1 Kings 16

1 Then came the word of the Lord to Jehu the son of Chanani against Ba'sha, saying,

During the time that Baasha [was king of Israel], [the prophet] Jehu, Hanani’s son, gave Baasha this message that he had received from Yahweh:

2 Forasmuch as I lifted thee up out of the dust, and I set thee as prince over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jerobo'am, and hast induced my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins:

“You were very insignificant/unimportant [IDM] when I caused you to become the ruler of my Israeli people. But you have caused me to become very angry by doing [IDM] the kinds of evil things that King Jeroboam did. You have also caused me to become angry by causing my people to sin.

3 Behold, I will sweep out after Ba'sha, and after his house; and I will render thy house like the house of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat;

So now I will get rid of you and your family [MTY]. I will do to you just like I did to Jeroboam and his family.

4 Him that dieth of Ba'sha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the field shall the fowls of the heavens eat.

[The bodies of] those in your family who die in this city [will not be buried; they] will be eaten by dogs; and [the corpses of] those who die in the fields will be eaten by vultures.”

5 And the rest of the acts of Ba'sha, and what he did, and his mighty deeds, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

The other things that happened during the time that Baasha ruled Israel, and the things that he did, are written [RHQ] in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.

6 And Ba'sha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Thirzah: and Elah his son became king in his stead.

When Baasha died, he was buried in Tirzah, [the capital city]. Then his son Elah became king.

7 And also by the hand of Jehu the son of Chanani, the prophet, came the word of the Lord against Ba'sha, and against his house, both for all the evil that he did in the eyes of the Lord, to provoke him to anger with the work of his hands, thus being like the house of Jerobo'am; and because he had killed him.

Yahweh gave that message about Baasha and his family to the prophet Jehu. Baasha had done many things that Yahweh considered to be evil, which caused Yahweh to become angry. Baasha did the same kind of things that King Jeroboam and his family had done previously. Yahweh was also angry with Baasha because he had killed all of Jeroboam’s family.

8 In the twenty and sixth year of Assa the king of Judah became Elah the son of Ba'sha king over Israel in Thirzah, [for] two years.

After Asa had been the king of Judah for almost 26 years, Elah became the king of Israel. Elah ruled in Tirzah for [only] two years.

9 And there conspired against him his servant Zimri, captain of half the chariots, as he was in Thirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was set over the house in Thirzah.

[A man named] Zimri was one of Elah’s army officers. He commanded the drivers of half of Elah’s army’s (chariots/two-wheeled vehicles pulled by horses). He made plans to kill Elah while Elah was in Tirzah, getting drunk at the house of [a man named] Arza. Arza was the man who took care of the things in the king’s palace.

10 And Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Assa the king of Judah, and became king in his stead.

Zimri went into Arza’s house and killed Elah. Then Zimri became the king of Israel. That was when Asa had been the king of Judah for 27 years.

11 And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he slew all the house of Ba'sha: he left him not a single male, neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends.

As soon as Zimri became king [MTY], he killed all of Baasha’s family [MTY]. That included every male [IDM] in Baasha’s family and all of Baasha’s male friends.

12 Thus did Zimri exterminate all the house of Ba'sha, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken against Ba'sha by the agency of Jehu the prophet,

That was just what Yahweh told the prophet Jehu would happen.

13 For all the sins of Ba'sha, and the sins of Elah his son, by which they had sinned, and by which they had induced Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord the God of Israel to anger with their vanities.

Baasha and his son Elah had sinned and led the Israeli people to sin. They caused Yahweh, the God whom the Israeli people worshiped, to become angry, because they both urged the people [to worship] worthless idols.

14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

Everything else that Elah did is written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.

15 In the twenty and seventh year of Assa the king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Thirzah: and the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.

So Zimri became the king of Israel after Asa had been king of Judah for 27 years. But Zimri ruled in Tirzah for only seven days. The Israeli army was beseiging/surrounding Gibeah, a town which belonged to the Philistine people-group.

16 And when the people that were encamped heard it said, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also slain the king: all Israel made 'Omri, the captain of the army, king over Israel on that day in the camp.

The men in the Israeli army camp heard that Zimri had secretly planned to kill King Elah, and then had killed him. So on that day the soldiers chose Omri, the commander of their army, to become the king of Israel.

17 And 'Omri went up, and all Israel with him from Gibbethon, and they besieged Thirzah.

The Israeli army was camped near Gibbethon [city]. When they heard what Zimri had done, they left there and went to Tirzah, and surrounded the city.

