idol for worshiping Asherah. He did more things to make the Lord, the God of Israel, angry than all the other kings before him.

³⁴During the time of Ahab, Hiel from Bethel rebuilt the city of Jericho. It cost Hiel the life of Abiram, his oldest son, to begin work on the city, and it cost the life of Segub, his youngest son, to build the city gates. This happened just as the Lord, speaking through Joshua son of Nun, said it would happen. ⁿ

Elijah Stops the Rain

17Now Elijah the Tishbite was a prophet from the settlers in Gilead. “I serve the Lord, the God of Israel,” Elijah said to Ahab. “As surely as the Lord lives, no rain or dew will fall during the next few years unless I command it.”

²Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: ³“Leave this place and go east and hide near Kerith Ravine east of the Jordan River. ⁴You may drink from the stream, and I have commanded ravens to bring you food there.” ⁵So Elijah did what the Lord said; he went to Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and lived there. ⁶The birds brought Elijah bread and meat every morning and evening, and he drank water from the stream.

⁷After a while the stream dried up because there was no rain. ⁸Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah, ⁹“Go to Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I have commanded a widow there to take care of you.”

¹⁰So Elijah went to Zarephath. When he reached the town gate, he saw a widow gathering wood for a fire. Elijah asked her, “Would you bring me a little water in a cup so I may have a drink?” ¹¹As she was going to get his water, Elijah said, “Please bring me a piece of bread, too.”

¹²The woman answered, “As surely as the Lord your God lives, I have no bread. I have only a handful of flour in a jar and only a little olive oil in a jug. I came here to gather some wood so I could go home and cook our last meal. My son and I will eat it and then die from hunger.”

¹³“Don’t worry,” Elijah said to her. “Go home and cook your food as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread from the flour you have, and bring it to me. Then cook something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘That jar of flour will never be empty, and the jug will always have oil in it, until the day the Lord sends rain to the land.’ ”

¹⁵So the woman went home and did what Elijah told her to do. And the woman and her son and Elijah had enough food every day. ¹⁶The jar of flour and the jug of oil were never empty, just as the Lord, through Elijah, had promised.

Elijah Brings a Boy Back to Life

¹⁷Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. He grew worse and worse and finally stopped breathing. ¹⁸The woman said to Elijah, “Man of God, what have you done to me? Did you come here to remind me of my sin and to kill my son?”

¹⁹Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” Elijah took the boy from her, carried him upstairs, and laid him on the bed in the room where he was staying. ²⁰Then he prayed to the Lord: “Lord my God, this widow is letting me stay in her house. Why have you done this terrible thing to her and caused her son to die?” ²¹Then Elijah lay on top of the boy three times. He prayed to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy live again!”

²²The Lord answered Elijah’s prayer; the boy began breathing again and was alive. ²³Elijah carried the boy downstairs and gave him to his mother and said, “See! Your son is alive!”

²⁴“Now I know you really are a man from God,” the woman said to Elijah. “I know that the Lord truly speaks through you!”

Elijah Kills the Prophets of Baal

18During the third year without rain, the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: “Go and meet King Ahab, and I will soon send rain.” ²So Elijah went to meet Ahab.

By this time there was no food in Samaria. ³King Ahab sent for Obadiah, who was in charge of the king’s palace. (Obadiah was a true follower of the Lord. ⁴When Jezebel was killing all the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah hid a hundred of them in two caves, fifty in one cave and fifty in another. He also brought them food and water.) ⁵Ahab said to Obadiah, “Let’s check every spring and valley in the land. Maybe we can find enough grass to keep our horses and mules alive and not have to kill our animals.” ⁶So each one chose a part of the country to search; Ahab went in one direction and Obadiah in another.

⁷While Obadiah was on his way, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized Elijah, so he bowed down to the ground and said, “Elijah? Is it really you, master?”

⁸“Yes,” Elijah answered. “Go tell your master that I am here.”

⁹Then Obadiah said, “What wrong have I done for you to hand me over to Ahab like this? He will put me to death. ¹⁰As surely as the Lord your God lives, the king has sent people to every country to search for you. If the ruler said you were not there, Ahab forced the ruler to swear you could not be found in his country. ¹¹Now you want me to go to my master and tell him, ‘Elijah is here’? ¹²The Spirit of the Lord may carry you to some other place after I leave. If I go tell King Ahab you are here, and he comes and doesn’t find you, he will kill me! I have followed the Lord since I was a boy. ¹³Haven’t you been told what I did? When Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets, I hid a hundred of them, fifty in one cave and fifty in another. I brought them food and water. ¹⁴Now you want me to go and…