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1 Kings 21
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| 21:1
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. |
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| 21:2
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. |
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| 21:3
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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| 21:4
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. |
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| 21:5
But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so
sad, that thou eatest no bread? |
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| 21:6
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. |
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| 21:7
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. |
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| 21:8
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. |
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| 21:9
And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on
high among the people: |
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| 21:10
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. |
 (21:10-13)
"Thou didst blaspheme God and the king."
Although Naboth was set up here by Jezebel to steal his land, the text assumes that the
proper punishment for "blaspheming God and the king" is death by stoning.
What the Bible says about stoning
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| 21:11
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.
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| 21:12
They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. |
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| 21:13
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. |
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| 21:14
Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead. |
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| 21:15
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. |
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| 21:16
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. |
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| 21:17
And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, |
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| 21:18
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. |
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| 21:19
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. |
"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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| 21:20
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. |
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| 21:21
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, |
God will "bring evil upon" Ahab and "cut off" all those "that
pisseth against the wall."
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| 21:22
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. |
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| 21:23
And of Jezebel also
spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of
Jezreel. |
(21:23-25) "The dogs shall eat Jezebel."
Jezebel (Ahab's "strange" wife) "stirred up" Ahab to "work
wickedness in the sight of the Lord." To punish her, God will feed her dead body to the dogs. (He
also plans to feed the city folk to the dogs and country folks to the birds.)
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| 21:24
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.
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| 21:25
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.
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| 21:26
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. |
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| 21:27
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. |
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| 21:28
And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, |
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| 21:29
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.
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 (21:29)
"In his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house."
Since Ahab humbles himself before the Lord,
God decides not to bring evil on him; he'll bring it on Ahab's son instead.
Are children punished for the sins of their fathers?
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