18 And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was captured, that he went into the strong-hold of the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and he died;

When Zimri realized that the city was [about to be] captured, he went into his palace and set it on fire. So the palace burned down, and he died [in the fire].

19 For his sins which he had sinned, in doing what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, to walk in the way of Jerobo'am, and in his sin which he did, to induce Israel to sin.

He died because he had sinned by doing the things that Yahweh considered to be evil. Jeroboam had led the Israeli people to sin, and Zimri sinned just like Jeroboam had sinned.

20 And the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his conspiracy that he contrived, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

All the other things that Zimri did, and the record of how he rebelled [against King Elah], are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.

21 At that time were the people of Israel divided into two parts: one half of the people followed Thibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; and the other half followed 'Omri.

After Zimri died, the Israeli people were divided. One group wanted Tibni, the son of Ginath, to be their king. The other group wanted Omri [to be the king].

22 But the people that followed 'Omri prevailed against the people that followed Thibni the son of Ginath: and Thibni [also] died, and 'Omri became king.

Those who supported Omri (were stronger than/defeated) those who supported Tibni. So Tibni was killed, and Omri became king.

23 In the thirty and first year of Assa the king of Judah became 'Omri king over Israel, [for] twelve years; in Thirzah he reigned six years.

Omri became king when Asa had been king of Judah for almost 31 years. Omri ruled Israel for 12 years. For the first six years he ruled in Tirzah.

24 And he bought the mount Samaria, of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the mount, and called the name of the city which he had built, after the name of Shemer, the Lord of the mount, Samaria.

Then he bought a hill from [a man named] Shemer and paid him about (150 pounds/70 kg.) of silver for it. Then Omri ordered his men to build a city on that hill, and he called it Samaria, to honor Shemer, the man who owned it previously.

25 And 'Omri did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him.

But Omri did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil. He did more evil deeds than any of the kings who ruled Israel before he did.

26 And he walked in all the way of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he induced Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities.

[When] Jeroboam [was previously the king, he] had led the Israeli people to sin, and Omri committed the same kind of sins that Jeroboam did. The Israeli people caused Yahweh, the God the Israeli people had worshiped, to become very angry, because they worshiped worthless idols.

27 Now the rest of the acts of 'Omri which he did, and his mighty deeds that he displayed, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

Everything that Omri did, and the record of the victories that his [army] won, are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.

28 And 'Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria: and Achab his son became king in his stead.

After Omri died, he was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab became king.

29 And Achab the son of 'omri became king over Israel in the thirty and eighth year of Assa the king of Judah; and Achab the son of 'Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years.

Ahab became king of Israel when Asa had ruled Judah for almost 38 years. Ahab ruled in Samaria [city] for 22 years.

30 And Achab the son of 'Omri did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord more than all that had been before him.

Ahab did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil. He did more evil things than any of the kings who ruled Israel before he did.

31 And it came to pass, as if it had been too light a thing for him to walk in the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, that he took for wife Izebel the daughter of Ethba'al the king of the Zidonians, and went and served Ba'al, and worshipped him.

He committed the same kind of sins that Jeroboam did, but he did things that were worse than the things that Jeroboam did. He married [a woman named] Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of Sidon [city]. Then Ahab started to worship Baal, [the god that the Canaan people-group worshiped].

32 And he erected an altar for Ba'al in the house of Ba'al, which he had built in Samaria.

He built a temple in Samaria in order that the Israeli people could worship Baal there, and he put an altar there for [making sacrifices to] Baal.

33 And Achab made a grove; and Achab did yet more, so as to provoke the Lord the God of Israel to anger, than all the kings of Israel that had been before him.

He also made an idol that represented Asherah, [Baal’s wife]. He did many more things that caused Yahweh to become angry. He did more evil things than any of the previous kings of Israel had done.

34 In his days did Chiel the Beth-elite build Jericho: with Abiram his first-born laid he the foundation thereof, and with Segub his youngest son set he up the gates thereof, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by means of Joshua the son of Nun.

During the years that Ahab [ruled], Hiel, a man from Bethel [city], rebuilt Jericho [city]. But when he started to rebuild the city, his oldest son Abiram died. And [when the city was finished, ] while Hiel was building the city gates, his youngest son Segub died. They died just like Yahweh had told Joshua would happen [to the sons of anyone who would rebuild Jericho].