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The people of Israel have made the Lord angry by setting up sacred poles for worshiping the goddess Asherah. So the Lord will punish them until they shake like grass in a stream. He will take them out of the land he gave to their ancestors, then scatter them as far away as the Euphrates River.

He was king of Israel for twenty-two years, then he died, and his son Nadab became king.

They also built their own local shrines and stone images of foreign gods, and they set up sacred poles for worshiping the goddess Asherah on every hill and in the shade of large trees.

After Rehoboam had been king for four years, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem.

and he ruled from Jerusalem for three years. His mother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.

When Asa heard about this, he took the silver and gold from his palace and from the Lord 's temple. He gave it to some of his officials and sent them to Damascus with this message for King Benhadad of Syria:

"Our fathers signed a peace treaty. Why don't we do the same thing? This silver and gold is a present for you. So, would you please break your treaty with Baasha and force him to leave my country?"

Baasha made the Lord very angry, and that's why the Lord gave Jehu this message for Baasha and his family. Baasha constantly disobeyed the Lord by following Jeroboam's sinful example—but even worse, he killed everyone in Jeroboam's family! Everything else Baasha did while he was king, including his brave deeds, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel. Baasha died and was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah became king.

Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel after Asa had been king of Judah for twenty-five years, and he ruled from Tirzah for two years.

in the thirty-first year of Asa's rule in Judah. Omri ruled Israel for twelve years. The first six years he ruled from Tirzah,

then he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for about one hundred fifty pounds of silver. He built a town there and named it Samaria, after Shemer who had owned the hill.

Ahab built an altar and temple for Baal in Samaria

and set up a sacred pole for worshiping the goddess Asherah. Ahab did more to make the Lord God of Israel angry than any king of Israel before him.

While Ahab was king, a man from Bethel named Hiel rebuilt the town of Jericho. But while Hiel was laying the foundation for the town wall, his oldest son Abiram died. And while he was finishing the gates, his youngest son Segub died. This happened just as the Lord had told Joshua to say many years ago.

When Elijah came near the town gate of Zarephath, he saw a widow gathering sticks for a fire. "Would you please bring me a cup of water?" he asked.

The widow answered, "In the name of the living Lord your God, I swear that I don't have any bread. All I have is a handful of flour and a little olive oil. I'm on my way home now with these few sticks to cook what I have for my son and me. After that, we will starve to death."

Elijah said, "Everything will be fine. Do what you said. Go home and fix something for you and your son. But first, please make a small piece of bread and bring it to me.

The Lord God of Israel has promised that your jar of flour won't run out and your bottle of oil won't dry up before he sends rain for the crops."

The widow went home and did exactly what Elijah had told her. She and Elijah and her family had enough food for a long time.

"You are God's prophet!" the woman replied. "Now I know that you really do speak for the Lord ."