1. This is what happened next. Naboth from Jezreel had a vineyard in Jezreel next to the palace of King Ahab of Samaria.
2. Ahab told Naboth, “Give me your vineyard. It will become my vegetable garden because it is near my house. I will give you a better vineyard for it. Or if you prefer, I will pay you a fair price for it.”
3. Naboth told Ahab, “The Lord has forbidden me to give you what I inherited from my ancestors.”
4. Resentful and upset, Ahab went home because of what Naboth from Jezreel had told him. (⌊Naboth had said,⌋ “I will not give you what I inherited from my ancestors.”) So Ahab lay on the couch, turned his face ⌊from everyone⌋, and refused to eat.
5. His wife Jezbel came to him and asked, “Why are you so resentful of everything? Why don’t you eat?”
6. He told her, “I talked to Naboth from Jezreel. I said to him, ‘Sell me your vineyard. Or, if you like, I’ll give you another vineyard for it.’ But he said, ‘I won’t give you my vineyard.’ ”
7. His wife Jezbel said to him, “Aren’t you king of Israel? Get up, eat, and cheer up. I’ll give you the vineyard belonging to Naboth from Jezreel.”
8. So Jezbel wrote letters, signed them with Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal. She sent them to the respected leaders and nobles living in Naboth’s city.
9. In these letters she wrote: “Announce a fast. Seat Naboth as leader of the people.
10. Have two good-for-nothing men sit opposite him and accuse him of cursing God and the king. Then stone him to death outside the city.”
11. The men in Naboth’s city—the respected leaders and nobles who lived there—did what Jezbel asked them to do. They did just as she had written in the letters she sent.