1 Kings 21

1 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.

Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vine-garden in Jezreel, near the house of Ahab, king of Samaria.

2 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.”

And Ahab said to Naboth, Give me your vine-garden so that I may have it for a garden of sweet plants, for it is near my house; and let me give you a better vine-garden in exchange, or, if it seems good to you, let me give you its value in money.

3 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!”

But Naboth said to Ahab, By the Lord, far be it from me to give you the heritage of my fathers.

4 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.

So Ahab came into his house bitter and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, I will not give you the heritage of my fathers. And stretching himself on the bed with his face turned away, he would take no food.

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

But Jezebel, his wife, came to him and said, Why is your spirit so bitter that you have no desire for food?

6 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].”

And he said to her, Because I was talking to Naboth the Jezreelite, and I said to him, Let me have your vine-garden for a price, or, if it is pleasing to you, I will give you another vine-garden for it: and he said, I will not give you my vine-garden.

7 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.”

Then Jezebel, his wife, said, Are you now the ruler of Israel? Get up, take food, and let your heart be glad; I will give you the vine-garden of Naboth the Jezreelite.

8 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.

So she sent a letter in Ahab's name, stamped with his stamp, to the responsible men and the chiefs who were in authority with Naboth.

9 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.

And in the letter she said, Let a time of public sorrow be fixed, and put Naboth at the head of the people;

10 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.”

And get two good-for-nothing persons to come before him and give witness that he has been cursing God and the king. Then take him out and have him stoned to death.

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

So the responsible men and the chiefs who were in authority in his town, did as Jezebel had said in the letter she sent them.

12 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.

They gave orders for a day of public sorrow, and put Naboth at the head of the people.

13 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.

And the two good-for-nothing persons came in and took their seats before him and gave witness against Naboth, in front of the people, saying, Naboth has been cursing God and the king. Then they took him outside the town and had him stoned to death.

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

And they sent word to Jezebel, saying, Naboth has been stoned and is dead.

15 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.”

Then Jezebel, hearing that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, said to Ahab, Get up and take as your heritage the vine-garden of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he would not give you for money, for Naboth is no longer living but is dead.

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

So Ahab, hearing that Naboth was dead, went down to the vine-garden of Naboth the Jezreelite to take it as his heritage.

17 Then Yahweh spoke to Elijah the prophet. He said,

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

18 “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.

Go down to Ahab, king of Israel, in Samaria; see, he is in the vine-garden of Naboth the Jezreelite, where he has gone to take it as his heritage.

19 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!’”

Say to him, The Lord says, Have you put a man to death and taken his heritage? Then say to him, The Lord says, In the place where dogs have been drinking the blood of Naboth, there will your blood become the drink of dogs.

20 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.

And Ahab said to Elijah, Have you come face to face with me, O my hater? And he said, I have come to you because you have given yourself up to do evil in the eyes of the Lord.

21 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.

See, I will send evil on you and put an end to you completely, cutting off from Ahab every male child, him who is shut up and him who goes free in Israel;

22 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.’

And I will make your family like the family of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the family of Baasha, the son of Ahijah, because you have made me angry, and have made Israel do evil.

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

And of Jezebel the Lord said, Jezebel will become food for dogs in the heritage of Jezreel.

24 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.”

Any man of the family of Ahab who comes to his death in the town will become food for the dogs; and he who comes to his death in the open country will be food for the birds of the air.

25 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.

(There was no one like Ahab, who gave himself up to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, moved to it by Jezebel his wife.

26 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.

He did a very disgusting thing in going after false gods, doing all the things the Amorites did, whom the Lord sent out before the children of Israel.)

27 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.

Hearing these words, Ahab, in great grief, put haircloth on his flesh and went without food, sleeping in haircloth, and going about quietly.

28 Then Yahweh said this to Elijah:

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

29 “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]

Do you see how Ahab has made himself low before me? because he has made himself low before me, I will not send the evil in his life-time, but in his son's time I will send the evil on his family.