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¹ And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, close by 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 garden of herbs, because it is near to my house; and I will give you for it a better vineyard than it: or, if it seems good to you, I will give you the worth of it in money.³ And Naboth said to Ahab, Yahweh forbid it of me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you.⁴ And Ahab came into his house heavy 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 down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.

⁵ But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, Why is your spirit so sad, that you eat no bread?⁶ And he said to her, Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, Give me your vineyard for money; otherwise, if it pleases you, I will give you [another] vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give you my vineyard.⁷ And Jezebel his wife said to him, Do you now govern the kingdom of 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 letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, [and] that dwelt with Naboth.⁹ And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:¹⁰ and set two men, base fellows, before him, and let them bear witness against him, saying, You cursed God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him to death.¹¹ And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who dwelt in his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, according to as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them.¹² They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.¹³ And the two men, the base fellows, came in and sat before him: and the base fellows bore witness against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth cursed God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him to death with stones.¹⁴ Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.¹⁵ And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was 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.¹⁶ And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

¹⁷ And the word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,¹⁸ Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who dwells in Samaria: look, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it.¹⁹ And you shall speak to him, saying, Thus says Yahweh, Have you killed and also taken possession? And you shall speak to him, saying, Thus says Yahweh, 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 sold yourself to do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh.²¹ Look, I will bring evil on you, and will completely sweep you away and will cut off from Ahab [every] one urinating against a wall, whether slave or free in 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 with which you have provoked me to anger, and have made Israel to sin.²³ And of Jezebel, Yahweh also spoke, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel.²⁴ He that dies of Ahab in the city, the dogs shall eat; and he that dies in the field, the birds of the heavens shall eat.²⁵ (But there was none like Ahab, who sold himself to do that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.²⁶ And what he did was very disgusting in following idols, according to all that the Amorites did, whom Yahweh cast out before the sons of Israel.)²⁷ And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth on his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.²⁸ And the word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,²⁹ Do you see how Ahab humbles himself before me? because he humbles himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days; but in his son's days I will bring the evil on his house.