1 Kings 21:5–24

⁵But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “How is it that your spirit is so sullen that you are not eating ¹food?”

⁶So he said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you a vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”

⁷Jezebel his wife said to him, “^aDo you now ¹reign over Israel? Arise, eat bread, and let your heart be joyful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

^8aSo she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and sent letters to ^bthe elders and to the nobles who were living with Naboth in his city.

⁹Now she wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people;

¹⁰and seat two ^aworthless men before him, and let them testify against him, saying, ‘^bYou cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and ^cstone him ¹to death.”

Jezebel’s Plot

¹¹So the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them, just as it was written in the letters which she had sent them.

¹²They ^aproclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the people.

¹³Then the two worthless men came in and sat before him; and the worthless men testified against him, even against Naboth, before the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” ^aSo they took him outside the city and stoned him ¹to death with stones.

¹⁴Then they sent word to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”

¹⁵When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.”

¹⁶When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

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.”