It was not enough for him to follow the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat. He even married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal, and worship him.
He answered: “I have been most zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, but the Israelites have forsaken your covenant. They have destroyed your altars and murdered your prophets by the sword. I alone remain, and they seek to take my life.”
I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; I will eliminate from this place the last vestige of Baal, the name of the idolatrous priests.