Elah, king of Israel
8 When Asa had been king of Judah for 26 years, Baasha's son Elah became king of Israel. He ruled as king in Tirzah for two years.
9 Zimri was one of Elah's officers. He had authority over half of Elah's chariots. Zimri decided to kill King Elah. One day, Elah was in the home of a man called Arza, an officer who had authority over the king's palace in Tirzah. Elah was drinking too much wine and he became drunk. 10 Zimri came in to Arza's house. He hit Elah and he killed him. When this happened, Asa had been king of Judah for 27 years. Zimri made himself king instead of Elah.
11 When Zimri began to rule Israel as king, he killed everybody in Baasha's family. He did not leave any of Baasha's male relatives alive. He even killed Baasha's friends. 12 Zimri killed everybody in Baasha's family, as the Lord had said it would happen. The prophet Jehu had spoken the Lord's message against Baasha. 13 This happened because of all the sins that Baasha and his son Elah had done. They had also caused the Israelites to do bad things. The useless idols that they worshipped had made the Lord, Israel's God, very angry.
14 The other things that happened while Elah was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Israel's kings’. It tells about all the things that Elah did.
