I Kings 21

¹Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vine-garden in Jezreel, near the house of Ahab, king of Samaria.

²And Ahab said to Naboth, Give me your vine-garden so that I may have it for a garden of sweet plants, for it is near my house; and let me give you a better vine-garden in exchange, or, if it seems good to you, let me give you its value in money.

³But Naboth said to Ahab, By the Lord, far be it from me to give you the heritage of my fathers.

⁴So Ahab came into his house bitter and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, I will not give you the heritage of my fathers. And stretching himself on the bed with his face turned away, he would take no food.

⁵But Jezebel, his wife, came to him and said, Why is your spirit so bitter that you have no desire for food?

⁶And he said to her, Because I was talking to Naboth the Jezreelite, and I said to him, Let me have your vine-garden for a price, or, if it is pleasing to you, I will give you another vine-garden for it: and he said, I will not give you my vine-garden.

⁷Then Jezebel, his wife, said, Are you now the ruler of Israel? Get up, take food, and let your heart be glad; I will give you the vine-garden of Naboth the Jezreelite.

⁸So she sent a letter in Ahab's name, stamped with his stamp, to the responsible men and the chiefs who were in authority with Naboth.

⁹And in the letter she said, Let a time of public sorrow be fixed, and put Naboth at the head of the people;

¹⁰And get two good-for-nothing persons to come before him and give witness that he has been cursing God and the king. Then take him out and have him stoned to death.

¹¹So the responsible men and the chiefs who were in authority in his town, did as Jezebel had said in the letter she sent them.

¹²They gave orders for a day of public sorrow, and put Naboth at the head of the people.

¹³And the two good-for-nothing persons came in and took their seats before him and gave witness against Naboth, in front of the people, saying, Naboth has been cursing God and the king. Then they took him outside the town and had him stoned to death.

¹⁴And they sent word to Jezebel, saying, Naboth has been stoned and is dead.

¹⁵Then Jezebel, hearing that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, said to Ahab, Get up and take as your heritage the vine-garden of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he would not give you for money, for Naboth is no longer living but is dead.

¹⁶So Ahab, hearing that Naboth was dead, went down to the vine-garden of Naboth the Jezreelite to take it as his heritage.

¹⁷And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

¹⁸Go down to Ahab, king of Israel, in Samaria; see, he is in the vine-garden of Naboth the Jezreelite, where he has gone to take it as his heritage.

¹⁹Say to him, The Lord says, Have you put a man to death and taken his heritage? Then say to him, The Lord says, In the place where dogs have been drinking the blood of Naboth, there will your blood become the drink of dogs.

²⁰And Ahab said to Elijah, Have you come face to face with me, O my hater? And he said, I have come to you because you have given yourself up to do evil in the eyes of the Lord.

²¹See, I will send evil on you and put an end to you completely, cutting off from Ahab every male child, him who is shut up and him who goes free in Israel;

²²And I will make your family like the family of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the family of Baasha, the son of Ahijah, because you have made me angry, and have made Israel do evil.

²³And of Jezebel the Lord said, Jezebel will become food for dogs in the heritage of Jezreel.

²⁴Any man of the family of Ahab who comes to his death in the town will become food for the dogs; and he who comes to his death in the open country will be food for the birds of the air.

²⁵(There was no one like Ahab, who gave himself up to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, moved to it by Jezebel his wife.

²⁶He did a very disgusting thing in going after false gods, doing all the things the Amorites did, whom the Lord sent out before the children of Israel.)

²⁷Hearing these words, Ahab, in great grief, put haircloth on his flesh and went without food, sleeping in haircloth, and going about quietly.

²⁸Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

²⁹Do you see how Ahab has made himself low before me? because he has made himself low before me, I will not send the evil in his life-time, but in his son's time I will send the evil on his family.

I Kings 21

¹It happened after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

²Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, "Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near to my house; and I will give you for it a better vineyard than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money."

³Naboth said to Ahab, "May the Lord forbid me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!"

⁴Ahab came into his house sullen and angry because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, "I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers." He laid himself down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.

⁵But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, "Why is your spirit so sad, that you eat no bread?"

⁶He said to her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.' He answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'"

⁷Jezebel his wife said to him, "Do you now govern the kingdom of Israel? Arise, and eat bread, and let your heart be merry. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."

⁸So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were in his city, who lived with Naboth.

⁹She wrote in the letters, saying, "Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.

¹⁰Set two men, base fellows, before him, and let them testify against him, saying, 'You cursed God and the king!' Then carry him out, and stone him to death."

¹¹The men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, according as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them.

¹²They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.

¹³The two men, the base fellows, came in and sat before him. The base fellows testified against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king!" Then they carried him out of the city, and stoned him to death with stones.

¹⁴Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, "Naboth has been stoned, and is dead."

¹⁵It happened, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, "Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead."

¹⁶It happened, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

¹⁷The word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

¹⁸"Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who dwells in Samaria. Behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it.

¹⁹You shall speak to him, saying, 'Thus says the Lord, "Have you killed and also taken possession?"' You shall speak to him, saying, 'Thus says the Lord, "In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs will lick your blood, even yours."'"

²⁰Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, my enemy?" He answered, "I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord.

²¹Behold, I will bring disaster on you, and will utterly sweep you away and will cut off from Ahab everyone, slave or free in Israel.

²²I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah for the provocation with which you have provoked me to anger, and have made Israel to sin."

²³The Lord also spoke of Jezebel, saying, "The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel.

²⁴The dogs will eat he who dies of Ahab in the city; and the birds of the sky will eat he who dies in the field."

²⁵But there was none like Ahab, who sold himself to do that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

²⁶He did very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites did, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.

²⁷It happened, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.

²⁸The word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

²⁹"See how Ahab humbles himself before me? Because he humbles himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son's days will I bring the disaster on his house."