1 Kings 1

3Naboth answered, The Lord told me I should not give you my land. This land belongs to my family.

4When Ahab went home, he was sad and angry because Naboth of Jezreel had told him he would not give him his family’s land. So, Ahab went to bed, turned away from everyone, and refused to eat.

5His wife Jezebel came to him and asked him: Why are you sad and why don’t you eat?

6He said to her: I talked to Naboth of Jezreel and I asked him to give me his vineyard. I said I would pay for it or give him another vineyard, but he said he would not give me his vineyard.

7Ahab’s wife Jezebel said to him: You are the king of Israel. Get up and eat and be happy. I will get you the vineyard of Naboth of Jezreel.

8Then Jezebel wrote some letters. She signed Ahab’s name to them and used his seal to seal the letters. Then she sent them to the elders and important men who lived in the same town as Naboth.

9In the letters she wrote: Announce that there will be a day of fasting when the people will eat nothing. And sit Naboth in front of the people.

10Find 2 men who will tell lies about Naboth. They should say that they heard Naboth cursing God and speak against the king. Then take Naboth out of the city and kill him with stones.

11So the elders and important men of Jezreel obeyed the command that Jezebel had written in the letters

12They called all the people to the fast and they told Naboth to come and sit in front of the people.

13Then the 2 men who were going to tell lies about Naboth sat down in front of Naboth. Then the 2 men told the people that they heard Naboth cursing God and speaking against the king. Then they carried Naboth out of the city, and they killed him with stones.

14Then they went to Jezebel and told her that they had killed Naboth with stones.

15Then Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned to death, she said to Ahab, Naboth is dead. Now you can go and take the vineyard that Naboth did not want to sell to you.

16When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he went to the vineyard of Naboth of Jezreel to take it for himself.

17The Lord said to Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe

18Go meet Ahab, king of Israel in Samaria, he is in the vineyard of Naboth. He went there to take it for himself.

19Tell Ahab that I, the Lord, say to him, Ahab! You killed the man Naboth and now you are taking his land. So I, the Lord, tell you this: Where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick your blood as well.

20So Elijah went to Ahab. When Ahab saw him, he said, my enemy has found me again! Elijah answered: ‘Yes, I have found you because you have again sold yourself out to do what the Lord says is evil

21The Lord says: I will make you suffer. I will kill you and every man and boy in your family who lives in the land of Israel. I will kill every one of your male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel!

22I will do with your royal family what I did to the family of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and the family of Baasha, son of Ahijah. I will do this to you because you have made me angry, and you have caused the Israelites to sin.

23The Lord also talked about Jezebel. He said: The dogs will eat Jezebel at the wall of Jezreel. 1 Kings 21:24 If someone of Ahab’s family dies in a town, the dogs will eat him, and if one of Ahab’s family dies in the field, the birds will eat him. 1 Kings 21:25 So Ahab sold himself out to do what the Lord says is evil. There is no one who did as much evil as Ahab. His wife Jezebel caused him to do these things. 1 Kings 21:26 Ahab committed terrible sin of worshiping those filthy idols, just as the Amorites did. And that is why the Lord took the land from them and gave it to the Israelites. 1 Kings 21:27 When Ahab heard what Elijah said, he tore his clothes (to show how sad he was). Then he put on sackcloth and refused to eat. He even slept in these clothes. He was very sad and upset and he did not speak to anyone. 1 Kings 21:28 The Lord said to Elijah from Tishbe: 1 Kings 21:29 “Look, Ahab has humbled himself before me. I will not make all those bad things happen while he is