1 Kings 21
1 Now some time later, Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, near 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 spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, so I can have it as a vegetable garden, because it is near my house. In exchange, I will give you a better vineyard, or, if you prefer, I will pay you its value 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 replied to Ahab, “May Yahweh forbid that I should give the inheritance of my ancestors to you.”
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 went into his palace resentful and angry because of the answer Naboth the Jezreelite gave him when he said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my ancestors.” He lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and refused to eat any 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 Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “Why is your heart so sad, so that you eat no food?”
His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so depressed? Why are you refusing to eat anything?”
6 He replied to her, “I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for money, or if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard to be yours.' Then he answered me, 'I will not give you 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 So Jezebel his wife replied to him, “Do you not still rule the kingdom of Israel? Get up and eat; let your heart be happy. I will obtain for you 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 Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab's name, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and to the wealthy who sat with him in meetings, and who lived near 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 She wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth above 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 Also place two dishonest men with him and let them testify against him, saying, 'You cursed God and the king.'” Then take him out and stone him to death.
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 wealthy who lived in Naboth's city, did as Jezebel had described to them, as was written in the letters that 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 seated Naboth above 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 The two dishonest men came in and sat before Naboth; they testified against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed both God and the king.” Then they carried him out of 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 Then the elders sent word to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”
Then those leaders sent a message to Jezebel, saying “We have executed Naboth.”
15 So when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money, because 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 When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite and 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 Then the word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
Then Yahweh spoke to Elijah the prophet. He said,
18 “Get up and go meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. He is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone 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 You must speak to him and say that Yahweh says, 'Have you killed and also taken possession?' Then you will tell him that Yahweh says, 'In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick your blood, yes, your blood.'”
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 Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, my enemy?” Elijah answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight 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 Yahweh says this to you: 'See, I will bring disaster on you and will completely consume and cut off from you every male child and slave and free man 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 I will make your family like the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the family of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have led 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 Yahweh has also spoken concerning Jezebel, saying, 'The dogs will eat Jezebel beside the wall of Jezreel.'
Yahweh has also told me that [your wife] Jezebel [will be killed, and] dogs in Jezreel will eat her corpse.
24 Anyone who belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, the dogs will eat; and the birds of the sky will eat anyone who dies in the field.”
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 There was no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, whom Jezebel his wife incited to sin.
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 Ahab did disgusting deeds for the idols he followed, just as all that the Amorites had done, those whom Yahweh had removed before the people 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 When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body and fasted, and lay in sackcloth and became very sad.
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 the word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
Then Yahweh said this to Elijah:
29 “Do you see how Ahab humbles himself before me? Because he humbles himself before me, I will not bring the coming disaster in his days; it is in his son's day that I will bring disaster on his family.”
“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]
