Chapter 16

Prophecy against Baasha

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

2 “Inasmuch as I aexalted you from the dust and made you leader 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,

3 behold, aI will consume 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 heavens will eat.”

5 aNow 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?

The Israelite Kings

6 And Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried in aTirzah, and Elah his son became king in his place.

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

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

9 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.

10 Then 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.

11 It came about when he became king, as soon as he sat on his throne, that ahe 1killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave 2a single male, neither of his 3relatives nor of his friends.

12 Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, aaccording to the word of the Lord, which He spoke against Baasha through bJehu the prophet,

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

14 aNow 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?

15 In 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.

16 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.

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

18 When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over him with fire, and adied,

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

20 aNow 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?

21 Then 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.

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

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

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

25 aOmri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and bacted more wickedly than all who were before him.

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

27 Now 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?

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

29 Now 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.

30 Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord amore than all who were before him.

31 It came about, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that ahe married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the bSidonians, and went to serve Baal and worshiped him.

32 So he erected an altar for Baal in athe house of Baal which he built in Samaria.

33 Ahab also made athe 1Asherah. Thus bAhab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

34 aIn his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

Chapter 17

Elijah Predicts Drought

1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of 1athe settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “bAs the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely cthere shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”

2 The word of the Lord came to him, saying,

3 “Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is 1east of the Jordan.

4 “It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and aI have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.”

5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is 1east of the Jordan.

6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook.

7 It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

9 “Arise, go to aZarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, bI have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and ahe called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a 1jar, that I may drink.”

11 As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.”

12 But she said, “aAs the Lord your God lives, bI have no 1bread, only a handful of flour in the 2bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering 3a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and cdie.”

13 Then Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from 1it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son.

14 “For thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘The 1bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil 2be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth.’ ”

15 So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days.

16 The 1bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil 2become empty, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.

Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son

17 Now it came about after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.

18 So she said to Elijah, “aWhat do I have to do with you, O bman of God? 1You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!”

19 He said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed.

20 He called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am 1staying, by causing her son to die?”

21 aThen he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray You, let this child’s life return 1to him.”

22 The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, aand the life of the child returned 1to him and he revived.

23 Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.”

24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “aNow I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”