1 Kings 21:1-15 ▼

1 And it comes to pass after these things, a vineyard has been to Naboth the Jezreelite, that [is] in Jezreel, near the palace of Ahab king of Samaria,

2 and Ahab speaks to Naboth, saying, “Give your vineyard to me, and it is for a garden of green herbs for me, for it [is] near by my house, and I give to you a better vineyard than it in its stead; if [this is] good in your eyes, I give to you its price [in] silver.”

3 And Naboth says to Ahab, “Far be it from me, by YHWH, my giving the inheritance of my fathers to you”;

4 and Ahab comes to his house, sulky and angry, because of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite has spoken to him when he says, “I do not give the inheritance of my fathers to you,” and he lies down on his bed, and turns around his face, and has not eaten bread.

5 And his wife Jezebel comes to him, and speaks to him, “Why [is] this [that] your spirit [is] sulky, and you are not eating bread?”

6 And he says to her, “Because I speak to Naboth the Jezreelite, and say to him, Give your vineyard to me for money, or if you desire, I give a vineyard to you in its stead; and he says, I do not give my vineyard to you.”

7 And his wife Jezebel says to him, “You now execute rule over Israel! Rise, eat bread, and let your heart be glad—I give the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to you.”

8 And she writes letters in the name of Ahab, and seals with his seal, and sends the letters to the elderly and to the nobles who are in his city, those dwelling with Naboth,

9 and she writes in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast, and cause Naboth to sit at the head of the people,

10 and cause two men—sons of worthlessness—to sit opposite him, and they testify of him, saying, You have blessed [[or cursed]] God and [the] king; and they have brought him out, and stoned him, and he dies.”

11 And the men of his city, the elderly and the nobles who are dwelling in his city, do as Jezebel has sent to them, as written in the letters that she sent to them,

12 they have proclaimed a fast, and caused Naboth to sit at the head of the people,

13 and two men—sons of worthlessness—come in, and sit opposite him, and the men of worthlessness testify of him, even Naboth, before the people, saying, “Naboth blessed [[or cursed]] God and [the] king”; and they take him out to the outside of the city, and stone him with stones, and he dies;

14 and they send to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth was stoned, and is dead.”

15 And it comes to pass, at Jezebel’s hearing that Naboth has been stoned, and is dead, that Jezebel says to Ahab, “Rise, possess the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, that he refused to give to you for money, for Naboth is not alive but dead.”