1 Kings 21

1 And after these things, Naboth the Jezrahelite, who was in Jezrahel, had at that time a vineyard near the palace of Achab king of Samaria.

King Ahab had a palace in Jezreel [city]. Near the palace was a vineyard owned by a man from that city whose name was Naboth.

2 And 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.

One day, Ahab [went to] Naboth and said to him, “Your vineyard is close to my palace. I would like to buy it, so that I can plant some vegetables there. In exchange, I will give you a better vineyard [somewhere else], or if you prefer, I will pay you for your vineyard.”

3 Naboth answered him: The Lord be merciful to me, and not let me give thee the inheritance of my fathers.

But Naboth replied, “That land belonged to my ancestors, [so I want to keep it]. I hope that Yahweh will never allow me to give that land to you!”

4 And 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.

So Ahab became very sullen and angry because of what Naboth had said. He went home and lay down on his bed. He turned his face toward the wall, and he refused to eat anything.

5 And 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?

His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so depressed? Why are you refusing to eat anything?”

6 And 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.

Ahab replied, “I talked to Naboth, that man from Jezreel. I told him that [I wanted] his vineyard. [I said, ] ‘I will buy it from you, or I will give you another vineyard for it.’ But he refused [to let me have it].”

7 Then 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.

His wife replied, “You are [RHQ] the king of Israel, [so you can get whatever you want] Get up, and eat some food and do not worry [about what Naboth said]. I will get Naboth’s vineyard for you.”

8 So she wrote letter’s 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.

Then Jezebel wrote some letters, and she signed Ahab’s name on them. She used his official seal to seal them. Then she sent them to the older leaders and other important men who lived in Naboth’s town.

9 And this was the tenor of the letters: Proclaim a fast, and make Naboth sit among the chief of the people,

This is what she wrote in the letters: “Proclaim a day when all the people will [gather together and] (fast/abstain from eating food). Give to Naboth an important place to sit among them.

10 And 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.

Then find two men who always cause trouble. Give them places to sit opposite/facing him. Tell these men to testify that they heard Naboth say things that criticized God and the king. Then take Naboth out of the city and kill him by throwing stones at him.”

11 And 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:

The leaders [received the letters and] did what Jezebel had written in the letters for them to do.

12 They proclaimed a fast, and made Naboth sit among the chief of the people.

They declared a day on which the people would all (fast/abstain from food). And they gave Naboth a seat in a place where honored people sat, in front of the people.

13 And 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.

Two men who always caused trouble sat opposite/facing Naboth. While everyone was listening, they stated that they had heard Naboth say things that criticized God and the king. So the people seized Naboth. They took him outside the city and killed him [by throwing] stones at him.

14 And they sent to Jezabel, saying: Naboth is stoned, and is dead.

Then those leaders sent a message to Jezebel, saying “We have executed Naboth.”

15 And 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.

When Jezebel found out that Naboth had been killed, she told Ahab, “Naboth is dead. Now you can go and take possession of the vineyard that he refused to sell to you.”

16 And 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.

When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went to the vineyard to claim that he now owned it.

17 And the word of the Lord came to Elias the Thesbite, saying:

Then Yahweh spoke to Elijah the prophet. He said,

18 Arise, 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:

“Go to Samaria and talk to Ahab, the king of Israel. He is in the vineyard of a man named Naboth. He has gone there to claim that he now owns it.

19 And 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.

Tell Ahab that this is what I, Yahweh, say to him: ‘You have murdered Naboth and taken his land.’ So I am telling you this: ‘In the same place where [Naboth died and] dogs came and licked up Naboth’s blood, [you will die and] the dogs will lick up your blood, too!’”

20 And 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.

So when Elijah met with Ahab, Ahab said to him, “You, my enemy, have found me!” [RHQ] Elijah answered, “Yes, I have found you. You have never stopped doing the things that Yahweh says are wrong.

21 Behold 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.

So this is what Yahweh says to you: ‘I will soon get rid of you. I will kill you, and I will also kill every male in your household, including those who are slaves and those who are not slaves.

22 And 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.

Your family will all be killed, just like the family of King Jeroboam and like the family of King Baasha were killed. I will get rid of you because you have caused me to become very angry, and you have also led the Israeli people to sin.’

23 And of Jezabel also the Lord spoke, saying: The dogs shall eat Jezabel in the field of Jezrahel.

Yahweh has also told me that [your wife] Jezebel [will be killed, and] dogs in Jezreel will eat her corpse.

24 If 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.

The [dead bodies of the] members of your family who die in this city [will not be buried, they] will be eaten by dogs, and [the corpses of] those who die in the fields will be eaten by vultures.”

25 Now 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,

There was no man no man like Ahab who always did things that Yahweh considered to be evil. His wife Jezebel incited/urged him to do [many of] those things.

26 And 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.

The most abominable/detestable thing that Ahab did was to worship idols, just like the Amor people-group had done. And that is why Yahweh took the Amor people’s land from them and gave it to the Israelis.

27 And 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.

After Elijah finished talking to Ahab, Ahab tore his clothes [to show that he was sorry for all the sins that he had committed]. He put on rough clothes that were made from sacks, and he refused to eat anything. He even wore those rough clothes made from sacks when he slept, to show that he was sorry.

28 And the word of the Lord came to Elias the Thesbite, saying:

Then Yahweh said this to Elijah:

29 Hast 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.

“I have seen [RHQ] that Ahab is now very sorry for all the evil things that he has done. So the things that I promised to do to his [family] will not happen while he is still alive. I will cause them to happen after his son becomes king. Then those things will happen to his family.” [MTY]