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¹ AND it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.² And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, Give me your vineyard that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near to my house; and I will give you for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to you, I will give you its worth in money.³ And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.⁴ And Ahab went to his house sad and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food.

⁵ But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, Why is your spirit so sad, that you refuse to eat food?⁶ And 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 please you, I will give you another vineyard for it, better than it; but he answered, I will not give you my vineyard.⁷ And Jezebel his wife said to him, Are you really king over Israel? Arise, and eat bread, and let your heart be merry; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.⁸ So she wrote a letter in Ahabs name and sealed it with his ring, and sent the letter to the elders and to the nobles who dwelt in the city with Naboth.⁹ And she wrote in the letter, saying, Proclaim a fast and set Naboth on high among the people;¹⁰ Then bring two wicked men and set them opposite him, and let them testify against him, saying, Naboth has reviled God and the king. And then take him out, and stone him, that he may die.¹¹ And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who dwelt in the city with Naboth, did as Jezebel had sent to them and as it was written in the letter which she had sent to them.¹² They proclaimed a fast and set Naboth on high among the people.¹³ And they brought two wicked men, and seated them opposite him; and the wicked men witnessed against Naboth, saying, Naboth reviled God and the king. Then they took him outside the city and stoned him, so that he died.¹⁴ Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth has been stoned, and he is dead.¹⁵ And when Jezebel heard that Naboth 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.¹⁶ And when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

¹⁷ And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,¹⁸ Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, for he has gone there to possess it.¹⁹ And you shall say to him, Thus says the LORD: Behold, you have killed, and, behold, you have also taken possession; thus says the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your blood, even yours.²⁰ And Ahab said to Elijah, Have you found me, O my enemy? And he answered, I have found you because you have exalted yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD.²¹ Behold, I will bring evil upon you, and will pluck one by one your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male child and every one who has authority in governing Israel,²² And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah for the provocation wherewith you have provoked me to anger and made Israel to sin.²³ And of Jezebel also the LORD spoke, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the inheritance which is in Jezreel.²⁴ Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city shall the dogs eat; and anyone who dies in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.²⁵ But there was none like Ahab, who thought to do evil in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife incited.²⁶ And he did very abominably in following idols, just as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.²⁷ And when Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth upon his body and fasted and lay in sackcloth and walked barefooted.²⁸ And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,²⁹ Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his sons days will I bring the evil upon his house.