1 Reyes 16

¹Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasa, saying:

²For as much as I have exalted thee out of the dust and made thee prince over my people Israel, and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins:

³Behold I will cut down the posterity of Baasa, and the posterity of his house, and I will make thy house as the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat.

⁴Him that dieth of Baasa, in the city, the dogs shall eat: and him that dieth of his in the country, the fowls of the air shall devour.

⁵But the rest of the acts of Baasa, and all that he did, and his battles, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

⁶So Baasa slept with his fathers, and was buried in Thersa: and Ela, his son, reigned in his stead.

⁷And when the word of the Lord came in the hand of Jehu, the son of Hanani, the prophet, against Baasa, and against his house, and against all the evil that he had done before the Lord, to provoke him to anger by the works of his hands, to become as the house of Jeroboam: for this cause he slew him; that is to say, Jehu, the son of Hanani, the prophet.

⁸In the six and twentieth year of Asa, king of Juda, Ela, the son of Baasa, reigned over Israel, in Thersa, two years.

⁹And his servant Zambri, who was captain of half the horsemen, rebelled against him: now Ela was drinking in Thersa, and drunk in the house of Arsa, the governor of Thersa.

¹⁰And Zambri rushing in, struck him, and slew him, in the seven and twentieth year of Asa, king of Juda and he reigned in his stead.

¹¹And when he was king, and sat upon his throne, he slew all the house of Baasa, and he left not one thereof to piss against a wall and all his kinsfolks and friends.

¹²But he was so far puffed up with arrogancy, as to go about to deprive us of our kingdom and life.

¹³For all the sins of Baasa, and the sins of Ela, his son, who sinned, and made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, with their vanities. For with certain new and unheard of devices he hath sought the destruction of Mardochai, by whose fidelity and good services our life was saved, and of Esther the partner of our kingdom with all their nation:

¹⁴But the rest of the acts of Ela, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? Thinking that after they were slain, he might work treason against us left alone without friends, and might transfer the kingdom of the Persians to the Macedonians.

¹⁵But we have found that the Jews, who were by that most wicked man appointed to be slain, are in no fault at all, but contrariwise, use just laws, In the seven and twentieth year of Asa, king of Juda, Zambri reigned seven days in Thersa: now the army was besieging Gebbethon, a city of the Philistines.

¹⁶And are the children of the highest and the greatest, and the ever living God, by whose benefit the kingdom was given both to our fathers and to us, and is kept unto this day. And when they heard that Zambri had rebelled, and slain the king, all Israel made Amri their king, who was general over Israel in the camp that day.

¹⁷And Amri went up, and all Israel with him, from Gebbethon, and they besieged Thersa. Wherefore know ye that those letters which he sent in our name, are void and of no effect.

¹⁸And Zambri, seeing that the city was about to be taken, went into the palace, and burnt himself with the king's house: and he died For which crime both he himself that devised it, and all his kindred hang on gibbets, before the gates of this city Susan: not we, but God repaying him as he deserved.

¹⁹In his sins, which he had sinned, doing evil before the Lord, and walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin, wherewith he made Israel to sin. But this edict, which we now send, shall be published in all cities, that the Jews may freely follow their own laws.

²⁰But the rest of the acts of Zambri, and of his conspiracy and tyranny, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? And you shall aid them that they may kill those who had prepared themselves to kill them, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is called Adar.

²¹For the almighty God hath turned this day of sadness and mourning into joy to them.

²²Wherefore you shall also count this day among other festival days, and celebrate it with all joy, that it may be known also in times to come,

²³That all they who faithfully obey the Persians, receive a worthy reward for their fidelity: but they that are traitors to their kingdom, are destroyed for their wickedness.

²⁴And let every province and city, that will not be partaker of this solemnity, perish by the sword and by fire, and be destroyed in such manner as to be made unpassable, both to men and beasts, for an example of contempt, and disobedience. And he bought the hill of Samaria of Semer, for two talents of silver: and he built upon it, and he called the city which he built Samaria, after the name of Semer, the owner of the hill.

²⁵And Amri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and acted wickedly above all that were before him.

²⁶And he walked in all the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, and in his sins, wherewith he made Israel to sin: to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger with their vanities. With their vanities. . .That is, their idols their golden calves, vain, false, deceitful things.

²⁷Now the rest of the acts of Amri, and the battles he fought, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

²⁸And Amri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria, and Achab, his son, reigned in his stead.

²⁹Now Achab, the son of Amri, reigned over Israel in the eight and thirtieth year of Asa, king of Juda. And Achab, the son of Amri, reigned over Israel in Samaria two and twenty years.

³⁰And Achab, the son of Amri, did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.

³¹Nor was it enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat: but he also took to wife Jezabel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. And he went, and served Baal, and adored him.

³²And he set up an altar for Baal, in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria;

³³And he planted a grove: and Achab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel that were before him.

³⁴In his days Hiel, of Bethel, built Jericho: in Abiram, his firstborn, he laid its foundations: and in his youngest son, Segub, he set up the gates thereof: according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Josue, the son of Nun.