Baasha’s Reign over Israel

³³ In the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah; he ruled for twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did evil in the sight of^[a] the Lord; he followed in Jeroboam’s footsteps and encouraged Israel to sin.^[b]

¹⁶ Now Asa and King Baasha of Israel were continually at war with each other.^[a]

³² Asa and King Baasha of Israel were continually at war with each other.

¹⁷ King Baasha of Israel attacked Judah and established Ramah as a military outpost to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the land of King Asa of Judah.^{[a] 18} Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace and handed it to his servants. He then told them to deliver it^[b] to Ben Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, ruler in Damascus, along with this message: ¹⁹ “I want to make a treaty with you, like the one our fathers made.^[c] See, I have sent you silver and gold as a present. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he will retreat from my land.”^{[d] 20} Ben Hadad accepted King Asa’s offer and ordered his army commanders to attack the cities of Israel.^[e] They conquered^[f] Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, and all the territory of Naphtali, including the region of Kinnereth.^{[g] 21} When Baasha heard the news, he stopped fortifying^[h] Ramah and settled down in Tirzah. ²² King Asa ordered all the men of Judah (no exemptions were granted) to carry away the stones and wood that Baasha had used to build Ramah.^[i] King Asa used the materials to build up^[j] Geba (in Benjamin) and Mizpah.

16 ¹ In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel attacked Judah, and he established Ramah as a military outpost to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the land of King Asa of Judah.^{[a] 2} Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace and sent it to King Ben Hadad of Syria, ruler in Damascus, along with this message: ³ “I want to make a treaty with you, like the one our fathers made.^[b] See, I have sent you silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he will retreat from my land.”^{[c] 4} Ben Hadad accepted King Asa’s offer and ordered his army commanders to attack the cities of Israel.^[d] They conquered^[e] Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim,^[f] and all the storage cities of Naphtali. ⁵ When Baasha heard the news, he stopped fortifying^[g] Ramah and abandoned the project.^{[h] 6} King Asa ordered all the men of Judah to carry away the stones and wood that Baasha had used to build Ramah.^[i] He used the materials to build up^[j] Geba and Mizpah.

⁷ At that time Hanani the prophet^[k] visited King Asa of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Syria and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. ⁸ Did not the Cushites and Libyans have a huge army with chariots and a very large number of horsemen? But when you relied on the Lord, he handed them over to you! ⁹ Certainly^[l] the Lord watches the whole earth carefully^[m] and is ready to strengthen those who are devoted to him.^[n] You have acted foolishly in this matter; from now on you will have war.” ¹⁰ Asa was so angry at the prophet, he put him in jail.^[o] Asa also oppressed some of the people at that time.

16 The Lord’s message against Baasha came to^[a] Jehu son of Hanani: ² “I raised you up^[b] from the dust and made you ruler over my people Israel. Yet you followed in Jeroboam’s footsteps^[c] and encouraged my people Israel to sin; their sins have made me angry.^{[d] 3} So I am ready to burn up^[e] Baasha and his family, and make your family^[f] like the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat. ⁴ Dogs will eat the members of Baasha’s family^[g] who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.”

⁵ The rest of the events of Baasha’s reign, including his accomplishments and successes, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.^{[h] 6} Baasha passed away^[i] and was buried in Tirzah. His son Elah replaced him as king. ⁷ And so it was the Lord’s message came through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha and his family.^[j] This was because of all the evil he had done in the Lord’s view, by angering him with his deeds and becoming like Jeroboam’s dynasty,^[k] and because of how he had destroyed Jeroboam’s dynasty.^[l]

Elah’s Reign over Israel

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha’s son Elah became king over Israel; he ruled in Tirzah for two years. ⁹ His servant Zimri, a commander of half of his chariot force, conspired against him. While Elah was in Tirzah drinking heavily^[m] at the house of Arza, who supervised the palace in Tirzah, ¹⁰ Zimri came in and struck him dead. (This happened in the twenty-seventh year of Asa’s reign over Judah.) Zimri replaced Elah as king.^{[n] 11} When he became king and occupied the throne, he killed Baasha’s entire family. He did not spare any male belonging to him; he killed his relatives and his friends.^{[o] 12} Zimri destroyed Baasha’s entire family, in keeping with the Lord’s message which he had spoken against Baasha through Jehu the prophet. ¹³ This happened because of all the sins which Baasha and his son Elah committed and which they made Israel commit. They angered the Lord God of Israel with their worthless idols.^[p]

