The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And the word of the Lord came to Jehu, son of Hanani, protesting against Baasha and saying,
1
The Lord spoke to the prophet Jehu son of Hanani and gave him this message for Baasha:
2 Because I took you up out of the dust, and made you ruler over my people Israel; and you have gone in the ways of Jeroboam, and made my people Israel do evil, moving me to wrath by their sins;
2
"You were a nobody, but I made you the leader of my people Israel. And now you have sinned like Jeroboam and have led my people into sin. Their sins have aroused my anger,
3 Truly, I will see that Baasha and all his family are completely brushed away; I will make your family like the family of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.
3
and so I will do away with you and your family, just as I did with Jeroboam.
4 Anyone of the family of Baasha who comes to death in the town, will become food for the dogs; and he to whom death comes in the open country, will be food for the birds of the air.
4
Any members of your family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and any who die in the open country will be eaten by vultures."
5 Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his power, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?
5
Everything else that Baasha did and all his brave deeds are recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]
6 And Baasha went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth at Tirzah; and Elah his son became king in his place.
6
Baasha died and was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah succeeded him as king.
7 And the Lord sent his word against Baasha and his family by the mouth of the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani, because of all the evil he did in the eyes of the Lord, moving him to wrath by the work of his hands, because he was like the family of Jeroboam, and because he put it to death.
7
That message from the Lord against Baasha and his family was given by the prophet Jehu because of the sins that Baasha committed against the Lord. He aroused the Lord's anger not only because of the evil he did, just as King Jeroboam had done before him, but also because he killed all of Jeroboam's family.
8 In the twenty-sixth year that Asa was king of Judah, Elah, the son of Baasha, became king of Israel in Tirzah, and he was king for two years.
8
In the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he ruled in Tirzah for two years.
9 And his servant Zimri, captain of half his war-carriages, made secret designs against him: now he was in Tirzah, drinking hard in the house of Arza, controller of the king's house in Tirzah.
9
Zimri, one of his officers who was in charge of half of the king's chariots, plotted against him. One day in Tirzah, Elah was getting drunk in the home of Arza, who was in charge of the palace.
10 And Zimri went in and made an attack on him and put him to death, in the twenty-seventh year that Asa was king of Judah, and made himself king in his place.
10
Zimri entered the house, assassinated Elah, and succeeded him as king. This happened in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Asa of Judah.
11 And straight away when he became king and took his place on the seat of the kingdom, he put to death all the family of Baasha: not one male child of his relations or his friends kept his life.
11
As soon as Zimri became king he killed off all the members of Baasha's family. Every male relative and friend was put to death.
12 So Zimri put to death all the family of Baasha, so that the word which the Lord said against him by the mouth of Jehu the prophet came about;
12
And so, in accordance with what the Lord had said against Baasha through the prophet Jehu, Zimri killed all the family of Baasha.
13 Because of all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, which they did and made Israel do, moving the Lord, the God of Israel, to wrath by their foolish acts.
13
Because of their idolatry and because they led Israel into sin, Baasha and his son Elah had aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel.
14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?
14
Everything else that Elah did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]
15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa, king of Judah, Zimri was king for seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were attacking Gibbethon in the land of the Philistines.
15
In the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Zimri ruled in Tirzah over Israel for seven days. The Israelite troops were besieging the city of Gibbethon in Philistia,
16 And news came to the people in the tents that Zimri had made a secret design and had put the king to death: so all Israel made Omri, the captain of the army, king that day in the tents.
16
and when they heard that Zimri had plotted against the king and assassinated him, then and there they all proclaimed their commander Omri king of Israel.
17 Then Omri went up from Gibbethon, with all the army of Israel, and they made an attack on Tirzah, shutting in the town on every side.
17
Omri and his troops left Gibbethon and went and besieged Tirzah.
18 And when Zimri saw that the town was taken, he went into the inner room of the king's house, and burning the house over his head, came to his end,
18
When Zimri saw that the city had fallen, he went into the palace's inner fortress, set the palace on fire, and died in the flames.
19 Because of his sin in doing evil in the eyes of the Lord, in going in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel do.
19
This happened because of his sins against the Lord. Like his predecessor Jeroboam, he displeased the Lord by his own sins and by leading Israel into sin.
20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the secret design he made, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?
20
Everything else that Zimri did, including the account of his conspiracy, is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]
21 Then there was a division among the people of Israel; half the people were for making Tibni, son of Ginath, king, and half were supporting Omri.
21
The people of Israel were divided: some of them wanted to make Tibni son of Ginath king, and the others were in favor of Omri.
22 But the supporters of Omri overcame those who were on the side of Tibni, the son of Ginath; and death came to Tibni and to his brother Joram at that time: and Omri became king in the place of Tibni.
22
In the end, those in favor of Omri won out; Tibni died and Omri became king.
23 In the thirty-first year of Asa, king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel, and he was king for twelve years; for six years he was ruling in Tirzah.
23
So in the thirty-first year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he ruled for twelve years. The first six years he ruled in Tirzah,
24 He got the hill Samaria from Shemer for the price of two talents of silver, and he made a town there, building it on the hill and naming it Samaria, after Shemer the owner of the hill.
24
and then he bought the hill of Samaria for six thousand pieces of silver from a man named Shemer. Omri fortified the hill, built a town there, and named it Samaria, after Shemer, the former owner of the hill.
25 And Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord, even worse than all those before him,
25
Omri sinned against the Lord more than any of his predecessors.
26 Copying all the evil ways of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and all the sins he did and made Israel do, moving the Lord, the God of Israel, to wrath by their foolish ways.
26
Like Jeroboam before him, he aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by his sins and by leading the people into sin and idolatry.
27 Now the rest of the acts which Omri did, and his great power, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?
27
Everything else that Omri did and all his accomplishments are recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel.]
28 So Omri went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth in Samaria; and Ahab his son became king in his place.
28
Omri died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab succeeded him as king.
29 In the thirty-eighth year that Asa was king of Judah, Ahab, the son of Omri, became king over Israel; and Ahab was king in Samaria for twenty-two years.
29
In the thirty-eighth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for twenty-two years.
30 And Ahab, the son of Omri, did evil in the eyes of the Lord, even worse than all who went before him.
30
He sinned against the Lord more than any of his predecessors.
31 And as if copying the evil ways of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, was a small thing for him, he took as his wife Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Zidon, and became a servant and worshipper of Baal.
31
It was not enough for him to sin like King Jeroboam; he went further and married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon, and worshiped Baal.
32 And he put up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he had made in Samaria.
32
He built a temple to Baal in Samaria, made an altar for him, and put it in the temple.
33 And Ahab made an image of Asherah and did more than all the kings of Israel before him to make the Lord, the God of Israel, angry.
33
He also put up an image of the goddess Asherah. He did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel before him.
34 In his days Hiel made Jericho; he put its base in position at the price of Abiram, his oldest son, and he put its doors in place at the price of his youngest son Segub; even as the Lord had said by Joshua, the son of Nun.
34
During his reign Hiel from Bethel rebuilt Jericho. As the Lord had foretold through Joshua son of Nun, Hiel lost his oldest son Abiram when he laid the foundation of Jericho, and his youngest son Segub when he built the gates.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.