21. Then the Israelites were divided. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath and wanted to make him king. The other half of the people followed Omri.
22. But Omri’s followers were stronger than the followers of Tibni son of Ginath. Tibni died, and Omri became king.
23. Omri became king of Israel during Asa’s 31st year as the king of Judah. Omri ruled over Israel for 12 years. Six of those years he ruled from Tirzah.
24. Then Omri bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for about 150 pounds of silver. Omri built a city on that hill. He named the city Samaria after the name of its owner, Shemer.
25. Omri did what the Lord said was wrong. He was worse than all the kings who were before him.
26. He committed all the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had committed when he caused the Israelites to sin. They worshiped worthless idols, and this made the Lord, the God of Israel, very angry.