Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel near the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria. And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying:
- Give me your vineyard; I will have a vegetable garden from it, for it is close to my house; and in its place I will give you a better vineyard than this, or, if you wish, I will give you the amount of silver it is worth.
But Naboth said to Ahab:
- Lord preserve me, so that I give you the inheritance of my fathers!
And Ahab came home troubled and distressed by the word that Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him, saying, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And in a troubled spirit he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and did not eat bread. And his wife Jezebel came in to him and said to him:
“Why is your spirit troubled, that you don’t even eat bread?”
He told her:
“When I began to speak to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him: “Give me your vineyard for money, or, if you want, I will give you another vineyard in its place,” then he said: “I will not give you my vineyard, the inheritance of my fathers.”
And Jezebel his wife said to him:
“What kind of kingdom would there be in Israel if you did that?” Get up, eat bread and be calm. I will bring you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
And she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent these letters to the elders and nobles in his city, who dwelt with Naboth. In her letters she wrote: “Declare a fast and place Naboth in first place among the people. And put two worthless people opposite him, who would testify against him and say: “You blasphemed God and the king.” And then take him out and stone him so that he dies.”
And the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who dwelt in his city, did as Jezebel commanded them, just as it was written in the letters that she sent to them. They declared a fast and placed Naboth at the head of the people. And two bad men came forward and sat opposite him, and these bad men testified against him before the people, and said:
—Naboth blasphemed God and the king.
And they took him out of the city and stoned him, and he died. And they sent to Jezebel to say that Naboth had been stoned and died.
When Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned and died, she said to Ahab:
- Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, who did not want to give it to you for silver. For Naboth is not alive, he is dead.
When Ahab heard that Naboth the Jezreelite had been killed, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth, and then Ahab arose to go to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite and take possession of it.
And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite:
- Arise, go to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who is in Samaria, behold, he is now in the vineyard of Naboth, where he came to take possession of it; and say to him: “This is what the Lord says: You killed and still inherit?” And tell him: “Thus says the Lord: in the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick your blood also.”
And Ahab said to Elijah:
- You found me, my enemy!
He said:
“I found it, because you have given yourself over to doing what is displeasing in the eyes of the Lord and irritating Him.” Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will bring trouble upon you, and I will sweep away after you, and I will destroy from Ahab the one who urinates against the wall and the prisoner and the one who remains in Israel. And I will do to your house as I did to the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and to the house of Baasha the son of Ahiin, for the insult with which you provoked Me and caused Israel to sin.” The Lord also said about Jezebel: “Dogs will eat Jezebel outside the wall of Jezreel. Whoever dies in Ahab's city will be eaten by dogs, and whoever dies in the field will be pecked by the birds of the air; There was never anyone like Ahab who gave himself up to doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord, which his wife Jezebel encouraged him to do; he acted very vilely, following idols, as did the Amorites, whom the Lord drove out from before the children of Israel.”
Having heard all these words, Ahab was moved before the Lord, walked and wept, tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted, and slept in sackcloth, and walked sadly. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite concerning Ahab, and the Lord said:
“Do you see how Ahab humbled himself before Me? Because he humbled himself before Me, I will not bring trouble in his days; In the days of his son I will bring trouble upon his house.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru