1   Naboth of Jezreel had a vineyard ^note near the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2   One day Ahab made a proposal to Naboth: ‘Your vineyard is close to my palace; let me have it for a garden; I will give you a better vineyard in exchange for it or, if you prefer, its value in silver.’ 3   But Naboth answered, ‘The Lord forbid that I should let you have land which has always been in my family.’ 4   So Ahab went home sullen and angry because Naboth would not let him have his ancestral land. He lay down on his bed, covered his face and refused to eat. 5   His wife Jezebel came in to him and said, ‘What makes you so sullen and why do you refuse to eat?’ 6   He told her, ‘I proposed to Naboth of Jezreel that he should let me have his vineyard at its value or, if he liked, in exchange for another; but he would not let me have the vineyard.’ 7   ‘Are you or are you not king in Israel?’ said Jezebel. ‘Come, eat and take heart; I will make you a gift of the vineyard of Naboth of Jezreel.’ 8   So she wrote a letter in Ahab's name, sealed it with his seal and sent it to the elders and notables of Naboth's city, who sat in council with him. 9   She wrote: ‘Proclaim a fast and give Naboth the seat of honour among

Ahab and Elijah the people. 10   And see that two scoundrels are seated opposite him to charge him with cursing ^note God and the king, then take him out and stone him to death.’ 11   So the elders and notables of Naboth's city, who sat with him in council, carried out the instructions Jezebel had sent them in her letter: 12   they proclaimed a fast and gave Naboth the seat of honour, 13   and these two scoundrels came in, sat opposite him and charged him publicly with cursing ^note God and the king. Then they took him outside the city and stoned him, 14   and sent word to Jezebel that Naboth had been stoned to death.

15   As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, she said to Ahab, ‘Get up and take possession of the vineyard which Naboth refused to sell you, for he is no longer alive; Naboth of Jezreel is dead.’ 16   When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went to the vineyard to take possession. 17   Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: 18   ‘Go down at once to Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; you will find him in Naboth's vineyard, where he has gone to take possession. 19   Say to him, “This is the word of the Lord: Have you killed your man, and taken his land as well?” Say to him, “This is the word of the Lord: Where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, there dogs shall lick your blood.”’ 20   Ahab said to Elijah, ‘Have you found me, my enemy?’ ‘I have found you’, he said, ‘because you have sold yourself to do what is wrong in the eyes of the Lord. 21   I will bring ^note disaster upon you; I will sweep you away and destroy every mother's son of the house of Ahab in Israel, whether under protection of the family or not. 22   And I will deal with your house as I did with the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked my anger and led Israel into sin.’ 23   And the Lord went on to say of Jezebel, ‘Jezebel shall be eaten by dogs by the rampart of ^note Jezreel. 24   Of the house of Ahab, those who die in the city shall be food for the dogs, and those who die in the country shall be food for the birds.’ 25   (Never was a man who sold himself to do what is wrong in the Lord's eyes as Ahab did, and all at the prompting of Jezebel his wife. 26   He committed gross abominations in going after false gods, doing everything that the Amorites did, whom the Lord had dispossessed in favour of Israel.) 27   When Ahab heard this, he rent his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted; he lay down in his sackcloth and went about muttering to himself. 28    29   Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: ‘Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has thus humbled himself, I will not bring disaster upon his house in his own lifetime, but in his son's.’

Ahab and Elijah

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