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1 Kings

Starts with King Solomon's reign, his wisdom, and building the temple, then the kingdom dividing into Israel and Judah.

Chapter 21

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1 And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

*Then, after these events, there was a man named Naboth from Jezreel who owned a vineyard near King Ahab's palace in Samaria.

2 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.

*And Ahab asked Naboth, "Please give me your vineyard so I can use it as a garden. It's close to my home. I'll give you a better vineyard or pay you its value in money."

3 And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.

*Naboth told Ahab, "I cannot give away my ancestors' land to you."

4 And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite 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.

*Ahab was very upset when he got home because Naboth refused to give up his land. Ahab didn't eat and just lay on his bed with his face turned away.

5 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?

*But Jezebel, his wife, asked him, "Why are you so unhappy that you're not eating any food?"

6 And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, 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.

*He told her, "I spoke to Naboth, the man from Jezreel, and offered him money for his vineyard or another vineyard. But he refused, saying he wouldn't give me his vineyard."

7 And Jezebel 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 Jezreelite.

*Jezebel, his wife, asked him if he was in charge of Israel's kingdom now. She told him to get up, eat some food, and be happy. She would give him Naboth the Jezreelite's vineyard.

8 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.

*So she wrote messages using Ahab's name, put his seal on them, and sent those messages to the important people living in his city, who were friends with Naboth.

9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:

*She wrote in the letters, saying, Announce a fasting day, and honor Naboth among the people.

10 And set two men, sons of Belial, 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.

*Put two people, known as Belial's sons, in front of him. They will say he disrespected God and the king. Then take him away and throw stones at him until he dies.

11 And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.

*The people in his city, including the leaders and important people, did what Jezebel told them to do, just like the instructions she wrote in her letters.

12 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.

*They announced a day of no food, and put Naboth in a special place among the crowd.

13 And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial 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.

*Two bad men came to the leader and accused Naboth, claiming he disrespected God and the king. The bad men and others witnessed against him. They took him outside the city and killed him by throwing rocks at him until he died.

14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.

*So they told Jezebel, "Naboth has been killed by throwing stones at him."

15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.

*When Jezebel learned that Naboth had been killed and died, she told Ahab, "Go take Naboth's vineyard in Jezreel. He refused to give it to you before because he didn't want to sell it, but now he is dead."

16 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 Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

*When Ahab learned Naboth was dead, he went to claim Naboth's vineyard in Jezreel.

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

*And the LORD spoke to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

18 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.

*"Go meet King Ahab of Israel, who is in Samaria. He's at Naboth's vineyard, where he went to take ownership."

19 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.

*Tell him this message from God: Did you kill and take what was not yours? Tell him this message from God: Where dogs licked Naboth's blood, dogs will also lick your blood, including you.

20 And Ahab said to Elijah, 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.

*Ahab asked Elijah, "Have you found me, my enemy?" Elijah replied, "Yes, I have found you. You have dedicated yourself to doing bad things in the sight of God."

21 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,

*Look, I will cause trouble for you. I will reduce your descendants. I will eliminate from Ahab anyone who pees against a wall and anyone who is locked up and left alive in Israel.

22 And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.

*And I will make your home like Jeroboam's and Baasha's homes, because of how much you have angered me and led Israel to sin.

23 And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.

*The Lord said about Jezebel, "Dogs will eat her near the wall of Jezreel."

24 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.

*Anyone who dies in the city from Ahab's actions will be eaten by dogs, while those who die in the field will be eaten by birds.

25 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

*But no one was as bad as Ahab, who sold himself to do very bad things while God watched. His wife Jezebel encouraged him to do these things.

26 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.

*He did something very bad by worshipping false gods, just like the Amorites did. The LORD got rid of the Amorites for this reason before the Israelites arrived.

27 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.

*When Ahab heard the news, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, didn't eat, laid in sackcloth, and walked gently.

28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

*And the LORD spoke to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

29 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.

*Do you see how Ahab is showing respect to me? Since he shows respect to me, I won't cause harm during his time. However, I will bring harm during the time of his son.

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