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Home > Bible > 1 Kings > Chapter 21
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1 Kings Chapter 21

Kaboth, for denying his vineyard to King Achab, is by Jezabel's commandment, falsely accused and stoned to death. For which crime Elias denounces to Achab the judgments of God: upon his humbling himself the sentence is mitigated.

English (Douay-Rheims)

1 And after these things, Naboth the Jezrahelite, who was in Jezrahel, had at that time a vineyard, near the palace of Achab, king of Samaria. 2 And Achab spoke to Naboth, saying: Give me thy vineyard, that I may make me a garden of herbs, because it is nigh, and adjoining to my house; and I will give thee for it a better vineyard: or if thou think it more convenient for thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. 3 Naboth answered him: The Lord be merciful to me, and not let me give thee the inheritance of my fathers. 4 And Achab came into his house angry and fretting, because of the word that Naboth, the Jezrahelite, had spoken to him, saying: I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And casting himself upon his bed, he turned away his face to the wall, and would eat no bread. 5 And Jezabel, his wife, went in to him, and said to him: What is the matter that thy soul is so grieved? and why eatest thou no bread? 6 And he answered her: I spoke to Naboth, the Jezrahelite, and said to him: Give me thy vineyard, and take money for it: or if it please thee, I will give thee a better vineyard for it. And he said: I will not give thee my vineyard. 7 Then Jezabel, his wife, said to him. Thou art of great authority indeed, and governest well the kingdom of Israel. Arise, and eat bread, and be of good cheer; I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite.

8 So she wrote letters in Achab's name, and sealed them with his ring, and sent them to the ancients, and the chief men that were in his city, and that dwelt with Naboth. 9 And this was the tenor of the letters: Proclaim a fast, and make Naboth sit among the chief of the people; 10 And suborn two men, sons of Belial, against him and let them bear false witness; that he hath blasphemed God and the king: and then carry him out, and stone him, and so let him die. 11 And the men of his city, the ancients and nobles, that dwelt with him in the city, did as Jezabel had commanded them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them; 12 They proclaimed a fast, and made Naboth sit among the chief of the people. 13 And bringing two men, sons of the devil, they made them sit against him: and they, like men of the devil, bore witness against him before the people: saying: Naboth hath blasphemed God and the king. Wherefore they brought him forth without the city, and stoned him to death. 14 And they sent to Jezabel, saying: Naboth is stoned, and is dead. 15 And it came to pass, when Jezabel heard that Naboth was stoned, and dead, that she said to Achab: Arise, and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite, who would not agree with thee, and give it thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead. 16 And when Achab heard this, to wit, that Naboth was dead, he arose, and went down into the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite, to take possession of it.

17 And the word of the Lord came to Elias, the Thesbite, saying: 18 Arise, and go down to meet Achab, king of Israel, who is in Samaria: behold he is going down to the vineyard of Naboth, to take possession of it: 19 And thou shalt speak to him, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast slain: moreover also thou hast taken possession. And after these words thou shalt add: Thus saith the Lord: In this place, wherein the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they shall lick thy blood also. 20 And Achab said to Elias: Hast thou found me thy enemy? He said: I have found thee because thou art sold, to do evil in the sight of the Lord. Sold, to do evil in the sight, etc... That is, so addicted to evil, as if thou hadst sold thyself to the devil, to be his slave to work all kinds of evil. 21 Behold I will bring evil upon thee, and I will cut down thy posterity, and I will kill of Achab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up, and the last in Israel. 22 And I will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and like the house of Baasa the son of Ahias: for what thou hast done to provoke me to anger, and for making Israel to sin. 23 And of Jezabel also, the Lord spoke, saying: The dogs shall eat Jezabel in the field of Jezrahel. 24 If Achab die in the city, the dogs shall eat him: but if he die in the field, the birds of the air shall eat him. 25 Now, there was not such another as Achab, who was sold to do evil in the sight of the Lord: for his wife, Jezabel, set him on, 26 And he became abominable, insomuch that he followed the idols which the Amorrhites had made, whom the Lord destroyed before the face of the children of Israel. 27 And when Achab had heard these words, he rent his garments, and put haircloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and slept in sackcloth, and walked with his head cast down. 28 And the word of the Lord came to Elias, the Thesbite, saying: 29 Hast thou not seen Achab humbled before me? therefore, because he hath humbled himself, for my sake, I will not bring the evil in his days, but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.

