1 Kings 21 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Naboth’s Vineyard

1Ki 21:1Now there was a man named Naboth, from Jezreel, who owned a vineyard in Jezreel beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria.

1Ki 21:2

1Ki 21:2One day Ahab said to Naboth, “Since your vineyard is so convenient to my palace, I would like to buy it to use as a vegetable garden. I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or if you prefer, I will pay you for it.”

1Ki 21:3

1Ki 21:3But Naboth replied, “The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance that was passed down by my ancestors.”

1Ki 21:4

1Ki 21:4So Ahab went home angry and sullen because of Naboth’s answer. The king went to bed with his face to the wall and refused to eat!

1Ki 21:5

1Ki 21:5“What’s the matter?” his wife Jezebel asked him. “What’s made you so upset that you’re not eating?”

1Ki 21:6

1Ki 21:6“I asked Naboth to sell me his vineyard or trade it, but he refused!” Ahab told her.

1Ki 21:7

1Ki 21:7“Are you the king of Israel or not?” Jezebel demanded. “Get up and eat something, and don’t worry about it. I’ll get you Naboth’s vineyard!”

1Ki 21:8

1Ki 21:8So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and other leaders of the town where Naboth lived.

1Ki 21:9

1Ki 21:9In her letters she commanded: “Call the citizens together for fasting and prayer, and give Naboth a place of honor.

1Ki 21:10

1Ki 21:10And then seat two scoundrels across from him who will accuse him of cursing God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.”

1Ki 21:11

1Ki 21:11So the elders and other town leaders followed the instructions Jezebel had written in the letters.

1Ki 21:12

1Ki 21:12They called for a fast and put Naboth at a prominent place before the people.

1Ki 21:13

1Ki 21:13Then the two scoundrels came and sat down across from him. And they accused Naboth before all the people, saying, “He cursed God and the king.” So he was dragged outside the town and stoned to death.

1Ki 21:14

1Ki 21:14The town leaders then sent word to Jezebel, “Naboth has been stoned to death.”

1Ki 21:15

1Ki 21:15When Jezebel heard the news, she said to Ahab, “You know the vineyard Naboth wouldn’t sell you? Well, you can have it now! He’s dead!”

1Ki 21:16

1Ki 21:16So Ahab immediately went down to the vineyard of Naboth to claim it.

1Ki 21:17

1Ki 21:17But the LORD said to Elijah,[fn]

1Ki 21:18

1Ki 21:18“Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He will be at Naboth’s vineyard in Jezreel, claiming it for himself.

1Ki 21:19

1Ki 21:19Give him this message: ‘This is what the LORD says: Wasn’t it enough that you killed Naboth? Must you rob him, too? Because you have done this, dogs will lick your blood at the very place where they licked the blood of Naboth!’”

1Ki 21:20

1Ki 21:20“So, my enemy, you have found me!” Ahab exclaimed to Elijah.
“Yes,” Elijah answered, “I have come because you have sold yourself to what is evil in the LORD’s sight.

1Ki 21:21

1Ki 21:21So now the LORD says, ‘I will bring disaster on you and consume you. I will destroy every one of your male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel!

1Ki 21:22

1Ki 21:22I am going to destroy your family as I did the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat and the family of Baasha son of Ahijah, for you have made me very angry and have led Israel into sin.’

1Ki 21:23

1Ki 21:23“And regarding Jezebel, the LORD says, ‘Dogs will eat Jezebel’s body at the plot of land in Jezreel.[fn]’

1Ki 21:24

1Ki 21:24“The members of Ahab’s family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the field will be eaten by vultures.”

1Ki 21:25

1Ki 21:25(No one else so completely sold himself to what was evil in the LORD’s sight as Ahab did under the influence of his wife Jezebel.

1Ki 21:26

1Ki 21:26His worst outrage was worshiping idols[fn] just as the Amorites had done—the people whom the LORD had driven out from the land ahead of the Israelites.)

1Ki 21:27

1Ki 21:27But when Ahab heard this message, he tore his clothing, dressed in burlap, and fasted. He even slept in burlap and went about in deep mourning.

1Ki 21:28

1Ki 21:28Then another message from the LORD came to Elijah:

1Ki 21:29

1Ki 21:29“Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has done this, I will not do what I promised during his lifetime. It will happen to his sons; I will destroy his dynasty.”

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NLT Footnotes

(21:17)

Hebrew Elijah the Tishbite; also in 21:28.

(21:23)

As in several Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, and Latin Vulgate (see also 2 Kgs 9:26, 36); most Hebrew manuscripts read at the city wall.

(21:26)

The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung.

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