1 Kings 21
21
Naboth’s Vineyard
1Now there was a man named Naboth, from Jezreel, who owned a vineyard in Jezreel beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria. 2One day Ahab said to Naboth, “Since your vineyard is so convenient to my palace, I would like to buy it to use as a vegetable garden. I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or if you prefer, I will pay you for it.”
3But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance that was passed down by my ancestors.”
4So Ahab went home angry and sullen because of Naboth’s answer. The king went to bed with his face to the wall and refused to eat!
5“What’s the matter?” his wife Jezebel asked him. “What’s made you so upset that you’re not eating?”
6“I asked Naboth to sell me his vineyard or trade it, but he refused!” Ahab told her.
7“Are you the king of Israel or not?” Jezebel demanded. “Get up and eat something, and don’t worry about it. I’ll get you Naboth’s vineyard!”
8So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and other leaders of the town where Naboth lived. 9In her letters she commanded: “Call the citizens together for a time of fasting, and give Naboth a place of honor. 10And then seat two scoundrels across from him who will accuse him of cursing God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.”
11So the elders and other town leaders followed the instructions Jezebel had written in the letters. 12They called for a fast and put Naboth at a prominent place before the people. 13Then the two scoundrels came and sat down across from him. And they accused Naboth before all the people, saying, “He cursed God and the king.” So he was dragged outside the town and stoned to death. 14The town leaders then sent word to Jezebel, “Naboth has been stoned to death.”
15When Jezebel heard the news, she said to Ahab, “You know the vineyard Naboth wouldn’t sell you? Well, you can have it now! He’s dead!” 16So Ahab immediately went down to the vineyard of Naboth to claim it.
17But the Lord said to Elijah,#21:17 Hebrew Elijah the Tishbite; also in 21:28. 18“Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He will be at Naboth’s vineyard in Jezreel, claiming it for himself. 19Give him this message: ‘This is what the Lord says: Wasn’t it enough that you killed Naboth? Must you rob him, too? Because you have done this, dogs will lick your blood at the very place where they licked the blood of Naboth!’”
20“So, my enemy, you have found me!” Ahab exclaimed to Elijah.
“Yes,” Elijah answered, “I have come because you have sold yourself to what is evil in the Lord’s sight. 21So now the Lord says,#21:21 As in Greek version; Hebrew lacks So now the Lord says. ‘I will bring disaster on you and consume you. I will destroy every one of your male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel! 22I am going to destroy your family as I did the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat and the family of Baasha son of Ahijah, for you have made me very angry and have led Israel into sin.’
23“And regarding Jezebel, the Lord says, ‘Dogs will eat Jezebel’s body at the plot of land in Jezreel.#21:23 As in several Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, and Latin Vulgate (see also 2 Kgs 9:26, 36); most Hebrew manuscripts read at the city wall.’
24“The members of Ahab’s family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the field will be eaten by vultures.”
25(No one else so completely sold himself to what was evil in the Lord’s sight as Ahab did under the influence of his wife Jezebel. 26His worst outrage was worshiping idols#21:26 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung. just as the Amorites had done—the people whom the Lord had driven out from the land ahead of the Israelites.)
27But when Ahab heard this message, he tore his clothing, dressed in burlap, and fasted. He even slept in burlap and went about in deep mourning.
28Then another message from the Lord came to Elijah: 29“Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has done this, I will not do what I promised during his lifetime. It will happen to his sons; I will destroy his dynasty.”
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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3 Kings 21
21
1And after these things, Naboth the Jezrahelite, who was in Jezrahel, had at that time a vineyard near the palace of Achab king of Samaria.
2And Achab spoke to Naboth, saying: Give me thy vineyard, that I may make me a garden of herbs, because it is nigh, and adjoining to my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard. Or, if thou think it more convenient for thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.
3Naboth answered him: The Lord be merciful to me, and not let me give thee the inheritance of my fathers.
4And Achab came into his house angry and fretting, because of the word that Naboth the Jezrahelite had spoken to him, saying: I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And casting himself upon his bed, he turned away his face to the wall, and would eat no bread.
5And Jezabel his wife went in to him, and said to him: What is the matter that thy soul is so grieved? And why eatest thou no bread?
6And he answered her: I spoke to Naboth the Jezrahelite, and said to him: Give me thy vineyard, and take money for it; or if it please thee, I will give thee a better vineyard for it. And he said: I will not give thee my vineyard.
7Then Jezabel his wife said to him: Thou art of great authority indeed, and governest well the kingdom of Israel. Arise, and eat bread, and be of good cheer. I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezrahelite.
8So she wrote letters in Achab's name, and sealed them with his ring, and sent them to the ancients, and the chief men that were in his city, and that dwelt with Naboth.
9And this was the tenor of the letters: Proclaim a fast, and make Naboth sit among the chief of the people.
10And suborn two men, sons of Belial against him: and let them bear false witness that he hath blasphemed God and the king: and then carry him out, and stone him and so let him die.
11And the men of his city, the ancients and nobles, that dwelt with him in the city, did as Jezabel had commanded them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them.
12They proclaimed a fast, and made Naboth sit among the chief of the people.
13And bringing two men, sons of the devil, they made them sit against him. And they, like men of the devil, bore witness against him before the people, saying: Naboth hath blasphemed God and the king. Wherefore they brought him forth without the city, and stoned him to death.
14And they sent to Jezabel, saying: Naboth is stoned, and is dead.
15And it came to pass when Jezabel heard that Naboth was stoned and dead, that she said to Achab: Arise and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezrahelite, who would not agree with thee, and give it thee for money. For Naboth is not alive, but dead.
16And when Achab heard this, to wit, that Naboth was dead, he arose, and went down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezrahelite, to take possession of it.
17And the word of the Lord came to Elias the Thesbite, saying:
18Arise, and go down to meet Achab king of Israel, who is in Samaria: behold, he is going down to the vineyard of Naboth, to take possession of it.
19And thou shalt speak to him, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast slain. Moreover also thou hast taken possession. And after these words thou shalt add: Thus saith the Lord: In this place, wherein the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they shall lick thy blood also.
20And Achab said to Elias: Hast thou found me thy enemy? He said: I have found thee, because thou art sold, to do evil in the sight of the Lord.
21Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and I will cut down thy posterity, and I will kill of Achab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up, and the last in Israel.
22And I will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and like the house of Baasa the son of Ahias: for what thou hast done, to provoke me to anger, and for making Israel to sin.
23And of Jezabel also the Lord spoke, saying: The dogs shall eat Jezabel in the field of Jezrahel.
24If Achab die in the city, the dogs shall eat him: but if he die in the field, the birds of the air shall eat him.
25Now there was not such another as Achab, who was sold to do evil in the sight of the Lord: for his wife Jezabel set him on.
26And he became abominable, insomuch that he followed the idols which the Amorrhites had made, whom the Lord destroyed before the face of the children of Israel.
27And when Achab had heard these words, he rent his garments, and put haircloth upon his flesh, and fasted and slept in sackcloth, and walked with his head cast down.
28And the word of the Lord came to Elias the Thesbite, saying:
29Hast thou not seen Achab humbled before me? Therefore, because he hath humbled himself for my sake, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.
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