Part 377

20:34. And he said to him: The cities which my father took from thy father, I will restore: and do thou make thee streets in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria and having made a league, I will depart from thee. So he made a league with him, and let him go.

20:35. Then a certain man of the sons of the prophets, said to his companion, in the word of the Lord: Strike me. But he would not strike.

20:36. Then he said to him: Because thou wouldst not hearken to the word of the Lord, behold thou shalt depart from me, and a lion shall slay thee. And when he was gone a little from him, a lion found him, and slew him.

20:37. Then he found another man, and said to him: Strike me. And he struck him and wounded him.

20:38. So the prophet went, and met the king in the way, and disguised himself by sprinkling dust on his face and his eyes.

20:39. And as the king passed by, he cried to the king, and said: Thy servant went out to fight hand to hand: and when a certain man was run away, one brought him to me, and said: Keep this man: and if he shall slip away, thy life shall be for his life, or thou shalt pay a talent of silver.

20:40. And whilst I, in the hurry, turned this way and that, on a sudden he was not to be seen. And the king of Israel said to him: This is thy judgment, which thyself hast decreed.

20:41. But he forthwith wiped off the dust from his face, and the king of Israel knew him, that he was one of the prophets.

20:42. And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord. Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man worthy of death, thy life shall be for his life, and thy people for his people.

20:43. And the king of Israel returned to his house, slighting to hear, and raging came into Samaria.

3 Kings Chapter 21

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

21:1. 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.

21:2. 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.

21:3. Naboth answered him: The Lord be merciful to me, and not let me give thee the inheritance of my fathers.

21:4. 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.

21:5. 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?

21:6. 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.

21:7. 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.

21:8. 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.

21:9. And this was the tenor of the letters: Proclaim a fast, and make Naboth sit among the chief of the people;

21:10. 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.

21:11. 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;

21:12. They proclaimed a fast, and made Naboth sit among the chief of the people.

21:13. 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.

21:14. And they sent to Jezabel, saying: Naboth is stoned, and is dead.

21:15. 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.

21:16. 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.