1 Kings 21

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 This is what happened next: Naboth of Jezreel had a vineyard close by the palace of Ahab king ofSamaria,	1 And after these things, in that time, there was a vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, who was in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab, the king of Samaria.
2 and Ahab said to Naboth, 'Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden, since it adjoins mypalace; I will give you a better vineyard for it or, if you prefer, I wil give you its value in money.'	2 Therefore, Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying: “Give your vineyard to me, so that I may make for myself a garden of herbs. For it is nearby and is beside my house. And I will give to you, in place of it, a better vineyard. Or if you consider it to be more convenient for you, I will give you the price in silver, whatever it is worth.”
3 Naboth, however, said to Ahab, 'Yahweh forbid that I should give you my ancestral heritage!'	3 Naboth responded to him, “May the Lord be gracious to me, lest I give to you the inheritance of my fathers.”
4 Ahab went home gloomy and out of temper at the words of Naboth of Jezreel, 'I wil not give you myheritage from my ancestors.' He lay down on his bed and turned his face away and refused to eat.	4 Then Ahab went into his house, angry and gnashing his teeth over the word that Naboth, the Jezreelite, had spoken to him, saying, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And casting himself on his bed, he turned away his face to the wall, and he would not eat bread.
5 His wife Jezebel came to him. 'Why are you so dispirited,' she said, 'that you refuse to eat?'	5 Then Jezebel, his wife, entered to him, and she said to him: “What is this matter, by which your soul has been saddened? And why do you not eat bread?”
6 He said, 'I have been talking to Naboth of Jezreel. I said, "Give me your vineyard either for money or, ifyou prefer, for another vineyard in exchange." But he said, "I wil not give you my vineyard." '	6 And he responded to her: “I spoke to Naboth, the Jezreelite, and I said to him: ‘Give your vineyard to me, and accept money. Or if it pleases you, I will give to you a better vineyard, in place of it.’ And he said, ‘I will not give my vineyard to you.’ ”
7 Then his wife Jezebel said, 'Some king of Israel you make! Get up, eat and take heart; I myself shalget you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.'	7 Then Jezebel, his wife, said to him: “You are of great authority, and you rule well in the kingdom of Israel. Rise up and eat bread, and be even-tempered. I will give the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, to you.”
8 So she wrote a letter in Ahab's name and sealed it with his seal, sending the letter to the elders and notables of the city where Naboth lived.	8 And so, she wrote letters in the name of Ahab, and she sealed these with his ring. And she sent to those greater by birth, and to the nobles who were in his city and living with Naboth.
9 In the letter, she wrote, 'Proclaim a fast, and put Naboth in a prominent place among the people.	9 And this was the judgment of the letters: “Proclaim a fast, and cause Naboth to sit among the first rulers of the people.
10 There confront him with a couple of scoundrels who wil accuse him as follows, "You have cursedGod and the king." Then take him outside and stone him to death.'	10 And send out two men, sons of Belial, against him. And let them speak the false testimony: ‘He has blasphemed God and king.’ And then lead him away, and stone him, and so let him die.”
11 The men of Naboth's city, the elders and notables living in his city, did what Jezebel ordered, as waswritten in the letter which she had sent him.	11 Then his fellow citizens, those greater by birth and the nobles who were living with him in the city, did just as Jezebel had instructed them, and just as it was written in the letters that she had sent to them.
12 They proclaimed a fast and put Naboth in a prominent place among the people.	12 They proclaimed a fast, and they caused Naboth to sit among the first rulers of the people.
13 The two scoundrels then came and confronted him, and the scoundrels then publicly accused Nabothas fol ows, 'Naboth has cursed God and the king.' He was then taken outside the city and stoned to death.	13 And bringing forward two men, sons of the devil, they caused them to sit opposite him. And they, acting indeed like diabolical men, spoke testimony against him before the multitude: “Naboth has blasphemed God and king.” For this reason, they led him away, beyond the city, and they put him to death by stoning.
