Chapter 16
1 The word of the Lord then came to Jehu, the son of Hanani, condemning Baasha: 2 “I lifted you up out of the dust and appointed you as ruler over my people Israel, but you have walked in the ways of Jeroboam and you have caused my people Israel to sin, provoking my anger at their sins. 3 Therefore, I will wipe out Baasha and the descendants of his house. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. 4 Those who belong to Baasha who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who belong to him who die in the field will be eaten by the birds of the air.”
5 As for the other deeds of Baasha, what he did, and his achievements, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
6 Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah. Elah, his son, reigned in his stead.
Elah’s Reign. 7 The word of the Lord came through Jehu the prophet, the son of Hanani, to condemn Baasha and his house for all the evil he had done in the sight of the Lord. He provoked him to anger through the deeds of his hands, for he did the same things as the house of Jeroboam and because he wiped it out.
8 Elah, the son of Baasha, began to reign over Israel in Tirzah during the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, the king of Judah, and he reigned for two years.
9 Then Zimri, his servant and the commander of half of his chariots, plotted against him. He was in Tirzah, and he got drunk in the house of Arza, the major-domo of the palace in Tirzah. 10 Zimri entered and struck him and killed him during the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Asa, the king of Judah, and he reigned in his stead. 11 As soon as he began to reign, he struck down all of Baasha’s household. He did not leave a single person who pees against the wall, whether he be one of his relatives or one of his friends. 12 Zimri wiped out the entire house of Baasha, in accordance with the word of the Lord which condemned Baasha through Jehu, the prophet. 13 This was because of the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah, his son, and because they caused Israel to sin, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger over their worthless idols.
14 As to the other deeds of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
15 Zimri’s Reign. Zimri reigned in Tirzah for seven days during the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Asa, the king of Judah.
The people were camped near Gibbethon, a Philistine city. 16 When the people camped there heard, “Zimri had plotted against and killed the king,” they made Omri, the commander of the army, king over all of Israel that very day in the camp. 17 Omri and all of Israel departed from Gibbethon and they besieged Tirzah. 18 When Zimri saw that the city had been captured, he went up into the citadel of the king’s palace and he set the palace on fire around himself and he died. 19 This was because of the sins that he had committed, doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walking in the ways of Jeroboam, in his sin, and causing Israel to sin.
20 As for the other deeds of Zimri, and the conspiracy that he plotted, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
21 Civil War. The people of Israel were then divided into two factions. Half of them followed Tibni, the son of Ginath, as king, and the other half followed Omri. 22 The people who supported Omri defeated the people who followed Tibni, the son of Ginath. Tibni died, and Omri became the king.
23 Omri’s Reign.[a] It was during the thirty-first year of the reign of Asa, the king of Judah, that Omri began to reign over Israel. He reigned for twelve years, six of them from Tirzah.
24 He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he built a city upon the hill and named it Samaria, after Shemer, the owner of the hill.
25 Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, worse than any of those who preceded him. 26 He walked in the ways of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, in his sin, causing Israel to sin, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger over their worthless idols.
27 As to the other deeds of Omri, what he did, and his accomplishments, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 28 Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab reigned in his stead.
29 Ahab’s Reign.[b]Ahab, the son of Omri, began to reign over Israel during the thirty-eighth year of the reign of Asa, the king of Judah. Ahab, the son of Omri, reigned over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years.
30 Ahab, the son of Omri, did more evil in the sight of the Lord than any of those who preceded him. 31 As if it were not enough that he committed the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, he also married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of the Sidonians, and he went after and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also set up an Asherah, and Ahab did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than all of the kings of Israel who preceded him.
34 During his time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundation over Abiram, his eldest, and he built its gates over Segub, his youngest. This was just as the word of the Lord had foretold through Joshua, the son of Nun.[c]
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 16:23 Omri builds the capital city, Samaria, the destruction of which will mark the end of the northern kingdom in 721 B.C.
- 1 Kings 16:29 Into the story of the reign of Omri’s son and successor (874–853 B.C.) a literary and religious masterpiece is inserted: the story of Elijah. In fact, the usual conclusion of the description of Ahab’s reign is found in 1 Ki 22:39-40. There is general agreement that the majority of the stories about Elijah come from a tradition that originated in prophetic circles. These stories are noteworthy for their elegant style but are also distinguished by the nobility of the subject, for they extol one of the greatest men of God in the Old Testament. Elijah represents the entire prophetic movement, as Moses does the entire law. To say “Moses and Elijah” is to include everything that God revealed to human beings before the coming of Jesus Christ. This is why they accompany Jesus when he is introduced by the Father on Tabor (see Mt 17; Mk 7; Lk 9).
- 1 Kings 16:34 The two sons were the victims in a foundation sacrifice, according to ancient practice.