1 Kings 21

1 After these things Naboth the Izreelite had a vineyarde in Izreel, hard by the palace of Ahab 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 Ahab spake vnto Naboth, saying, Giue me thy vineyarde, that I may make mee a garden of herbes thereof, because it is neere by mine house: and I will giue thee for it a better vineyarde then it is: or if it please thee, I will giue 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 And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord keepe me from giuing the inheritance of my father vnto thee.

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 Then Ahab came into his house heauie and in displeasure, because of the word which Naboth the Izreelite had spoken vnto him. for hee had sayde, I will not giue thee the inheritance of my fathers, and he lay vpon his bed, and turned his face and would eate 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 Then Iezebel his wife came to him and said vnto him, Why is thy spirit so sad that thou eatest 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 said vnto her, Because I spake vnto Naboth the Izreelite, and sayd vnto him, Giue me thy vineyard for money, or if it please thee, I will giue thee another vineyard for it: but he answered, I wil not giue thee my vineyarde.

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 Iezebel his wife sayde vnto him, Doest thou nowe gouerne the kingdome of Israel? vp, eate bread, and be of good cheere, I will giue thee the vineyard of Naboth the Izreelite.

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 letters in Ahabs name, and sealed them with his seale, and sent the letters vnto the Elders, and to the nobles that were in his citie dwelling 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 shee wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaime a fast, and set Naboth among the chiefe 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 set two wicked men before him, and let them witnesse against him, saying, Thou diddest blaspheme God and the King: then cary him out, and stone him that he may dye.

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 citie, euen the Elders and gouernours, which dwelt in his citie, did as Iezebel had sent vnto them: as it was written in the letters, which she had sent vnto 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 set Naboth among the chiefe 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 there came two wicked men, and sate before him: and the wicked men witnessed against Naboth in the presence of the people saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the King. Then they caried him away out of the citie, and stoned him with stones, that he dyed.

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 Then they sent to Iezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned and is dead.

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

15 And when Iezebel heard that Naboth was stoned and was dead, Iezebel sayd to Ahab, Vp, and take possession of the vineyarde of Naboth the Izreelite, which he refused to giue thee for money: for Naboth is not aliue, but is 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 Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he rose to go downe to the vineyard of Naboth the Izreelite, 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 vnto Eliiah the Tishbite, saying,

Then Yahweh spoke to Elijah the prophet. He said,

18 Arise, goe downe to meete Ahab King of Israel, which is in Samaria. loe, he is in the vineyarde of Naboth, whither he is gone downe 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 Therefore shalt thou say vnto him, Thus sayth the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also gotten possession? And thou shalt speake vnto him, saying, Thus sayth the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs licke euen 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 Ahab sayd to Eliiah, Hast thou found mee, O mine enemie? And he answered, I haue found thee: for thou hast solde thy selfe to worke wickednes 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 Beholde, I will bring euill vpon thee, and wil take away thy posteritie, and wil cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, as well him that is shut vp, as him that is left 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 wil make thine house like the house of Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the sonne of Ahiiah, for the prouocation wherewith thou hast prouoked, and made Israel to sinne.

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 also of Iezebel spake the Lord, saying, The dogs shall eate Iezebel, by the wall of Izreel.

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

24 The dogs shall eate him of Ahabs stocke, that dyeth in the citie: and him that dyeth in the fieldes, shall the foules of the ayre eate.

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 (But there was none like Ahab, who did fell him selfe, to worke wickednesse in the sight of the Lord: whom Iezebel his wife prouoked.

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 For he did exceeding abominably in following idoles, according to all that the Amorites did, whom the Lord cast out before 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 Nowe when Ahab heard those wordes, he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth vpon him and fasted, and lay in sackecloth and went softely.

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 worde of the Lord came to Eliiah the Tishbite, saying,

Then Yahweh said this to Elijah:

29 Seest thou how Ahab is humbled before me? because he submitteth himselfe before me, I will not bring that euill in his dayes, but in his sonnes dayes wil I bring euill vpon 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]