1 Kings 21
1 And it came to pass, after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had, a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, —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 Ahab, therefore, spake unto Naboth, saying—Come! give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, for, the same, is near by my house, and let me give thee, instead thereof, a vineyard better than it, —if it be good in thine eyes, I will give thee silver to the value of this.
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 unto Ahab, —Far be it from me, of Yahweh! that I should give up the inheritance of my fathers, unto 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 So Ahab came into his house, sullen and disturbed, because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken unto him, that he should have said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. So he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and did eat no food.
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 came unto him Jezebel his wife, —and said unto him—Why is it, that thy spirit is sullen, that thou art, not eating food?
His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so depressed? Why are you refusing to eat anything?”
6 And he said unto her—Because I spake unto Naboth, the Jezreelite, and said unto him—Come! give me thy vineyard for silver, or, if thou wouldst prefer, I will give thee a vineyard, in its stead; 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 Jezebel his wife said unto him: Art, thou, still, going to carry on the kingdom over Israel? Rise! eat food, and let thy heart be merry, I, will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite!
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 the name of Ahab, and sealed them with his signet-ring, —and sent the letters unto the elders, and unto the nobles who were in his city, 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 Now she wrote in the letters, saying, —Proclaim ye a fast, and cause Naboth to sit at the head 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 then let two reckless men take their seats before him, that they may bear witness against him, saying, Thou hast reviled God and king! then shall ye carry him forth and stone him, that he 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 So the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who dwelt in his city, did just as Jezebel had sent unto them, —as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto 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 caused Naboth to sit at the head 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 Then came in the two reckless men, and sat before him, and the men bare witness against him, even against Naboth, before the people, saying, Naboth hath reviled God and king! So they carried him forth, outside the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.
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 sent they unto Jezebel, 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 Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said unto Ahab—Rise! take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for silver, 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 it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab arose, to go down unto the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession thereof.
When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went to the vineyard to claim that he now owned it.
17 Then came the word of Yahweh unto Elijah the Tishbite, saying:
Then Yahweh spoke to Elijah the prophet. He said,
18 Arise! go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria, —lo! he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he hath gone down, to take possession thereof.
“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 Then shalt thou speak unto him, saying—Thus, saith Yahweh, Hast thou committed murder, and also taken possession? Then shalt thou speak unto him, saying: Thus, saith Yahweh, In the place where the dogs have lapped up the blood of Naboth, shall the dogs lap up thy blood, even thine.
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 Then said Ahab unto Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he said: I have found [thee]! Because thou hast sold thyself to do the thing that is wicked in the eyes of Yahweh,
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 me! [saith he] bringing in upon thee, calamity, and I will consume after thee, —and cut off of Ahab, even the meanest, whether shut up or left at large 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 will deliver up thy house—Like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah, —for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked, and caused, 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 Moreover also, concerning Jezebel, hath Yahweh spoken, saying, —The dogs, shall eat Jezebel, in the town-land of Jezreel:
Yahweh has also told me that [your wife] Jezebel [will be killed, and] dogs in Jezreel will eat her corpse.
24 Him that dieth, of Ahab, in the city, shall, the dogs, eat, —and, him that dieth in the field, shall, the birds of heaven, eat.
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 indeed, there was none like Ahab, who sold himself to do the thing that was wicked in the eyes of Yahweh, —whom Jezebel his wife goaded 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 so that he did very abominably, in going after the manufactured gods, —according to all which the Amorites had done, whom Yahweh dispossessed from before the sons 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 it came to pass, when Ahab heard these words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, —and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
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 Then came the word of Yahweh unto Elijah the Tishbite, saying:
Then Yahweh said this to Elijah:
29 Hast thou seen that Ahab hath humbled himself, before me? Because he hath humbled himself before me, I will not bring in the calamity in his days, In the days of his son, will I bring in the calamity 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]
