1Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. (1Ki 18:45)2And after this Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.” (1Sa 8:14)3But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” (Le 25:23; Nu 36:7; Eze 46:18)4And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food. (1Ki 20:43)5But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?”6And he said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money, or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’”7And Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”8So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city. (Ru 4:2; 1Ki 20:7; Es 3:12)9And she wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people.10And set two worthless men opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, ‘You have cursed[1] God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.” (Ex 22:28; Le 24:16; De 13:13; Ac 6:11; Ac 23:5)11And the men of his city, the elders and the leaders who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. As it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, (1Ki 21:8)12they proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. (Isa 58:4)13And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones.14Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned; he is dead.”15As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead.”16And as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
The Lord Condemns Ahab
17Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, (Ps 9:12)18“Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. (1Ki 16:24)19And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Have you killed and also taken possession?”’ And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.”’” (1Ki 22:38; 2Ki 9:26)20Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. (1Ki 18:17; 1Ki 21:25; 2Ki 17:17; Ro 7:14)21Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. (1Ki 14:10; 2Ki 9:8)22And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin. (1Ki 14:16; 1Ki 15:29; 1Ki 16:3; 1Ki 16:11)23And of Jezebel the Lord also said, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezreel.’ (2Sa 20:15; 2Ki 9:36)24Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat.” (1Ki 14:11; 1Ki 16:4)
Ahab’s Repentance
25(There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. (1Ki 16:30)26He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel.) (Ge 15:16; 1Ki 15:12; 2Ki 17:12; 2Ki 21:11)27And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. (2Sa 3:31; 2Sa 12:16; 2Ki 6:30)28And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,29“Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.” (2Ki 9:25)
1 Kings 21
New International Version
Naboth’s vineyard
1Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.2Ahab said to Naboth, ‘Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.’3But Naboth replied, ‘The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors.’4So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, ‘I will not give you the inheritance of my ancestors.’ He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat.5His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, ‘Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?’6He answered her, ‘Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, “Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.” But he said, “I will not give you my vineyard.” ’7Jezebel his wife said, ‘Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.’8So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city with him.9In those letters she wrote: ‘Proclaim a day of fasting and give Naboth a prominent seat among the people.10But put two scoundrels opposite him and get them to bring charges that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.’11So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them.12They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people.13Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, ‘Naboth has cursed both God and the king.’ So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.14Then they sent word to Jezebel: ‘Naboth has been stoned to death.’15As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, ‘Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead.’16When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard.17Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite:18‘Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is now in Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it.19Say to him, “This is what the Lord says: have you not murdered a man and seized his property?” Then say to him, “This is what the Lord says: in the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood – yes, yours!” ’20Ahab said to Elijah, ‘So you have found me, my enemy!’ ‘I have found you,’ he answered, ‘because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord.21He says, “I am going to bring disaster on you. I will wipe out your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel – slave or free.[1]22I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have aroused my anger and have caused Israel to sin.”23‘And also concerning Jezebel the Lord says: “Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of[2] Jezreel.” (2Ki 9:26)24‘Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds will feed on those who die in the country.’25(There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife.26He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.)27When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly.28Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite:29‘Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.’