Naboth’s Vineyard

21 Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth^(A) the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel,^(B) close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. ² Ahab 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.”

³ But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance^(C) of my ancestors.”

⁴ So Ahab went home, sullen and angry^(D) because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my ancestors.” He lay on his bed sulking and refused^(E) to eat.

⁵ His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?”

⁶ He 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.’”

⁷ Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard^(F) of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

⁸ So she wrote letters^(G) in Ahab’s name, placed his seal^(H) on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city with him. ⁹ In those letters she wrote:

¹¹ So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them. ¹² They proclaimed a fast^(A) and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. ¹³ Then 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.^{(B) 14} Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.”

¹⁵ As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard^(A) of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead.” ¹⁶ When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard.

¹⁷ Then 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. ¹⁹ Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?’^(B) Then say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood,^(C) dogs^(D) will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”

²⁰ Ahab said to Elijah, “So you have found me, my enemy!”^(E)

“I have found you,” he answered, “because you have sold^(F) yourself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. ²¹ He says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you. I will wipe out your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male^(G) in Israel—slave or free.^[a](H)

²⁶ When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. ²⁷ After the time of mourning^(A) was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased^(B) the Lord.

Nathan Rebukes David^(C)

12 The Lord sent Nathan^(D) to David.^(E) When he came to him,^(F) he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

⁴ “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

⁵ David^(G) burned with anger^(H) against the man^(I) and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives,^(J) the man who did this must die! ⁶ He must pay for that lamb four times over,^(K) because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!^(L) This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed^(M) you^(N) king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave your master’s house to you,^(O) and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why did you despise^(P) the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down^(Q) Uriah^(R) the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed^(S) him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword^(T) will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned^(A) against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away^(B) your sin.^(C) You are not going to die.^{(D) 14} But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for^[a] the Lord,^(E) the son born to you will die.”

¹⁵ After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck^(F) the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.

Psalm 5^[a]

For the director of music. For pipes. A psalm of David.

Psalm 32

Of David. A maskil.^[a]

¹⁵ “We who are Jews by birth^(A) and not sinful Gentiles^{(B) 16} know that a person is not justified by the works of the law,^(C) but by faith in Jesus Christ.^(D) So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in^[a] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.^(E)

¹⁷ “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners,^(F) doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!^{(G) 18} If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

¹⁹ “For through the law I died to the law^(H) so that I might live for God.^{(I) 20} I have been crucified with Christ^(J) and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.^(K) The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,^(L) who loved me^(M) and gave himself for me.^{(N) 21} I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law,^(O) Christ died for nothing!”^[b]

Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman^(A)(B)

³⁶ When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. ³⁷ A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. ³⁸ As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.