Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
1 Kings 21
After these things, Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, so that it may be my vegetable garden, because it is near my house. I will give you a better vineyard in its place; or, if it is good in your eyes, I will give you its price in silver.”
Yet Naboth said to Ahab, “May the LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors.” So Ahab went into his house sullen and angry because of the word Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to 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 would not eat bread.
Then Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sullen, that you are not eating bread?” He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for silver; or, if you wish, I will give you a vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” Jezebel his wife said to him, “Is this how you now exercise kingship over Israel? Get up, eat bread, and let your heart be glad. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived with Naboth in his city. She wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people. Set two worthless men opposite him, and let them testify against him, saying, ‘You have cursed God and the king.’ Then bring him out and stone him, so that he dies.”
The people of his city—the elders and the nobles who lived in his city—did as Jezebel had sent word to them, according to what was written in the letters she had sent them. They proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. Then the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. The worthless men testified against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed God and the king.” So they brought him outside the city and stoned him with stones, and he died. Then they sent word to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”
When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Get up; take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for silver, for Naboth is no longer alive but dead.” When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab got up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Get up; go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria. Look, he is in Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone down to take possession of it. You will speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: Have you murdered and also taken possession?’ Then you will speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: In the place where the dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, the dogs will lick up your blood—even yours.’”
Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, my enemy?” And he said, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the eyes of the LORD. Look, I am bringing disaster upon you. I will sweep away after you and cut off from Ahab every male, whether bound or free in Israel. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked me and caused Israel to sin. And concerning Jezebel the LORD also spoke, saying, ‘The dogs will eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’ Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city, the dogs will eat; and anyone who dies in the open country, the birds of the heavens will eat.”
Surely there was no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do what was evil in the eyes of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife incited. He acted abominably by going after the idols, just as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments, put sackcloth on his body, and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and walked softly.
Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; in the days of his son I will bring the disaster upon his house.”