²³Omri became king of Israel. It was in the 31st year that Asa was king of Judah. Omri ruled for 12 years. He ruled in Tirzah for six of those years. ²⁴He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer. He weighed out 150 pounds of silver for it. Then he built a city on the hill. He called it Samaria. He named it after Shemer. Shemer had owned the hill before him.

²⁵But Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He sinned more than all of the kings who had ruled before him. ²⁶He lived the way Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, had lived. He sinned as Jeroboam had sinned. Jeroboam had also caused Israel to commit the same sins. Israel made the Lord very angry. They did it by worshiping worthless statues of gods. The Lord is the God of Israel.

²⁷The other events of Omri’s rule are written down. Everything he did and the things he accomplished are written down. All of those things are written in the official records of the kings of Israel. ²⁸Omri joined the members of his family who had already died. His body was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab became the next king after him.

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