1 Kings 15-16

English Standard Version

Abijam Reigns in Judah

15 ^(A)Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. ²He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ³And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and ^(B)his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. ⁴Nevertheless, for David's sake the Lord his God gave him ^(C)a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem, ⁵because ^(D)David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, ^(E)except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. ⁶^(F)Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. ⁷^(G)The rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^(H)And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. ⁸^(I)And Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place.

Asa Reigns in Judah

⁹In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah, ¹⁰and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ¹¹^(J)And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father had done. ¹²He put away the ^(K)male cult prostitutes out of the land and removed ^(L)all the idols that his fathers had made. ¹³^(M)He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. And Asa cut down her image and ^(N)burned it at the brook Kidron. ¹⁴^(O)But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless, ^(P)the heart of Asa was wholly true to the Lord all his days. ¹⁵And ^(Q)he brought into the house of the Lord the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels.

¹⁶^(R)And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. ¹⁷^(S)Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and ^(T)built Ramah, ^(U)that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸Then Asa took all the silver and the gold ^(V)that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house and gave them into the hands of his servants. ^(W)And King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, ^(X)who lived in Damascus, saying, ¹⁹“Let there be ^(Y)a covenant^[a] between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” ²⁰And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel and conquered ^(Z)Ijon, ^(AA)Dan, ^(AB)Abel-beth-maacah, and all ^(AC)Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. ²¹And when Baasha heard of it, ^(AD)he stopped building Ramah, and he lived in ^(AE)Tirzah. ²²Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah, none was exempt, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them King Asa built ^(AF)Geba of Benjamin and ^(AG)Mizpah. ²³^(AH)Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, and all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? But in his old age he was diseased in his feet. ²⁴And Asa slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and ^(AI)Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

Nadab Reigns in Israel

²⁵^(AJ)Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord ^(AK)and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin ^(AL)which he made Israel to sin.

²⁷^(AM)Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And Baasha struck him down at ^(AN)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon. ²⁸So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and reigned in his place. ²⁹And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, ^(AO)according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. ³⁰It was for the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned and ^(AP)that he made Israel to sin, and because of the anger to which he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel.

³¹Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ³²^(AQ)And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

Baasha Reigns in Israel

³³In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord ^(AR)and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.

16 And the word of the Lord came to ^(AS)Jehu the son of ^(AT)Hanani against Baasha, saying, ²“Since I ^(AU)exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and ^(AV)you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, ³behold, I will utterly ^(AW)sweep away ^(AX)Baasha and his house, and I will make your house ^(AY)like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ⁴^(AZ)Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat.”

⁵Now 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? ⁶And Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried at ^(BA)Tirzah, and Elah his son reigned in his place. ⁷Moreover, the word of the Lord came by the prophet ^(BB)Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and also because ^(BC)he destroyed it.

Elah Reigns in Israel

⁸In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. ⁹But his servant ^(BD)Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, ^(BE)who was over the household in Tirzah, ¹⁰Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

¹¹When he began to reign, as soon as he had seated himself on his throne, he struck down ^(BF)all the house of Baasha. He ^(BG)did not leave him a single male of his relatives or his friends. ¹²Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, ^(BH)according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke against Baasha by ^(BI)Jehu the prophet, ¹³for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel to sin, ^(BJ)provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols. ¹⁴Now 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?

Zimri Reigns in Israel

¹⁵In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the troops were encamped against ^(BK)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, ¹⁶and the troops who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired, and he has killed the king.” Therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. ¹⁷So Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸And 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 died, ¹⁹because of his sins that he committed, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(BL)walking in the way of Jeroboam, and for his sin which he committed, making Israel to sin. ²⁰Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the conspiracy that he made, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Omri Reigns in Israel

²¹Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. ²²But the people who followed Omri overcame the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died, and Omri became king. ²³In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for twelve years; six years he reigned in Tirzah. ²⁴He bought the hill of ^(BM)Samaria from Shemer for two talents^[b] of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city that he built ^(BN)Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.

²⁵^(BO)Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil ^(BP)than all who were before him. ²⁶For ^(BQ)he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, ^(BR)provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols. ²⁷Now the rest of the acts of Omri that he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²⁸And Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigned in his place.

Ahab Reigns in Israel

²⁹In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(BS)more than all who were before him. ³¹And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(BT)he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the ^(BU)Sidonians, ^(BV)and went and served Baal and worshiped him. ³²He erected an altar for Baal in ^(BW)the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. ³³And Ahab made an ^(BX)Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger ^(BY)than all the kings of Israel who were before him. ³⁴^(BZ)In his days Hiel of Bethel built ^(CA)Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.