Latin (Clementine Vulgate)

1 Post verba autem hæc, tempore illo vinea erat Naboth Jezrahelitæ, quæ erat in Jezrahel, juxta palatium Achab regis Samariæ. 2 Locutus est ergo Achab ad Naboth, dicens: Da mihi vineam tuam, ut faciam mihi hortum olerum, quia vicina est, et prope domum meam: daboque tibi pro ea vineam meliorem, aut si commodius tibi putas, argenti pretium, quanto digna est. 3 Cui respondit Naboth: Propitius sit mihi Dominus, ne dem hæreditatem patrum meorum tibi. 4 Venit ergo Achab in domum suam indignans, et frendens super verbo quod locutus fuerat ad eum Naboth Jezrahelites, dicens: Non dabo tibi hæreditatem patrum meorum. Et projiciens se in lectulum suum, avertit faciem suam ad parietem, et non comedit panem. 5 Ingressa est autem ad eum Jezabel uxor sua, dixitque ei: Quid est hoc, unde anima tua contristata est? et quare non comedis panem? 6 Qui respondit ei: Locutus sum Naboth Jezrahelitæ, et dixi ei: Da mihi vineam tuam, accepta pecunia: aut, si tibi placet, dabo tibi vineam meliorem pro ea. Et ille ait: Non dabo tibi vineam meam. 7 Dixit ergo ad eum Jezabel uxor ejus: Grandis auctoritatis es, et bene regis regnum Israël. Surge, et comede panem, et æquo animo esto: ego dabo tibi vineam Naboth Jezrahelitæ.

8 Scripsit itaque litteras ex nomine Achab, et signavit eas annulo ejus, et misit ad majores natu, et optimates, qui erant in civitate ejus, et habitabant cum Naboth. 9 Litterarum autem hæc erat sententia: Prædicate jejunium, et sedere facite Naboth inter primos populi: 10 et submittite duos viros filios Belial contra eum, et falsum testimonium dicant: Benedixit Deum et regem: et educite eum, et lapidate, sicque moriatur. 11 Fecerunt ergo cives ejus majores natu et optimates, qui habitabant cum eo in urbe, sicut præceperat eis Jezabel, et sicut scriptum erat in litteris quas miserat ad eos: 12 prædicaverunt jejunium, et sedere fecerunt Naboth inter primos populi. 13 Et adductis duobus viris filiis diaboli, fecerunt eos sedere contra eum: at illi, scilicet ut viri diabolici, dixerunt contra eum testimonium coram multitudine: Benedixit Naboth Deum et regem: quam ob rem eduxerunt eum extra civitatem, et lapidibus interfecerunt. 14 Miseruntque ad Jezabel, dicentes: Lapidatus est Naboth, et mortuus est. 15 Factum est autem, cum audisset Jezabel lapidatum Naboth et mortuum, locuta est ad Achab: Surge, et posside vineam Naboth Jezrahelitæ, qui noluit tibi acquiescere, et dare eam accepta pecunia: non enim vivit Naboth, sed mortuus est. 16 Quod cum audisset Achab, mortuum videlicet Naboth, surrexit, et descendebat in vineam Naboth Jezrahelitæ, ut possideret eam.

17 Factum est igitur sermo Domini ad Eliam Thesbiten, dicens: 18 Surge, et descende in occursum Achab regis Israël, qui est in Samaria: ecce ad vineam Naboth descendit, ut possideat eam. 19 Et loqueris ad eum, dicens: Hæc dicit Dominus: Occidisti, insuper et possedisti. Et post hæc addes: Hæc dicit Dominus: In loco hoc, in quo linxerunt canes sanguinem Naboth, lambent quoque sanguinem tuum. 20 Et ait Achab ad Eliam: Num invenisti me inimicum tibi? Qui dixit: Inveni, eo quod venundatus sis, ut faceres malum in conspectu Domini. 21 Ecce ego inducam super te malum, et demetam posteriora tua, et interficiam de Achab mingentem ad parietem, et clausum et ultimum in Israël. 22 Et dabo domum tuam sicut domum Jeroboam filii Nabat, et sicut domum Baasa filii Ahia: quia egisti ut me ad iracundiam provocares, et peccare fecisti Israël. 23 Sed et de Jezabel locutus est Dominus, dicens: Canes comedent Jezabel in agro Jezrahel. 24 Si mortuus fuerit Achab in civitate, comedent eum canes: si autem mortuus fuerit in agro, comedent eum volucres cæli. 25 Igitur non fuit alter talis sicut Achab, qui venundatus est ut faceret malum in conspectu Domini: concitavit enim eum Jezabel uxor sua, 26 et abominabilis factus est, in tantum ut sequeretur idola quæ fecerant Amorrhæi, quos consumpsit Dominus a facie filiorum Israël. 27 Itaque cum audisset Achab sermones istos, scidit vestimenta sua, et operuit cilicio carnem suam, jejunavitque et dormivit in sacco, et ambulavit demisso capite. 28 Et factus est sermo Domini ad Eliam Thesbiten, dicens: 29 Nonne vidisti humiliatum Achab coram me? quia igitur humiliatus est mei causa, non inducam malum in diebus ejus, sed in diebus filii sui inferam malum domui ejus.

Copyright © 2008 by Kevin Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

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