17. At this time the Lord spoke his word to Elijah. (Elijah was the prophet from Tishbe.) The Lord said,
18. “Go to Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is at Naboth’s vineyard to take it as his own.
19. Tell Ahab that I, the Lord, say to him, ‘Ahab! You have murdered Naboth and have taken his land. So I tell you this! In the same place that Naboth died, you will also die. The dogs that licked up Naboth’s blood will lick up your blood in the same place!’”
20. When Ahab saw Elijah, he said, “So you have found me, my enemy!”Elijah answered, “Yes, I have found you. You have always chosen to do what the Lord says is wrong.
21. So the Lord says to you, ‘I will destroy you. I will kill you and every male in your family, both slave and free.
22. Your family will be like the family of King Jeroboam son of Nebat. And it will be like the family of King Baasha son of Ahijah. Both of these families were completely destroyed. I will do this to you because you have made me angry. And you have caused the people of Israel to sin.’
23. “And the Lord also says, ‘Dogs will eat the body of Jezebel in the city of Jezreel.’
24. “Anyone in your family who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs. Anyone who dies in the fields will be eaten by birds.”
25. There was no one like Ahab. No one had so often chosen to do what the Lord said was wrong. His wife Jezebel influenced him to do evil.
26. Ahab sinned terribly by worshiping idols. This was the same thing the Amorite people did. So the Lord took their land away from them. And he gave it to the people of Israel.
27. After Elijah finished speaking, Ahab tore his clothes. He put on rough cloth and refused to eat. He even slept in the rough cloth. He did this to show how sad and upset he was.
28. The Lord spoke his word to Elijah from Tishbe:
29. “I see that Ahab is now sorry for what he has done. So I will not cause the trouble to come to him during his life. I will wait until his son is king. Then I will bring this trouble to Ahab’s family.”