1 Kings 21:17–29

¹⁷Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

¹⁸“Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, ^awho is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth where he has gone down to take possession of it.

¹⁹“You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “^aHave you murdered and also taken possession?” ’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “^bIn the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth the dogs will lick up your blood, even yours.” ’ ”

²⁰Ahab said to Elijah, “^aHave you found me, O my enemy?” And he ¹answered, “I have found you, ^bbecause you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord.

²¹“Behold, I will bring evil upon you, and ^awill utterly sweep you away, and will cut off from Ahab every male, both bond and free in Israel;

²²and ^aI will make your house ^blike the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and because you ^chave made Israel sin.

²³“Of Jezebel also has the Lord spoken, saying, ‘^aThe dogs will eat Jezebel in the ¹district of Jezreel.’

²⁴“^aThe one belonging to Ahab, who dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and the one who dies in the field the birds of heaven will eat.”

^25aSurely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, ¹because Jezebel his wife incited him.

^26aHe acted very abominably in following idols, ^baccording to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the sons of Israel.

²⁷It came about when Ahab heard these words, that ^ahe tore his clothes and put ¹on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about ²despondently.

²⁸Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

²⁹“Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but I will bring the evil upon his house ^ain his son’s days.”