First Kings 16:3-29

³See, I will completely sweep away Baasha and his family and I will make your family like the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat.

⁴The dogs will eat anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat anyone who dies in the fields.”

⁵As for the other matters concerning Baasha, what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel?

⁶Baasha slept with his ancestors and was buried in Tirzah, and Elah his son became king in his place.

⁷So by the prophet Jehu son of Hanani the word of Yahweh came against Baasha and his family, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of Yahweh, so as to provoke him to anger with the work of his hands, like the family of Jeroboam, and also because he had killed all of Jeroboam's family.

⁸In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah; he reigned two years.

⁹His servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now Elah was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah.

¹⁰Zimri went in, attacked him and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and became king in his place.

¹¹When Zimri began to reign and was seated on his throne, he killed all the family of Baasha. He did not leave alive a single male belonging to Baasha's relatives or friends.

¹²So Zimri destroyed all the family of Baasha, according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet,

¹³for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son that they committed, and by which they had led Israel to sin, so that they provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger with their idols.

¹⁴As for the other matters concerning Elah, all that he did, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel?

¹⁵In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned only for seven days in Tirzah. Now the army was camped by Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.

¹⁶The army camped there heard it said, “Zimri has plotted and has killed the king.” So that day in the camp, all Israel declared Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel.

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

¹⁸So when Zimri saw that the city had been taken, he went into the fortress attached to the king's palace and set fire to the building over him; in this way he died in the flames.

¹⁹This was for the sins that he had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, by walking in the way of Jeroboam and in the sin that he had committed, so as to lead Israel to sin.

²⁰As for the other matters concerning Zimri, and the treason that he carried out, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel?

²¹Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri.

²²But the people who followed Omri were stronger than the people who followed Tibni son of Ginath. So Tibni died, and Omri became king.

²³Omri began to reign over Israel in the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned twelve years. He reigned from Tirzah for six years.

²⁴He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver. He built a city on the hill and called the name of the city Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the past owner of the hill.

²⁵Omri did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh and acted more wickedly than all who had been before him.

²⁶For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in his sins by which he led Israel to sin, to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to be angry with their worthless idols.

²⁷As for the other matters concerning Omri which he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel?

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

²⁹In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri began to reign over Israel. Ahab son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.