¹⁴ The rest of the events of Elah’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.^[q]

Zimri’s Reign over Israel

¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Zimri became king over Israel; he ruled for seven days in Tirzah. Zimri’s revolt took place while the army was deployed^[r] in Gibbethon, which was in Philistine territory. ¹⁶ While deployed there, the army received this report:^[s] “Zimri has conspired against the king and assassinated him.”^[t] So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that very day in the camp. ¹⁷ Omri and all Israel went up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸ When Zimri saw that the city was captured, he went into the fortified area of the royal palace. He set the palace on fire and died in the flames.^{[u] 19} This happened because of the sins he committed. He did evil in the sight of^[v] the Lord and followed in Jeroboam’s footsteps and encouraged Israel to continue sinning.^[w]

²⁰ The rest of the events of Zimri’s reign, including the details of his revolt, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.^[x]

Omri’s Reign over Israel

²¹ At that time the people of Israel were divided in their loyalties. Half the people supported Tibni son of Ginath and wanted to make him king; the other half supported Omri. ²² Omri’s supporters were stronger than those who supported Tibni son of Ginath. Tibni died; Omri became king.

²³ In the thirty-first year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Omri became king over Israel. He ruled for twelve years, six of them in Tirzah. ²⁴ He purchased the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents^[y] of silver. He launched a construction project there^[z] and named the city he built after Shemer, the former owner of the hill of Samaria. ²⁵ Omri did more evil in the sight of^[aa] the Lord than all who were before him. ²⁶ He followed in the footsteps of Jeroboam son of Nebat and encouraged Israel to sin;^[ab] they angered the Lord God of Israel with their worthless idols.^[ac]

²⁷ The rest of the events of Omri’s reign, including his accomplishments and successes, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.^{[ad] 28} Omri passed away^[ae] and was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab replaced him as king.^[af]

Ahab Promotes Idolatry

²⁹ In the thirty-eighth year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Omri’s son Ahab became king over Israel. Ahab son of Omri ruled over Israel for twenty-two years in Samaria. ³⁰ Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the sight of^[ag] the Lord than all who were before him. ³¹ As if following in the sinful footsteps of Jeroboam son of Nebat were not bad enough, he married Jezebel the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians. Then he worshiped and bowed to Baal.^{[ah] 32} He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal he had built in Samaria. ³³ Ahab also made an Asherah pole; he^[ai] did more to anger the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

²³ The rest of the events of Asa’s reign, including all his successes and accomplishments, as well as a record of the cities he built, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.^[a] Yet when he was very old he developed a foot disease.^{[b] 24} Asa passed away^[c] and was buried with his ancestors in the city of his ancestor David. His son Jehoshaphat replaced him as king.

Asa’s Reign Ends

¹¹ The events of Asa’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel.^{[a] 12} In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a foot disease and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease, he did not seek the Lord, but only the doctors. ¹³ Asa passed away^[b] in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴ He was buried in the tomb he had carved out in the City of David.^[c] They laid him to rest on a platform^[d] covered with spices and assorted mixtures of ointments. They made a huge bonfire to honor him.^[e]

Jehoshaphat’s Reign over Judah

⁴¹ In the fourth year of Ahab’s reign over Israel, Asa’s son Jehoshaphat became king over Judah. ⁴² Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king and he reigned for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. ⁴³ He followed in his father Asa’s footsteps and was careful to do what the Lord approved.^[a] (22:44)^[b] However, the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places. ⁴⁴ (22:45) Jehoshaphat was also at peace with the king of Israel.

⁴⁵ The rest of the events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, including his successes and military exploits, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.^{[c] 46} He removed from the land any male cultic prostitutes who had managed to survive the reign of his father Asa.^[d]