1 Kings 16

1 And a word of Jehovah is unto Jehu son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying,

Then this message from the Lord came to the prophet Jehu, son of Hanani, condemning Baasha.

2 'Because that I have raised thee up out of the dust, and appoint thee leader over My people Israel, and thou walkest in the way of Jeroboam, and causest My people Israel to sin — to provoke Me to anger with their sins;

“Even though I lifted you out of the dust to make you ruler over my people Israel, you have followed the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel sin, making me angry by their sins.

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

Now I'm going to destroy Baasha and his family. Baasha, I will make your family like that of Jeroboam, son of Nebat.

4 him who dieth of Baasha in a city do the dogs eat, and him who dieth of his in a field do fowl of the heavens eat.'

Those of Baasha's family who die in the town will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the countryside will be eaten by birds.”

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

The rest of the events of Baasha's reign, everything that he did and what he accomplished, are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

6 And Baasha lieth with his fathers, and is buried in Tirzah, and Elah his son reigneth in his stead.

Baasha died and was buried in Tirzah. His son Elah succeeded him as king.

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

The message from the Lord condemning Baasha and his family came to the prophet Jehu, son of Hanani. It came because Baasha had done what was evil in the Lord's sight, in the same way as the family of Jeroboam had done, and also because Baasha had killed Jeroboam's family. The Lord was angry because of Baasha's sins.

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

Elah, son of Baasha, became king of Israel in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. He reigned in Tirzah for two years.

9 and conspire against him doth his servant Zimri (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.

One of Elah's officials called Zimri who was in charge of half his chariots plotted a rebellion against him. One time Elah was in Tirzah, getting himself drunk at the home of Arza, the palace manager at Tirzah.

10 And Zimri cometh in and smiteth him, and putteth him to death, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigneth in his stead;

Zimri went up to him, attacked him, and killed him. This was in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Asa, king of Judah. Then he took over from him as king.

11 and it cometh to pass in his reigning, at his sitting on his throne, he hath smitten the whole house of Baasha; he hath not left to him any sitting on the wall, and of his redeemers, and of his friends.

As soon as he became king and was installed on his throne, he killed all of Baasha's family. He did not leave a single male alive, whether of his relatives or of his friends.

12 And Zimri destroyeth the whole house of Baasha, according to the word of Jehovah, that He spake concerning Baasha, by the hand of Jehu the prophet:

So Zimri destroyed the entire household of Baasha, as the Lord had said in his condemnation of Baasha through Jehu the prophet.

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

This was because of all the sins Baasha and his son Elah had committed and had made Israel to commit. Their worship of their useless idols had angered the Lord, the God of Israel.

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

The rest of what happened in Elah's reign and everything that he did are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

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

Zimri became king of Israel in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. He reigned in Tirzah seven days. At that time the Israelite army was attacking the Philistine town of Gibbethon.

16 and the people who are encamping hear, saying, 'Zimri hath conspired, and also hath smitten the king;' and all Israel cause Omri head of the host to reign over Israel on that day in the camp.

When the troops who were camped there learned that Zimri had plotted rebellion against the king and had murdered him, they made Omri, the army commander, king of Israel that same day in the army camp.

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

Omri and the whole Israelite army left Gibbethon and went and besieged Tirzah.

18 And it cometh to pass, at Zimri's seeing that the city hath been captured, that he cometh in unto a high place of the house of the king, and burneth over him the house of the king with fire, and dieth,

When Zimri saw that the city had been taken he went into the fortress of the royal palace and set it on fire around him, and he died, because of the sins he had committed.

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

He did evil in the Lord's sight and followed the way of Jeroboam and his sin which he had made Israel commit.

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

The rest of what happened in Zimri's reign and his rebellion are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

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

After this the people of Israel were divided. Half supported Tibni, son of Ginath, as king, while the other half supported Omri.

22 and stronger are the people that are after Omri than the people that are after Tibni son of Ginath, and Tibni dieth, and Omri reigneth.

However, those on Omri's side defeated Tibni's supporters. Tibni was killed and Omri became king.

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

Omri became king of Israel in the thirty-first year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. He reigned for a total of twelve years, (six of them were in Tirzah).

24 and he buyeth the mount Samaria from Shemer, with two talents of silver, and buildeth [on] the mount, and calleth the name of the city that he hath built by the name of Shemer, lord of the hill — Samaria.

He purchased the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver. He fortified the hill, and named the city that he built Samaria, after Shemer, the previous owner of the hill.

25 And Omri doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and doth evil above all who [are] before him,

Omri did what was evil in the Lord's sight—in fact he did more evil than those who lived before him.

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

For he followed all the ways of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and in his sins which he made Israel commit, worshiping their useless idols which angered the Lord, the God of Israel.

27 And the rest of the matters of Omri that he did, and his might that he got, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel?

The rest of what happened in Omri's reign, what he did, and his achievements are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

28 And Omri lieth with his fathers, and is buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigneth in his stead.

Omri died and was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab succeeded him as king.

29 And Ahab son of Omri hath reigned over Israel in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab son of Omri reigneth over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years,

Ahab, son of Omri, became king of Israel in the thirty-eighth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. He reigned in Samaria for twenty-two years.

30 and Ahab son of Omri doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah above all who [are] before him.

Ahab, son of Omri, did evil in the Lord's sight, more than those who lived before him.

31 And it cometh to pass — hath it been light his walking in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat? — then he taketh a wife, Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, and goeth and serveth Baal, and boweth himself to it,

He didn't see anything to worry about in following the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and he even married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and started to serve and worship Baal.

32 and raiseth up an altar for Baal, in the house of the Baal, that he built in Samaria;

Ahab made an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria.

33 and Ahab maketh the shrine, and Ahab addeth to do so as to provoke Jehovah, God of Israel, above all the kings of Israel who have been before him.

Then he put up an Asherah pole. In this way Ahab did more to anger the Lord, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel before him.

34 In his days hath Hiel the Beth-Elite built Jericho; in Abiram his first-born he laid its foundation, and in Segub his youngest he set up its doors, according to the word of Jehovah that He spake by the hand of Joshua son of Nun.

During Ahab's reign Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He sacrificed Abiram his firstborn son when he laid its foundation, and sacrificed Segub his youngest son when he constructed its gates. This fulfilled the message the Lord had given through Joshua, son of Nun.