1 Kings 21

1 And it comes to pass after these things, a vineyard has been to Naboth the Jezreelite, that [is] in Jezreel, near the palace of Ahab king of Samaria,

And after these things, in that time, there was a vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, who was in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab, the king of Samaria.

2 and Ahab speaks to Naboth, saying, “Give your vineyard to me, and it is for a garden of green herbs for me, for it [is] near by my house, and I give to you a better vineyard than it in its stead; if [this is] good in your eyes, I give to you its price [in] silver.”

Therefore, Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying: “Give your vineyard to me, so that I may make for myself a garden of herbs. For it is nearby and is beside my house. And I will give to you, in place of it, a better vineyard. Or if you consider it to be more convenient for you, I will give you the price in silver, whatever it is worth.”

3 And Naboth says to Ahab, “Far be it from me, by YHWH, my giving the inheritance of my fathers to you”;

Naboth responded to him, “May the Lord be gracious to me, lest I give to you the inheritance of my fathers.”

4 and Ahab comes to his house, sulky and angry, because of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite has spoken to him when he says, “I do not give the inheritance of my fathers to you,” and he lies down on his bed, and turns around his face, and has not eaten bread.

Then Ahab went into his house, angry and gnashing his teeth over the word that Naboth, the Jezreelite, had spoken to him, saying, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And casting himself on his bed, he turned away his face to the wall, and he would not eat bread.

5 And his wife Jezebel comes to him, and speaks to him, “Why [is] this [that] your spirit [is] sulky, and you are not eating bread?”

Then Jezebel, his wife, entered to him, and she said to him: “What is this matter, by which your soul has been saddened? And why do you not eat bread?”

6 And he says to her, “Because I speak to Naboth the Jezreelite, and say to him, Give your vineyard to me for money, or if you desire, I give a vineyard to you in its stead; and he says, I do not give my vineyard to you.”

And he responded to her: “I spoke to Naboth, the Jezreelite, and I said to him: ‘Give your vineyard to me, and accept money. Or if it pleases you, I will give to you a better vineyard, in place of it.’ And he said, ‘I will not give my vineyard to you.’”

7 And his wife Jezebel says to him, “You now execute rule over Israel! Rise, eat bread, and let your heart be glad—I give the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to you.”

Then Jezebel, his wife, said to him: “You are of great authority, and you rule well in the kingdom of Israel. Rise up and eat bread, and be even-tempered. I will give the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, to you.”

8 And she writes letters in the name of Ahab, and seals with his seal, and sends the letters to the elderly and to the nobles who are in his city, those dwelling with Naboth,

And so, she wrote letters in the name of Ahab, and she sealed these with his ring. And she sent to those greater by birth, and to the nobles who were in his city and living with Naboth.

9 and she writes in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast, and cause Naboth to sit at the head of the people,

And this was the judgment of the letters: “Proclaim a fast, and cause Naboth to sit among the first rulers of the people.

10 and cause two men—sons of worthlessness—to sit opposite him, and they testify of him, saying, You have blessed [[or cursed]] God and [the] king; and they have brought him out, and stoned him, and he dies.”

And send out two men, sons of Belial, against him. And let them speak the false testimony: ‘He has blasphemed God and king.’ And then lead him away, and stone him, and so let him die.”

11 And the men of his city, the elderly and the nobles who are dwelling in his city, do as Jezebel has sent to them, as written in the letters that she sent to them,

Then his fellow citizens, those greater by birth and the nobles who were living with him in the city, did just as Jezebel had instructed them, and just as it was written in the letters that she had sent to them.

12 they have proclaimed a fast, and caused Naboth to sit at the head of the people,

They proclaimed a fast, and they caused Naboth to sit among the first rulers of the people.

13 and two men—sons of worthlessness—come in, and sit opposite him, and the men of worthlessness testify of him, even Naboth, before the people, saying, “Naboth blessed [[or cursed]] God and [the] king”; and they take him out to the outside of the city, and stone him with stones, and he dies;

And bringing forward two men, sons of the devil, they caused them to sit opposite him. And they, acting indeed like diabolical men, spoke testimony against him before the multitude: “Naboth has blasphemed God and king.” For this reason, they led him away, beyond the city, and they put him to death by stoning.

