1 Kings 16–18

¹And a word of Jehovah is unto Jehu son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying, ²‘Because that I have raised thee up out of the dust, and appoint thee leader over My people Israel, and thou walkest in the way of Jeroboam, and causest My people Israel to sin—to provoke Me to anger with their sins; ³lo, I am putting away the posterity of Baasha, even the posterity of his house, and have given up thy house as the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat; ⁴him who dieth of Baasha in a city do the dogs eat, and him who dieth of his in a field do fowl of the heavens eat.’ ⁵And the rest of the matters of Baasha, and that which he did, and his might, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁶And Baasha lieth with his fathers, and is buried in Tirzah, and Elah his son reigneth in his stead. ⁷And also by the hand of Jehu son of Hanani the prophet a word of Jehovah hath been concerning Baasha, and concerning his house, and concerning all the evil that he did in the eyes of Jehovah to provoke Him to anger with the work of his hands, to be like the house of Jeroboam, and concerning that for which he smote him. ⁸In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah reigned hath Elah son of Baasha over Israel in Tirzah, two years; ⁹and conspire against him doth his servant Zimri (head of the half of the chariots) and he is in Tirzah drinking—a drunkard in the house of Arza, who is over the house in Tirzah. ¹⁰And Zimri cometh in and smiteth him, and putteth him to death, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigneth in his stead; ¹¹and it cometh to pass in his reigning, at his sitting on his throne, he hath smitten the whole house of Baasha; he hath not left to him any sitting on the wall, and of his redeemers, and of his friends. ¹²And Zimri destroyeth the whole house of Baasha, according to the word of Jehovah, that He spake concerning Baasha, by the hand of Jehu the prophet: ¹³concerning all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, that they sinned, and that they caused Israel to sin to provoke Jehovah, God of Israel, with their vanities. ¹⁴And the rest of the matters of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel?

¹⁵In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, reigned hath Zimri seven days in Tirzah; and the people are encamping against Gibbethon, which is to the Philistines; ¹⁶and the people who are encamping hear, saying, ‘Zimri hath conspired, and also hath smitten the king;’ and all Israel cause Omri head of the host to reign over Israel on that day in the camp. ¹⁷And Omri goeth up, and all Israel with him, from Gibbethon, and they lay siege to Tirzah. ¹⁸And it cometh to pass, at Zimri’s seeing that the city hath been captured, that he cometh in unto a high place of the house of the king, and burneth over him the house of the king with fire, and dieth, ¹⁹for his sins that he sinned, to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, to walk in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin that he did, to cause Israel to sin; ²⁰and the rest of the matters of Zimri, and his conspiracy that he made, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? ²¹Then are the sons of Israel parted into halves; half of the people hath been after Tibni son of Ginath to cause him to reign, and the half after Omri; ²²and stronger are the people that are after Omri than the people that are after Tibni son of Ginath, and Tibni dieth, and Omri reigneth. ²³In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah reigned hath Omri over Israel twelve years; in Tirzah he hath reigned six years, ²⁴and he buyeth the mount Samaria from Shemer, with two talents of silver, and buildeth on the mount, and calleth the name of the city that he hath built by the name of Shemer, lord of the hill—Samaria. ²⁵And Omri doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and doth evil above all who are before him, ²⁶and walketh in all the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and in his sin that he caused Israel to sin, to provoke Jehovah, God of Israel, with their vanities. ²⁷And the rest of the matters of Omri that he did, and his might that he got, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? ²⁸And Omri lieth with his fathers, and is buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigneth in his stead.

²⁹And Ahab son of Omri hath reigned over Israel in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab son of Omri reigneth over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years, ³⁰and Ahab son of Omri doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah above all who are before him. ³¹And it cometh to pass—hath it been light his walking in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat?—then he taketh a wife, Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, and goeth and serveth Baal, and boweth himself to it, ³²and raiseth up an altar for Baal, in the house of the Baal, that he built in Samaria; ³³and Ahab maketh the shrine, and Ahab addeth to do so as to provoke Jehovah, God of Israel, above all the kings of Israel who have been before him. ³⁴In his days hath Hiel the Beth-Elite built Jericho; in Abiram his first-born he laid its foundation, and in Segub his youngest he set up its doors, according to the word of Jehovah that He spake by the hand of Joshua son of Nun.

