1 Kings 21:5–24

⁵But ^dJezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?”

⁶He 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 another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”

⁷Then Jezebel his wife said to him, “You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

⁸And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. ⁹She wrote in the letters, saying,

Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth ¹with high honor among the people; ¹⁰and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, You have ^eblasphemed God and the king. Then take him out, and ^fstone him, that he may die.

¹¹So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. ^12gThey proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. ¹³And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels ^hwitnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!” ⁱThen they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died. ¹⁴Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”

¹⁵And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that 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.” ¹⁶So it was, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

The Lord Condemns Ahab

^17jThen the word of the Lord came to ^kElijah the Tishbite, saying, ¹⁸“Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, ^lwho lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. ¹⁹You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Have you murdered and also taken possession?” ’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^m“In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours.” ’ ”

²⁰So Ahab said to Elijah, ⁿ“Have you found me, O my enemy?”

And he answered, “I have found you, because ^oyou have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord: ²¹‘Behold, ^pI will bring calamity on you. I will take away your ^qposterity, and will cut off from Ahab ^revery male in Israel, both ^sbond and free. ²²I will make your house like the house of ^tJeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of ^uBaasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and made Israel sin.’ ²³And ^vconcerning Jezebel the Lord also spoke, saying, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the ²wall of Jezreel.’ ²⁴The dogs shall eat ^wwhoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field.”