1 Kings 21
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1Now there was a man named Naboth, from Jezreel, who owned a vineyard in Jezreel beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria.1Meanwhile, there was a man named Naboth from Jezreel who owned a vineyard that was located contiguous to King Ahab's palace in Samaria.
2One day Ahab said to Naboth, “Since your vineyard is so convenient to my palace, I would like to buy it to use as a vegetable garden. I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or if you prefer, I will pay you for it.”2Ahab addressed Naboth and asked him, "I would like to plant a vegetable garden near my house. Please exchange your vineyard with a better one from me, or if you'd rather have cash, I'll buy it for its full value."
3But Naboth replied, “The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance that was passed down by my ancestors.”3But Naboth replied to Ahab, "No way! The LORD prohibits the sale to you of the inheritance of my ancestors!"
4So Ahab went home angry and sullen because of Naboth’s answer. The king went to bed with his face to the wall and refused to eat!4Ahab went back to his palace, sullen and in a foul mood, because Naboth the Jezreelite had turned down Ahab's offer by saying "I will not transfer my ancestors' inheritance to you!" He laid down on his bed, curled up with his face to the wall, and refused to eat.
5“What’s the matter?” his wife Jezebel asked him. “What’s made you so upset that you’re not eating?”5But his wife Jezebel went to him and asked him, "How is it that you're so sullen and refusing to eat?"
6“I asked Naboth to sell me his vineyard or trade it, but he refused!” Ahab told her.6"I asked Naboth the Jezreelite, 'Sell me your vineyard for cash, or if you want, I'll give you a better one in its place.' But he refused. He told me, 'I won't give you my vineyard!'"
7“Are you the king of Israel or not?” Jezebel demanded. “Get up and eat something, and don’t worry about it. I’ll get you Naboth’s vineyard!”7"Aren't you the reigning king of Israel," his wife Jezebel replied. "Get up, have a meal, and get ready to be happy. I'll go get you the vineyard that Naboth the Jezreelite owns."
8So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and other leaders of the town where Naboth lived.8So she wrote some memos in Ahab's name, set his personal seal to them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city.
9In her letters she commanded: “Call the citizens together for a time of fasting, and give Naboth a place of honor.9In the memos, she wrote the following directives: "Proclaim a public fast and seat Naboth in the front row.
10And then seat two scoundrels across from him who will accuse him of cursing God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.”10Seat two wicked men in front of him, and make them testify against him. Tell them to claim 'You cursed God and the king.' Then take him out and stone him to death."
11So the elders and other town leaders followed the instructions Jezebel had written in the letters.11So the leading men of the city, along with the elders and nobles who lived there, did precisely what Jezebel had directed them to do. They followed the instructions that she had set forth in the memos:
12They called for a fast and put Naboth at a prominent place before the people.12They proclaimed a public fast and seated Naboth in the front row.
13Then the two scoundrels came and sat down across from him. And they accused Naboth before all the people, saying, “He cursed God and the king.” So he was dragged outside the town and stoned to death.13Two wicked men came in, sat down in front of them, and testified against Naboth in public, "Naboth cursed God and the king!" So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.
14The town leaders then sent word to Jezebel, “Naboth has been stoned to death.”14Afterwards, they sent a message to Jezebel that said, "Naboth has been stoned. He's dead."
15When Jezebel heard the news, she said to Ahab, “You know the vineyard Naboth wouldn’t sell you? Well, you can have it now! He’s dead!”15When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she told Ahab, "Get up and confiscate Naboth's vineyard that he refused to sell you for cash. Naboth the Jezreelite isn't alive anymore. He's dead!"
16So Ahab immediately went down to the vineyard of Naboth to claim it.16So once he heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab got up, went down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, and confiscated it.
17But the LORD said to Elijah,17That's when this message from the LORD came to Elijah the foreigner:
18“Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He will be at Naboth’s vineyard in Jezreel, claiming it for himself.18"Get up and go down to meet King Ahab of Israel. He's in Samaria. Look! He's in Naboth's vineyard, where he's gone to confiscate it.
19Give him this message: ‘This is what the LORD says: Wasn’t it enough that you killed Naboth? Must you rob him, too? Because you have done this, dogs will lick your blood at the very place where they licked the blood of Naboth!’”19Ask the king, 'Did you commit murder? And now you're going to steal as well?' Also tell him, 'This is what the LORD says: "Where the dogs were licking up Naboth's blood, dogs will also lick up your blood—that's right—yours!"'"
20“So, my enemy, you have found me!” Ahab exclaimed to Elijah. “Yes,” Elijah answered, “I have come because you have sold yourself to what is evil in the LORD’s sight.20Later on, Ahab asked Elijah, "Have you found me, my enemy?" But Elijah answered, "I've found you because you sold yourself to do what the LORD considers to be evil!
21So now the LORD says, ‘I will bring disaster on you and consume you. I will destroy every one of your male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel!21Now pay attention! I'm going to send evil in your direction! I will completely sweep you away and eliminate from Ahab every male, whether indentured servant or free, throughout Israel.
22I am going to destroy your family as I did the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat and the family of Baasha son of Ahijah, for you have made me very angry and have led Israel into sin.’22I will make your household resemble that of Nebat's son Jeroboam, or like the household of Ahijah's son Baasha, because of how you've provoked me to anger and made Israel to sin.
23“And regarding Jezebel, the LORD says, ‘Dogs will eat Jezebel’s body at the plot of land in Jezreel. ’23The LORD also has this to say about Jezebel: 'Dogs will eat Jezebel within the outer ramparts of Jezreel.
24“The members of Ahab’s family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the field will be eaten by vultures.”24Dogs will eat whoever belongs to Ahab and who dies in the city. The birds of the sky will eat whoever dies in the fields.'"
25(No one else so completely sold himself to what was evil in the LORD’s sight as Ahab did under the influence of his wife Jezebel.25It can be truly said that no one else sold himself to practice what the LORD considered to be evil quite like the way Ahab did, because his wife Jezebel incited him.
26His worst outrage was worshiping idols just as the Amorites had done—the people whom the LORD had driven out from the land ahead of the Israelites.)26His behavior in pursuing idolatry was detestable, just like the Amorites had done whom the LORD had expelled in front of the army of Israel.
27But when Ahab heard this message, he tore his clothing, dressed in burlap, and fasted. He even slept in burlap and went about in deep mourning.27Nevertheless, as soon as Ahab heard this message, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He even slept in sackcloth and wandered around meekly.
28Then another message from the LORD came to Elijah:28Later, this message from the LORD came to Elijah the foreigner:
29“Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has done this, I will not do what I promised during his lifetime. It will happen to his sons; I will destroy his dynasty.”29"Have you noticed that Ahab has humbled himself in my presence? Because he has humbled himself in my presence, I will not bring his evil to harvest during his lifetime, but I will bring evil to his household during his son's lifetime."
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.
1 Kings 20
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