1 Kings 16:21-28

Living Bible

²¹ But now the kingdom of Israel was split in two; half the people were loyal to General Omri, and the other half followed Tibni, the son of Ginath. ²² But General Omri won and Tibni was killed; so Omri reigned without opposition.

²³ King Asa of Judah had been on the throne thirty-one years when Omri began his reign over Israel, which lasted twelve years, six of them in Tirzah. ²⁴ Then Omri bought the hill now known as Samaria from its owner, Shemer, for $4,000 and built a city on it, calling it Samaria in honor of Shemer. ²⁵ But Omri was worse than any of the kings before him; ²⁶ he worshiped idols as Jeroboam had and led Israel into this same sin. So God was very angry. ²⁷ The rest of Omri’s history is recorded in The Annals of the Kings of Israel. ²⁸ When Omri died he was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab became king in his place.