New King James Version

New Living Translation

The Reigns of Elah, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab

Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying:

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This message from the LORD was delivered to King Baasha by the prophet Jehu son of Hanani:

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“Inasmuch as I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made My people Israel sin, to provoke Me to anger with their sins,

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“I lifted you out of the dust to make you ruler of my people Israel, but you have followed the evil example of Jeroboam. You have provoked my anger by causing my people Israel to sin.

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surely I will take[a] away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

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So now I will destroy you and your family, just as I destroyed the descendants of Jeroboam son of Nebat.

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The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Baasha and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the fields.”

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The members of Baasha’s family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the field will be eaten by vultures.”

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Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

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The rest of the events in Baasha’s reign and the extent of his power are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.

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So Baasha [b]rested with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah. Then Elah his son reigned in his place.

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When Baasha died, he was buried in Tirzah. Then his son Elah became the next king.

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And also the word of the Lord came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he killed them.

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The message from the LORD against Baasha and his family came through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani. It was delivered because Baasha had done what was evil in the LORD’s sight (just as the family of Jeroboam had done), and also because Baasha had destroyed the family of Jeroboam. The LORD’s anger was provoked by Baasha’s sins.

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Elah Reigns in Israel

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

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Elah Rules in Israel

Elah son of Baasha began to rule over Israel in the twenty-sixth year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. He reigned in the city of Tirzah for two years.

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Now his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him as he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, steward[c] of his house in Tirzah.

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Then Zimri, who commanded half of the royal chariots, made plans to kill him. One day in Tirzah, Elah was getting drunk at the home of Arza, the supervisor of the palace.

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And Zimri went in and struck him and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

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Zimri walked in and struck him down and killed him. This happened in the twenty-seventh year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. Then Zimri became the next king.

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Then it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he was seated on his throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave him one male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends.

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Zimri immediately killed the entire royal family of Baasha, leaving him not even a single male child. He even destroyed distant relatives and friends.

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Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet,

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So Zimri destroyed the dynasty of Baasha as the LORD had promised through the prophet Jehu.

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for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, by which they had sinned and by which they had made Israel sin, in provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their [d]idols.

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This happened because of all the sins Baasha and his son Elah had committed, and because of the sins they led Israel to commit. They provoked the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, with their worthless idols.

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Now 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?

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The rest of the events in Elah’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.

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Zimri Reigns in Israel

In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri had reigned in Tirzah seven days. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.

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Zimri Rules in Israel

Zimri began to rule over Israel in the twenty-seventh year of King Asa’s reign in Judah, but his reign in Tirzah lasted only seven days. The army of Israel was then attacking the Philistine town of Gibbethon.

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Now the people who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired and also has killed the king.” So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp.

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When they heard that Zimri had committed treason and had assassinated the king, that very day they chose Omri, commander of the army, as the new king of Israel.

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

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So Omri led the entire army of Israel up from Gibbethon to attack Tirzah, Israel’s capital.

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And it happened, when Zimri saw that the city was [e]taken, that he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house [f]down upon himself with fire, and died,

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When Zimri saw that the city had been taken, he went into the citadel of the palace and burned it down over himself and died in the flames.

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because of the sins which he had committed in doing evil in the sight of the Lord, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he had committed to make Israel sin.

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For he, too, had done what was evil in the LORD’s sight. He followed the example of Jeroboam in all the sins he had committed and led Israel to commit.

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Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the treason he committed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

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The rest of the events in Zimri’s reign and his conspiracy are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.

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Omri Reigns in Israel

Then 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.

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Omri Rules in Israel

But now the people of Israel were split into two factions. Half the people tried to make Tibni son of Ginath their king, while the other half supported Omri.

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But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri reigned.

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But Omri’s supporters defeated the supporters of Tibni. So Tibni was killed, and Omri became the next king.

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In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel, and reigned twelve years. Six years he reigned in Tirzah.

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Omri began to rule over Israel in the thirty-first year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. He reigned twelve years in all, six of them in Tirzah.

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And he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; then he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, Samaria,[g] after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill.

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Then Omri bought the hill now known as Samaria from its owner, Shemer, for 150 pounds of silver.a He built a city on it and called the city Samaria in honor of Shemer.

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Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all who were before him.

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But Omri did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, even more than any of the kings before him.

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For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols.[h]

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He followed the example of Jeroboam son of Nebat in all the sins he had committed and led Israel to commit. The people provoked the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, with their worthless idols.

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Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

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The rest of the events in Omri’s reign, the extent of his power, and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.

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So Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. Then Ahab his son reigned in his place.

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When Omri died, he was buried in Samaria. Then his son Ahab became the next king.

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Ahab Reigns in Israel

In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.

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Ahab Rules in Israel

Ahab son of Omri began to rule over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria twenty-two years.

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Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him.

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But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, even more than any of the kings before him.

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And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him.

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And as though it were not enough to follow the sinful example of Jeroboam, he married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and he began to bow down in worship of Baal.

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Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.

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First Ahab built a temple and an altar for Baal in Samaria.

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And Ahab made a [i]wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

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Then he set up an Asherah pole. He did more to provoke the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him.

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In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation [j]with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the Lord, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.

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It was during his reign that Hiel, a man from Bethel, rebuilt Jericho. When he laid its foundations, it cost him the life of his oldest son, Abiram. And when he completed it and set up its gates, it cost him the life of his youngest son, Segub.b This all happened according to the message from the LORD concerning Jericho spoken by Joshua son of Nun.

Parallel

New King James Version

New Living Translation

1 Kings 16

1 Kings 16