1 After these events, Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard {kerem: grape orchard} in Jezreel, adjacent to the royal hall {heikhal: palace hall} of Ahab, king of Samaria.
2 Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard {kerem: cultivated vineyard}, so it can serve as a garden {gan-yarak: vegetable plot}, because it is adjacent to my house. I will offer you a better vineyard in exchange, or, if it seems right in your eyes, I will pay you its value in silver.”
3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “May the LORD {YHWH, Moral Guardian} keep me from giving you the inheritance of my fathers {avotai: patriarchal lineage}.”
4 Ahab returned to his house sullen and angry over the word that Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him when he said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers {avotai: ancestral lineage}.” He lay down on his bed, turned his face away, and did not eat bread {lechem: daily sustenance}.
5 Then Jezebel, his wife, came to him and spoke to him, “What is this? Why has your spirit {ruachkha: inner being} turned aside, and you are not eating bread {lechem: sustenance}?”
6 And he spoke to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard {kerem: cultivated plot} for money, or if you prefer, I will give you a vineyard in its place’; but he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard {kar-mi: personal possession}.’”
7 And Jezebel, his wife, said to him, “Are you now exercising kingship {melukhah: royal authority} over Israel? Arise, eat bread, and let your heart {libekha: inner resolve} be glad. I myself will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
8 And she wrote letters {sefarim: official letters} in the name of Ahab, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and to the nobles who were in his city, the dwellers {hayoshvim: city inhabitants} with Naboth.
9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast {tzom: public abstention} and seat Naboth at the head {berosh: position of honor} of the people.”
10 And seat two men, sons of worthlessness, opposite him, and let them testify against him, saying, “You have blessed {berakhta: Hebrew euphemism for “cursed”} God {Elohim, Offended Sovereign} and the king.” Then bring him out and stone him so that he dies.
11 And the men of his city—the elders {zeqenim: city officials} and the nobles—who dwelt in his city did as Jezebel had commanded them, just as it was written in the letters {sefarim: written messages} she had dispatched.
12 They proclaimed a fast {tsom: solemn religious observance} and seated Naboth at the head {berosh: position of highest honor} of the people.
13 And the two men, sons of worthlessness, came and sat opposite him; and the sons of worthlessness testified against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has blessed {berakh: euphemistic curse} God {Elohim, Covenant Judge} and the king.” Then they brought him outside the city and stoned him with stones, and he died.
14 And they sent to Jezebel {izevel: queen consort} to say, “Naboth {navot: vineyard proprietor} has been stoned and is dead.”
15 And it happened that when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, she said to Ahab, “Arise and take possession of the vineyard {kerem: cultivated plot} of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you silver {kesef: standard payment medium}, for Naboth is not alive but dead.”
16 And it happened when Ahab heard that Naboth had died, that Ahab arose to go down {laredet: deliberate descent} to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession {rishto: legal claim} of it.
17 And the word of the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Speaker} came to Elijah the Tishbite {tishbi: resident of Tishbe}, saying,
18 Arise {kum: urgent command}, go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who is in Samaria. Behold, he is in Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone down to take possession {rishto: inheritance claim} of it.
19 And you shall speak to him, saying, “Thus says the LORD {YHWH, Justice Proclaimer}: ‘Have you murdered and also taken possession?’” And you shall speak to him, saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘In the place where the dogs licked the blood {dam: life-force} of Naboth, the dogs will lick your blood.’”
20 And Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, my enemy?” And he replied, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil {hara: moral corruption} in the eyes of the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge}.”
21 Behold, I {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} am bringing disaster {raʿah: divine retribution} on you, and I will sweep away your descendants {acharekha: offspring line}. I will cut off from Ahab every male who urinates against a wall and the confined and the free {azuv: left without restraint} in Israel.
22 And I will make your house {beit: dynasty} like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah, because of the anger {ka’as: provoked wrath} that you provoked and because you caused Israel to sin.
23 And also concerning Jezebel, the LORD {YHWH, Pronouncement Giver} has spoken, saying, “The dogs will eat Jezebel by the rampart {chel: outer defense wall} of Jezreel.”
24 The one who dies belonging to Ahab {Ahav: Israel’s King} in the city, the dogs {kelev: domesticated scavenger} will eat; and the one who dies in the field, the birds of the heavens will eat.
25 Surely there was no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD {YHWH, Moral Judge}, whom his wife Jezebel incited {hesatah: manipulative urging}.
26 And he acted in an exceedingly abominable way by going after the idols, just as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge} drove out before the sons of Israel {Yisra’el: God-wrestler}.
27 And it happened, when Ahab {Achav: Northern king} heard these words, that he tore his garments {beged: mourning attire} and put on sackcloth upon his flesh, and he fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around slowly.
28 And the word of the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Speaker} came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying {le’emor: introducing divine speech}.
29 Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before Me {YHWH, Merciful Judge}? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the disaster in his days, but in the days of his son I will bring the disaster upon his house {beit: family dynasty}.