14 and they send to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth was stoned, and is dead.”

And they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned, and he has died.”

15 And it comes to pass, at Jezebel’s hearing that Naboth has been stoned, and is dead, that Jezebel says to Ahab, “Rise, possess the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, that he refused to give to you for money, for Naboth is not alive but dead.”

Then it happened that, when Jezebel had heard that Naboth was stoned and was dead, she said to Ahab: “Rise up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, who was not willing to acquiesce to you, and to give it to you in exchange for money. For Naboth is not alive, but dead.”

16 And it comes to pass, at Ahab’s hearing that Naboth is dead, that Ahab rises to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to possess it.

And when Ahab had heard this, namely, that Naboth was dead, he rose up and descended to the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, so that he might take possession of it.

17 And the word of YHWH is to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

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

18 “Rise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who [is] in Samaria—behold, in the vineyard of Naboth, to where he has gone down to possess it,

“Rise up, and descend to meet Ahab, the king of Israel, who is in Samaria. Behold, he is descending to the vineyard of Naboth, so that he may take possession of it.

19 and you have spoken to him, saying, Thus said YHWH: Have you murdered, and also possessed? And you have spoken to him, saying, Thus said YHWH: In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs lick your blood, even yours.”

And you shall speak to him, saying: ‘Thus says the Lord: You have killed. Moreover you have also taken possession.’ And after this, you shall add: ‘Thus says the Lord: In this place, where the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they shall also lick your blood.’”

20 And Ahab says to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” And he says, “I have found—because of your selling yourself to do evil in the eyes of YHWH;

And Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you discovered me to be your enemy?” And he said: “I have discovered you to have been sold, so that you would do evil in the sight of the Lord:

21 behold, I am bringing calamity on you, and have taken away your posterity, and cut off from Ahab those sitting on the wall, and restrained, and left, in Israel,

‘Behold, I will lead evil over you. And I will cut down your posterity. And I will put to death of Ahab whatever urinates against a wall, and whatever is lame, and whatever is last in Israel.

22 and given up your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah, for the provocation with which you have provoked [Me], and cause Israel to sin.

And I will cause your house to be like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah. For you have acted so that you provoked me to anger, and so that you caused Israel to sin.’

23 And YHWH has also spoken of Jezebel, saying, The dogs eat Jezebel in the bulwark of Jezreel;

And about Jezebel also, the Lord spoke, saying: ‘The dogs shall consume Jezebel in the field of Jezreel.

24 the dogs eat him who dies of Ahab in a city, and [the] bird of the heavens eats him who dies in a field;

If Ahab will have died in the city, the dogs will consume him. But if he will have died in the field, the birds of the air will consume him.’”

25 surely there has been none like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of YHWH, whom his wife Jezebel has moved,

And so, there was no other person similar to Ahab, who was sold so that he did evil in the sight of the Lord. For his wife, Jezebel, urged him on.

26 and he does very abominably to go after the idols, according to all that the Amorite did whom YHWH dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel.”

And he became abominable, so much so that he followed the idols that the Amorites had made, whom the Lord consumed before the face of the sons of Israel.

27 And it comes to pass, at Ahab’s hearing these words, that he tears his garments, and puts sackcloth on his flesh, and fasts, and lies in sackcloth, and goes gently.

Then, when Ahab had heard these words, he tore his garments, and he put haircloth on his body, and he fasted, and he slept in sackcloth, and he walked with his head downcast.

28 And the word of YHWH is to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

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

29 “Have you seen that Ahab has been humbled before Me? Because that he has been humbled before Me, I do not bring in the calamity in his days; I bring in the calamity on his house in the days of his son.”

“Have you not seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Therefore, since he has humbled himself because of me, I will not lead in the evil during his days. Instead, during the days of his son, I will bring in the evil to his house.”