Parallel Bible results for "1 kings 21"

1 Kings 21

The Bible in Basic English BBE

1 Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vine-garden in Jezreel, near the house of Ahab, king of Samaria.

2 And Ahab said to Naboth, Give me your vine-garden so that I may have it for a garden of sweet plants, for it is near my house; and let me give you a better vine-garden in exchange, or, if it seems good to you, let me give you its value in money.

3 But Naboth said to Ahab, By the Lord, far be it from me to give you the heritage of my fathers.

4 So Ahab came into his house bitter and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, I will not give you the heritage of my fathers. And stretching himself on the bed with his face turned away, he would take no food.

5 But Jezebel, his wife, came to him and said, Why is your spirit so bitter that you have no desire for food?

6 And he said to her, Because I was talking to Naboth the Jezreelite, and I said to him, Let me have your vine-garden for a price, or, if it is pleasing to you, I will give you another vine-garden for it: and he said, I will not give you my vine-garden.

7 Then Jezebel, his wife, said, Are you now the ruler of Israel? Get up, take food, and let your heart be glad; I will give you the vine-garden of Naboth the Jezreelite.

8 So she sent a letter in Ahab's name, stamped with his stamp, to the responsible men and the chiefs who were in authority with Naboth.

9 And in the letter she said, Let a time of public sorrow be fixed, and put Naboth at the head of the people;

10 And get two good-for-nothing persons to come before him and give witness that he has been cursing God and the king. Then take him out and have him stoned to death.

11 So the responsible men and the chiefs who were in authority in his town, did as Jezebel had said in the letter she sent them.

12 They gave orders for a day of public sorrow, and put Naboth at the head of the people.

13 And the two good-for-nothing persons came in and took their seats before him and gave witness against Naboth, in front of the people, saying, Naboth has been cursing God and the king. Then they took him outside the town and had him stoned to death.

14 And they sent word to Jezebel, saying, Naboth has been stoned and is dead.

15 Then Jezebel, hearing that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, said to Ahab, Get up and take as your heritage the vine-garden of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he would not give you for money, for Naboth is no longer living but is dead.

16 So Ahab, hearing that Naboth was dead, went down to the vine-garden of Naboth the Jezreelite to take it as his heritage.

17 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

18 Go down to Ahab, king of Israel, in Samaria; see, he is in the vine-garden of Naboth the Jezreelite, where he has gone to take it as his heritage.

19 Say to him, The Lord says, Have you put a man to death and taken his heritage? Then say to him, The Lord says, In the place where dogs have been drinking the blood of Naboth, there will your blood become the drink of dogs.

20 And Ahab said to Elijah, Have you come face to face with me, O my hater? And he said, I have come to you because you have given yourself up to do evil in the eyes of the Lord.

21 See, I will send evil on you and put an end to you completely, cutting off from Ahab every male child, him who is shut up and him who goes free in Israel;

22 And I will make your family like the family of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the family of Baasha, the son of Ahijah, because you have made me angry, and have made Israel do evil.

23 And of Jezebel the Lord said, Jezebel will become food for dogs in the heritage of Jezreel.

24 Any man of the family of Ahab who comes to his death in the town will become food for the dogs; and he who comes to his death in the open country will be food for the birds of the air.

25 (There was no one like Ahab, who gave himself up to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, moved to it by Jezebel his wife.

26 He did a very disgusting thing in going after false gods, doing all the things the Amorites did, whom the Lord sent out before the children of Israel.)

27 Hearing these words, Ahab, in great grief, put haircloth on his flesh and went without food, sleeping in haircloth, and going about quietly.

28 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

29 Do you see how Ahab has made himself low before me? because he has made himself low before me, I will not send the evil in his life-time, but in his son's time I will send the evil on his family.

Good News Translation GNT

1 Near King Ahab's palace in Jezreel there was a vineyard owned by a man named Naboth.

2 One day Ahab said to Naboth, "Let me have your vineyard; it is close to my palace, and I want to use the land for a vegetable garden. I will give you a better vineyard for it or, if you prefer, I will pay you a fair price."

3 "I inherited this vineyard from my ancestors," Naboth replied. "The Lord forbid that I should let you have it!"

4 Ahab went home, depressed and angry over what Naboth had said to him. He lay down on his bed, facing the wall, and would not eat.

5 His wife Jezebel went to him and asked, "Why are you so depressed? Why won't you eat?"

6 He answered, "Because of what Naboth said to me. I offered to buy his vineyard or, if he preferred, to give him another one for it, but he told me that I couldn't have it!"

7 "Well, are you the king or aren't you?" Jezebel replied. "Get out of bed, cheer up, and eat. I will get you Naboth's vineyard!"

8 Then she wrote some letters, signed Ahab's name to them, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the officials and leading citizens of Jezreel.

9 The letters said: "Proclaim a day of fasting, call the people together, and give Naboth the place of honor.

10 Get a couple of scoundrels to accuse him to his face of cursing God and the king. Then take him out of the city and stone him to death."

11 The officials and leading citizens of Jezreel did what Jezebel had commanded.

12 They proclaimed a day of fasting, called the people together, and gave Naboth the place of honor.

13 The two scoundrels publicly accused him of cursing God and the king, and so he was taken outside the city and stoned to death.

14 The message was sent to Jezebel: "Naboth has been put to death."

15 As soon as Jezebel received the message, she said to Ahab, "Naboth is dead. Now go and take possession of the vineyard which he refused to sell to you."

16 At once Ahab went to the vineyard to take possession of it.

17 Then the Lord said to Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe,

18 "Go to King Ahab of Samaria. You will find him in Naboth's vineyard, about to take possession of it.

19 Tell him that I, the Lord, say to him, "After murdering the man, are you taking over his property as well?' Tell him that this is what I say: "In the very place that the dogs licked up Naboth's blood they will lick up your blood!' "

20 When Ahab saw Elijah, he said, "Have you caught up with me, my enemy?" "Yes, I have," Elijah answered. "You have devoted yourself completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord's sight.

21 So the Lord says to you, "I will bring disaster on you. I will do away with you and get rid of every male in your family, young and old alike.

22 Your family will become like the family of King Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the family of King Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have stirred up my anger by leading Israel into sin.'

23 And concerning Jezebel, the Lord says that dogs will eat her body in the city of Jezreel.

24 Any of your relatives who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and any who die in the open country will be eaten by vultures."

25 (There was no one else who had devoted himself so completely to doing wrong in the Lord's sight as Ahab - all at the urging of his wife Jezebel.

26 He committed the most shameful sins by worshiping idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had driven out of the land as the people of Israel advanced.)

27 When Elijah finished speaking, Ahab tore his clothes, took them off, and put on sackcloth. He refused food, slept in the sackcloth, and went about gloomy and depressed.

28 The Lord said to the prophet Elijah,

29 "Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has done this, I will not bring disaster on him during his lifetime; it will be during his son's lifetime that I will bring disaster on Ahab's family."