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.

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