nd broke the
friendship he had with Baasha, and sent the commanders of his own forces
unto the cities that were under Baasha's dominion, and ordered them
to do them mischief. So they went and burnt some of them, and spoiled
others; Ijon, and Dan, and Abelmain [32] and many others. Now when the
king of Israel heard this, he left off building and fortifying Ramah,
and returned presently to assist his own people under the distresses
they were in; but Asa made use of the materials that were prepared for
building that city, for building in the same place two strong cities,
the one of which was called Geba, and the other Mizpah; so that after
this Baasha had no leisure to make expeditions against Asa, for he was
prevented by death, and was buried in the city Tirzah; and Elah his
son took the kingdom, who, when he had reigned two years, died, being
treacherously slain by Zimri, the captain of half his army; for when he
was at Arza, his steward's house, he persuaded some of the horsemen that
were under him to assault Elah, and by that means he slew him when he
was without his armed men and his captains, for they were all busied in
the siege of Gibbethon, a city of the Philistines.

5. When Zimri, the captain of the army, had killed Elah, he took the
kingdom himself, and, according to Jehu's prophecy, slew all the house
of Baasha; for it came to pass that Baasha's house utterly perished, on
account of his impiety, in the same manner as we have already described
the destruction of the house of Jeroboam. But the army that was
besieging. Gibbethon, when they heard what had befallen the king, and
that when Zimri had killed him, he had gained the kingdom, they made
Omri their general king, who drew off his army from Gibbethon, and came
to Tirzah, where the royal palace was, and assaulted the city, and took
it by force. But when Zimri saw that the city had none to defend it, he
fled into the inmost part of the palace, and set it on fire, and burnt
himself with it, when he had reigned only seven days. Upon which the
people of Israel were presently divided, and part of them would have
Tibni to be king, and part Omri; but when those that were for Omri's
ruling had beaten Tibni, Omri reigned over all the multitude. Now it was
in the thirtieth year of the reign of Asa that Omri reigned for twelve
years; six of these years he reigned in the city Tirzah, and the rest
in the city called Semareon, but named by the Greeks Samaria; but
he himsel