1 Kings 16

1 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:

And a word of YHWH is to Jehu son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying,

2 “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.

“Because that I have raised you up out of the dust, and appoint you leader over My people Israel, and you walk in the way of Jeroboam, and cause My people Israel to sin—to provoke Me to anger with their sins;

3 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.

behold, I am putting away the posterity of Baasha, even the posterity of his house, and have given up your house as the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat;

4 [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.”

the dogs eat him who dies of Baasha in a city, and [the] bird of the heavens eats him who dies of his in a field.”

5 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’.

And the rest of the matters of Baasha, and that which he did, and his might, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

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

And Baasha lies with his fathers, and is buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah reigns in his stead.

7 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.

And also by the hand of Jehu son of Hanani the prophet a word of YHWH has been concerning Baasha, and concerning his house, and concerning all the evil that he did in the eyes of YHWH to provoke Him to anger with the work of his hands, to be like the house of Jeroboam, and concerning that for which he struck him.

8 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.

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

9 [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.

and his servant Zimri conspires against him (head of the half of the chariots) and he [is] in Tirzah drinking—a drunkard in the house of Arza, who [is] over the house in Tirzah.

10 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.

And Zimri comes in and strikes him, and puts him to death, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigns in his stead;

11 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.

and it comes to pass in his reigning, at his sitting on his throne, he has struck the whole house of Baasha; he has not left to him any sitting on the wall, and of his redeemers, and of his friends.

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

And Zimri destroys the whole house of Baasha, according to the word of YHWH that He spoke concerning Baasha, by the hand of Jehu the prophet,

13 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.

concerning all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of his son Elah, that they sinned, and that they caused Israel to sin to provoke YHWH, God of Israel, with their vanities.

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

And the rest of the matters of Elah and all that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

15 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.

In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri has reigned seven days in Tirzah; and the people are encamping against Gibbethon, which [belonged] to the Philistines;

16 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.

and the people who are encamping hear, saying, “Zimri has conspired, and also has struck the king”; and all Israel causes Omri head of the host to reign over Israel on that day in the camp.

17 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.

And Omri goes up, and all Israel with him, from Gibbethon, and they lay siege to Tirzah.

18 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].

And it comes to pass, at Zimri’s seeing that the city has been captured, that he comes into a high place of the house of the king, and burns the house of the king over himself with fire, and he dies,

19 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.

for his sins that he sinned, to do evil in the eyes of YHWH, to walk in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin that he did, to cause Israel to sin;

20 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’.

and the rest of the matters of Zimri and his conspiracy that he made, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

21 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].

Then the sons of Israel are parted into halves; half of the people have been after Tibni son of Ginath to cause him to reign, and the [other] half after Omri;

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

and the people that are after Omri are stronger than the people that are after Tibni son of Ginath, and Tibni dies, and Omri reigns.

23 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.

In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri has reigned over Israel twelve years; he has reigned in Tirzah six years,

24 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.

and he buys the Mount of Samaria from Shemer with two talents of silver, and builds [on] the mountain, and calls the name of the city that he has built by the name of Shemer, lord of the hill—Samaria.

25 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.

And Omri does evil in the eyes of YHWH, and does evil above all who [are] before him,

26 [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.

and walks in all the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and in his sin that he caused Israel to sin, to provoke YHWH, God of Israel, with their vanities.

27 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’.

And the rest of the matters of Omri that he did and his might that he exercised, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

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

And Omri lies with his fathers, and is buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab reigns in his stead.

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

And Ahab son of Omri has reigned over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab son of Omri reigns over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years,

30 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.

and Ahab son of Omri does evil in the eyes of YHWH above all who [are] before him.

31 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].

And it comes to pass, as if it had been trivial—his walking in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat—that he takes a wife, Jezebel daughter of Ethba‘al, king of the Zidonians, and goes and serves Ba‘al, and bows himself to it,

32 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.

and raises up an altar for Ba‘al in the house of the Ba‘al, which he built in Samaria;

33 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.

and Ahab makes the Asherah, and Ahab adds to do so as to provoke YHWH, God of Israel, above all the kings of Israel who have been before him.

34 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].

In his days Hiel the Beth-Elite has built Jericho; he laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and he set up its doors with Segub his youngest, according to the word of YHWH that He spoke by the hand of Joshua son of Nun.