1 Kings 21
Ahab and Naboth's
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And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jez'reelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
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And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give
me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because
it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a
better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will
give thee the worth of it in money.
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And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance
of my fathers unto thee.
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And Ahab came into his house heavy and
displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jez'reelite had
spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance
of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away
his face, and would eat no bread.
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But Jez'ebel his wife came to him, and
said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no
bread?
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And he said unto her, Because I spake
unto Naboth the Jez'reelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard
for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give
thee my vineyard.
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And Jez'ebel his wife said unto him, Dost
thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread,
and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of
Naboth the Jez'reelite.
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So she wrote letters in Ahab's name,
and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the
elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with
Naboth.
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And she wrote in the letters, saying,
Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:
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and set two men, sons of Be'li-al, before
him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God
and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he
may die.
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And the men of his city, even the
elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as
Jez'ebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in
the letters which she had sent unto them.
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They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on
high among the people.
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And there came in two men, children of
Be'li-al, and sat before him: and the men of Be'li-al witnessed
against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the
people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they
carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that
he died.
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Then they sent to Jez'ebel, saying,
Naboth is stoned, and is dead.
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And it came to pass, when Jez'ebel
heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jez'ebel said to
Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the
Jez'reelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is
not alive, but dead.
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And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that
Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of
Naboth the Jez'reelite, to take possession of it.
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And the word of the LORD came to Eli'jah the Tishbite, saying,
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Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of
Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the
vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it.
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And thou shalt speak unto him, saying,
Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also
taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith
the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the
blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.
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And Ahab said to Eli'jah, Hast thou
found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the
LORD.
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Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and
will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that
pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in
Israel,
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and will make thine house like the house
of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, and like the house of Ba'asha the son
of Ahi'jah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.
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And of Jez'ebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jez'ebel by the wall
of Jezreel. 2 Kgs. 9.36
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Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the
dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of
the air eat.
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But there was none like unto Ahab,
which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jez'ebel his wife stirred up.
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And he did very abominably in following
idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the
LORD cast out before the children of
Israel.
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And it came to pass, when Ahab heard
those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his
flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
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And the word of the LORD came to Eli'jah the Tishbite, saying,
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Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself
before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring
the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the
evil upon his house.
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