1. The Lord spoke to the prophet Jehu son of Hanani and gave him this message for Baasha:
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. and so I will do away with you and your family, just as I did with Jeroboam.
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. Everything else that Baasha did and all his brave deeds are recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.
6. Baasha died and was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah succeeded him as king.
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 Jeroboam's family.
8. In the 26th 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. Zimri, one of his officers who was in charge of half 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. Zimri entered the house, assassinated Elah, and succeeded him as king. This happened in the 27th year of the reign of King Asa of Judah.
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. And so, in accordance with what the Lord had said against Baasha through the prophet Jehu, Zimri killed all the family of Baasha.