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 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 Omri sinned against the Lord more than any of his predecessors. 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 Everything else that Omri did and all his accomplishments are recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. ²⁸ Omri died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab succeeded him as king.

^16 (A)This will happen because you have followed the evil practices of King Omri and of his son, King Ahab. You have continued their policies, and so I will bring you to ruin, and everyone will despise you. People^[a] everywhere will treat you with contempt.”^[b]

King Ahab of Israel

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 He sinned against the Lord more than any of his predecessors. 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 He built a temple to Baal in Samaria, made an altar for him, and put it in the temple. 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 (A)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.