14 They then sent word to Jezebel, 'Naboth has been stoned to death.'	14 And they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned, and he has died.”
15 When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, 'Get up! Takepossession of the vineyard which Naboth of Jezreel refused to sel you, for Naboth is no longer alive, he is dead.'	15 Then it happened that, when Jezebel had heard that Naboth was stoned and was dead, she said to Ahab: “Rise up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, who was not willing to acquiesce to you, and to give it to you in exchange for money. For Naboth is not alive, but dead.”
16 When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth of Jezreeland take possession of it.	16 And when Ahab had heard this, namely, that Naboth was dead, he rose up and descended to the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, so that he might take possession of it.
17 Then the word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite,	17 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah, the Tishbite, saying:
18 'Up! Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, in Samaria. You will find him in Naboth's vineyard; he hasgone down to take possession of it.	18 “Rise up, and descend to meet Ahab, the king of Israel, who is in Samaria. Behold, he is descending to the vineyard of Naboth, so that he may take possession of it.
19 You are to say this to him, "Yahweh says this: You have committed murder and now you usurp aswel . For this -- and Yahweh says this -- in the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lickyour blood too." '	19 And you shall speak to him, saying: ‘Thus says the Lord: You have killed. Moreover you have also taken possession.’ And after this, you shall add: ‘Thus says the Lord: In this place, where the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they shall also lick your blood.’ ”
20 Ahab said to Elijah, 'So you have caught me, O my enemy!' Elijah answered, 'I have caught you! Foryour double dealing, and since you have done what is displeasing to Yahweh,	20 And Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you discovered me to be your enemy?” And he said: “I have discovered you to have been sold, so that you would do evil in the sight of the Lord:
21 I shal now bring disaster down on you; I shal sweep away your descendants and wipe out everymanjack of the House of Ahab, fettered or free in Israel.	21 ‘Behold, I will lead evil over you. And I will cut down your posterity. And I will put to death of Ahab whatever urinates against a wall, and whatever is lame, and whatever is last in Israel.
22 I shal treat your House as I treated the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and of Baasha son of Ahijah,for provoking my anger and leading Israel into sin.	22 And I will cause your house to be like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah. For you have acted so that you provoked me to anger, and so that you caused Israel to sin.’
23 (Against Jezebel too Yahweh spoke these words, "The dogs wil eat Jezebel in the Field of Jezreel.")	23 And about Jezebel also, the Lord spoke, saying: ‘The dogs shall consume Jezebel in the field of Jezreel.
24 Those of Ahab's family who die in the city, the dogs wil eat; and those who die in the open country,the birds of the air wil eat.'	24 If Ahab will have died in the city, the dogs will consume him. But if he will have died in the field, the birds of the air will consume him.’ ”
25 And indeed there never was anyone like Ahab for double dealing and for doing what is displeasing toYahweh, urged on by Jezebel his wife.	25 And so, there was no other person similar to Ahab, who was sold so that he did evil in the sight of the Lord. For his wife, Jezebel, urged him on.
26 He behaved in the most abominable way, adhering to idols, just as the Amorites had, whom Yahwehhad dispossessed for the Israelites.	26 And he became abominable, so much so that he followed the idols that the Amorites had made, whom the Lord consumed before the face of the sons of Israel.
27 When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments and put sackcloth next to his skin and fasted; heslept in the sackcloth; he walked with slow steps.	27 Then, when Ahab had heard these words, he tore his garments, and he put haircloth on his body, and he fasted, and he slept in sackcloth, and he walked with his head downcast.
28 Then the word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite,	28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah, the Tishbite, saying:
29 'Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has humbled himself before me,I shal not bring the disaster in his days; I shal bring the disaster down on his House in his son's days.'	29 “Have you not seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Therefore, since he has humbled himself because of me, I will not lead in the evil during his days. Instead, during the days of his son, I will bring in the evil to his house.”