1 Kings 21
21
Jezebel Has Naboth Killed
1Naboth owned a vineyard in Jezreel near King Ahab's palace.
2One day, Ahab said, “Naboth, your vineyard is near my palace. Give it to me so I can turn it into a vegetable garden. I'll give you a better vineyard or pay whatever you want for yours.”
3Naboth answered, “This vineyard has always been in my family. I won't let you have it.”
4So Ahab went home, angry and depressed because of what Naboth had told him. He lay on his bed, just staring at the wall and refusing to eat a thing.
5Jezebel his wife came in and asked, “What's wrong? Why won't you eat?”
6“I asked Naboth to sell me his vineyard or to let me give him a better one,” Ahab replied. “And he told me I couldn't have it.”
7“Aren't you the king of Israel?” Jezebel asked. “Get out of bed and eat something! Don't worry, I'll get Naboth's vineyard for you.”
8-10Jezebel wrote a letter to each of the leaders of the town where Naboth lived. In the letters she said:
Call everyone together and tell them to go without eating#21.8-10 to go without eating: People sometimes came together to worship and to go without eating to show that they were sorry for their sins. today. When they come together, give Naboth a seat at the front. Get two liars to sit facing him and swear that Naboth has cursed God and the king. Then take Naboth outside and stone him to death!
She signed Ahab's name to the letters and sealed them with his seal. Then she sent them to the town leaders.
11After receiving her letters, they did exactly what she had asked. 12They told the people that it was a day to go without eating, and when they all came together, they seated Naboth at the front. 13The two liars came in and sat across from Naboth. Then they accused him of cursing God and the king, so the people dragged Naboth outside and stoned him to death.
14The leaders of Jezreel sent a message back to Jezebel that said, “Naboth is dead.”
15As soon as Jezebel got their message, she told Ahab, “Now you can have the vineyard Naboth refused to sell. He's dead.” 16Ahab got up and went to take over the vineyard.
Elijah Condemns Ahab
17The Lord said to Elijah the prophet, 18“King Ahab of Israel is in Naboth's vineyard right now, taking it over. 19Go tell him that I say, ‘Ahab, you murdered Naboth and took his property. And so, in the very spot where dogs licked up Naboth's blood, they will lick up your blood.’ ”
When Elijah found him, 20Ahab said, “So, my enemy, you found me at last.”
Elijah answered:
Yes, I did! Ahab, you have managed to do everything the Lord hates. 21Now you will be punished. You and every man and boy in your family will die, whether slave or free. 22Your whole family will be wiped out, just like the families of King Jeroboam and King Baasha. You've made the Lord very angry by sinning and causing the Israelites to sin.
23 #
2 K 9.36. And as for Jezebel, dogs will eat her body there in Jezreel. 24Dogs will also eat the bodies of your relatives who die in town, and vultures will eat the bodies of those who die in the country.
25-29When Ahab heard this, he tore his clothes in sorrow and wore sackcloth day and night. He was depressed and refused to eat.
Some time later, the Lord said, “Elijah, do you see how sorry Ahab is for what he did? I won't punish his family while he is still alive. I'll wait until his son is king.”
No one was more determined than Ahab to disobey the Lord. And Jezebel encouraged him. Worst of all, he had worshiped idols, just as the Amorites#21.25-29 Amorites: A name sometimes used of the people who lived in Palestine before the Israelites. had done before the Lord forced them out of the land and gave it to Israel.
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1 Kings 21: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
1 Kings 21
21
1 NOW NABOTH the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, close beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria; and after these things,
2 Ahab said to Naboth, Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near my house. I will give you a better vineyard for it or, if you prefer, I will give you its worth in money.
3 Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you.
4 And Ahab [already depressed by the Lord's message to him] came into his house [more] resentful and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him; for he had said, I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers. And he lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and would eat no food.
5 But Jezebel his wife came and said to him, Why is your spirit so troubled that you eat no food?
6 And he said to her, Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, Give me your vineyard for money; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it. And he answered, I will not give you my vineyard.
7 Jezebel his wife said to him, Do you not govern Israel? Arise, eat food, and let your heart be happy. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
8 So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal and sent them to the elders and nobles who dwelt with Naboth in his city.
9 And in the letters she said, Proclaim a fast and set Naboth up high among the people.
10 And set two men, base fellows, before him, and let them bear witness against him, saying, You cursed and renounced God and the king. Then carry him out and stone him to death.
11 And the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who dwelt there, did as Jezebel had directed in the letters sent them.
12 They proclaimed a fast and set Naboth on high among the people.
13 Two base fellows came in and sat opposite him and they charged Naboth before the people, saying, Naboth cursed and renounced God and the king. Then he was carried out of the city and stoned to death.
14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth has been stoned and is dead.
15 Then Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite which he refused to sell you, for Naboth is not alive, but dead.
16 When Ahab heard that, he arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to take possession of it.
17 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
18 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel in Samaria. He is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to possess it.
19 Say to him, Thus says the Lord: Have you killed and also taken possession? Thus says the Lord: In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your blood, even yours.
20 And Ahab said to Elijah, Have you found me, O my enemy? And he answered, I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord.
21 See [says the Lord], I will bring evil on you and utterly sweep away and cut off from Ahab every male, bond and free,
22 And will make your household like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the household of Baasha son of Ahijah, for the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger and made Israel to sin.
23 Also the Lord said of Jezebel: The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.
24 Any belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and any who dies in the field the birds of the air shall eat. [I Kings 14:11; 16:4.]
25 For there was no one who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord as did Ahab, incited by his wife Jezebel.
26 He did very abominably in going after idols, as had the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the Israelites.
27 When Ahab heard those words of Elijah, he tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his flesh, fasted, lay in sackcloth, and went quietly.
28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
29 Do you see how Ahab humbles himself before Me? Because he humbles himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his lifetime, but in his son's day I will bring the evil upon his house.
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