Chapter 17

¹And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, saith unto Ahab, ‘Jehovah, God of Israel, liveth, before whom I have stood, there is not these years dew and rain, except according to my word.’ ²And the word of Jehovah is unto him, saying, ³‘Go from this place; and thou hast turned for thee eastward, and been hidden by the brook Cherith, that is on the front of the Jordan, ⁴and it hath been, from the brook thou dost drink, and the ravens I have commanded to sustain thee there.’ ⁵And he goeth and doth according to the word of Jehovah, yea, he goeth and dwelleth by the brook Cherith, that is on the front of the Jordan, ⁶and the ravens are bringing to him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and of the brook he drinketh. ⁷And it cometh to pass, at the end of days, that the brook drieth up, for there hath been no rain in the land.

⁸And the word of Jehovah is unto him, saying, ⁹‘Rise, go to Zarephath, that is to Zidon, and thou hast dwelt there; lo, I have commanded there a widow woman to sustain thee.’ ¹⁰And he riseth, and goeth to Zarephath, and cometh in unto the opening of the city, and lo there, a widow woman gathering sticks, and he calleth unto her, and saith, ‘Bring, I pray thee, to me, a little water in a vessel, and I drink.’ ¹¹And she goeth to bring it, and he calleth unto her and saith, ‘Bring, I pray thee, to me a morsel of bread in thy hand.’ ¹²And she saith, ‘Jehovah thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but the fulness of the hand of meal in a pitcher, and a little oil in a dish; and lo, I am gathering two sticks, and have gone in and prepared it for myself, and for my son, and we have eaten it—and died.’ ¹³And Elijah saith unto her, ‘Fear not, go, do according to thy word, only make for me thence a little cake, in the first place, and thou hast brought out to me; and for thee and for thy son make—last; ¹⁴for thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, The pitcher of meal is not consumed, and the dish of oil is not lacking, till the day of Jehovah’s giving a shower on the face of the ground.’ ¹⁵And she goeth, and doth according to the word of Elijah, and she eateth, she and he, and her household—days; ¹⁶the pitcher of meal was not consumed, and the dish of oil did not lack, according to the word of Jehovah that He spake by the hand of Elijah.

¹⁷And it cometh to pass, after these things, the son of the woman, mistress of the house, hath been sick, and his sickness is very severe till that no breath hath been left in him. ¹⁸And she saith unto Elijah, ‘What—to me and to thee, O man of God? thou hast come unto me to cause mine iniquity to be remembered, and to put my son to death!’ ¹⁹And he saith unto her, ‘Give to me thy son;’ and he taketh him out of her bosom, and taketh him up unto the upper chamber where he is abiding, and layeth him on his own bed, ²⁰and crieth unto Jehovah, and saith, ‘Jehovah my God, also on the widow with whom I am sojourning hast Thou done evil—to put her son to death?’ ²¹And he stretcheth himself out on the lad three times, and calleth unto Jehovah, and saith, ‘O Jehovah my God, let turn back, I pray Thee, the soul of this lad into his midst;’ ²²and Jehovah hearkeneth to the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the lad turneth back into his midst, and he liveth. ²³And Elijah taketh the lad, and bringeth him down from the upper chamber of the house, and giveth him to his mother, and Elijah saith, ‘See, thy son liveth!’ ²⁴And the woman saith unto Elijah, ‘Now, this I have known, that a man of God thou art, and the word of Jehovah in thy mouth is truth.’

Chapter 18

¹And the days are many, and the word of Jehovah hath been unto Elijah in the third year, saying, ‘Go, appear unto Ahab, and I give rain on the face of the ground;’ ²and Elijah goeth to appear unto Ahab. And the famine is severe in Samaria, ³and Ahab calleth unto Obadiah, who is over the house—and Obadiah hath been fearing Jehovah greatly, ⁴and it cometh to pass, in Jezebel’s cutting off the prophets of Jehovah, that Obadiah taketh a hundred prophets, and hideth them, fifty men in a cave, and hath sustained them with bread and water— ⁵and Ahab saith unto Obadiah, ‘Go through the land, unto all fountains of waters, and unto all the brooks, if so be we find hay, and keep alive horse and mule, and do not cut off any of the cattle.’ ⁶And they apportion to themselves the land, to pass over into it; Ahab hath gone in one way by himself, and Obadiah hath gone in another way by himself; ⁷and Obadiah is in the way, and lo, Elijah—to meet him; and he discerneth him, and falleth on his face, and saith, ‘Art thou he—my lord Elijah?’ ⁸And he saith to him, ‘I am; go, say to thy lord, Lo, Elijah.’ ⁹And…