Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah.
He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.
He walked in all the sins of his father which he had committed before him; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, like the heart of his father David.
But for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to raise up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem;
because David did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.
There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
Now the rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
And Abijam slept with his fathers and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son became king in his place.
So in the twentieth year of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Asa began to reign as king of Judah.
He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.
Asa did what was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father.
He also put away the male cult prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols which his fathers had made.
He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image as an Asherah; and Asa cut down her horrid image and burned it at the brook Kidron.
But the high places were not taken away; nevertheless the heart of Asa was wholly devoted to the LORD all his days.
He brought into the house of the LORD the dedicated things of his father and his own dedicated things: silver and gold and utensils.
Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.
Then Asa took all the silver and the gold which were left in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the treasuries of the king's house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants. And King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying,
`` Let there be a treaty between you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you a present of silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me."
So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah and all Chinneroth, besides all the land of Naphtali.
When Baasha heard of it, he ceased fortifying Ramah and remained in Tirzah.
Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah--none was exempt--and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had built. And King Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.
Now the rest of all the acts of Asa and all his might and all that he did and the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.
And Asa slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.
Now Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.
He did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father and in his sin which he made Israel sin.
Then Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.
So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and reigned in his place.
It came about as soon as he was king, he struck down all the household of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam any persons alive, until he had destroyed them, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite,
and because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.
Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel at Tirzah, and reigned twenty-four years.
He did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel sin.
Now the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying,
``Inasmuch as I exalted you from the dust and made you leader over My people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made My people Israel sin, provoking Me to anger with their sins,
behold, I will consume Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
``Anyone of Baasha who dies in the city the dogs will eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat."
Now the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
And Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah, and Elah his son became king in his place.
Moreover, the word of the LORD through the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani also came against Baasha and his household, both because of all the evil which he did in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he struck it.
In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel at Tirzah, and reigned two years.
His servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now he was at Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household at Tirzah.
Then Zimri went in and struck him and put him to death in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and became king in his place.
It came about when he became king, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave a single male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends.
Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke against Baasha through Jehu the prophet,
for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols.
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?
In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days at Tirzah. Now the people were camped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.
The people who were camped heard it said, ``Zimri has conspired and has also struck down the king." Therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp.
Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah.
When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king's house and burned the king's house over him with fire, and died,
because of his sins which he sinned, doing evil in the sight of the LORD, walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, making Israel sin.
Now the rest of the acts of Zimri and his conspiracy which he carried out, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of 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; the other half followed Omri.
But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. And Tibni died and Omri became king.
In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel and reigned twelve years; he reigned six years at Tirzah.
He bought the hill Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and named the city which he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.
Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, and acted more wickedly than all who were before him.
For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sins which he made Israel sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel with their idols.
Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did and his might which he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
So Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab his son became king in his place.
Now Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.
Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD more than all who were before him.
It came about, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went to serve Baal and worshiped him.
So he erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria.
Ahab also made the Asherah. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.
Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, ``As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word."
The word of the LORD came to him, saying,
``Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.
``It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there."
So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.
The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook.
It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
``Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."
So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, ``Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink."
As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, ``Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand."
But she said, ``As the LORD your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die."
Then Elijah said to her, ``Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son.
``For thus says the LORD God of Israel, `The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the face of the earth.'"
So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days.
The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through Elijah.
Now it came about after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.
So she said to Elijah, ``What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!"
He said to her, ``Give me your son." Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed.
He called to the LORD and said, ``O LORD my God, have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?"
Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the LORD and said, ``O LORD my God, I pray You, let this child's life return to him."
The LORD heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived.
Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, ``See, your son is alive."
Then the woman said to Elijah, ``Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth."
