1 Kings 21
Expanded Bible
Ahab Takes Naboth’s Vineyard
21 After these things had happened, this is what followed. A man named Naboth owned a vineyard in Jezreel, near the palace of Ahab king of Israel. 2 One day Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard. It is near my palace, and I want to make it into a vegetable garden. I will give you a better vineyard in its place, or, if you prefer, I will pay you what it is worth.”
3 Naboth answered, “·May the Lord keep me from ever giving my land to you. It belongs to my family [L The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers/ancestors].”
4 Ahab went home ·angry and upset [resentful and sullen], because he did not like what Naboth from Jezreel had said. (Naboth had said, “I will not give you ·my family’s land [L the inheritance of my fathers/ancestors].”) Ahab lay down on his bed, turned his face to the wall, and refused to eat.
5 His wife, Jezebel, came in and asked him, “Why are you so ·upset [sullen; depressed] that you refuse to eat?”
6 Ahab answered, “I talked to Naboth, the man from Jezreel. I said, ‘Sell me your vineyard, or, if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ But Naboth refused.”
7 Jezebel answered, “Is this how you ·rule as king [reign] over Israel? Get up, eat something, and cheer up. I will get Naboth’s vineyard for you.”
8 So Jezebel wrote some letters, signed Ahab’s name to them, and used his own seal to seal them. Then she sent them to the elders and ·important men [nobles] who lived in Naboth’s town. 9 The letter she wrote said: “Declare a day during which the people are to fast. Call the people together, and give Naboth a place of honor among them. 10 Seat two ·troublemakers [scoundrels] across from him, and have them say ·they heard Naboth speak against [“You cursed…”] God and the king. Then take Naboth out of the city and ·kill him with stones [stone him to death].”
11 The elders and important men of Jezreel obeyed Jezebel’s command, just as she wrote in the letters. 12 They declared a ·special day on which the people were to fast [fast]. And they put Naboth in a place of honor before the people. 13 Two ·troublemakers [scoundrels] sat across from Naboth and said in front of everybody ·that they had heard him speak against [“You cursed…”] God and the king. So the people carried Naboth out of the city and ·killed him with stones [stoned him to death]. 14 Then the leaders sent a message to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been ·killed [L stoned and is dead].”
15 When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been ·killed [L stoned and was dead], she told Ahab, “Naboth of Jezreel is no longer alive; he’s dead. Now you may go and take for yourself the vineyard he would not sell to you.” 16 When Ahab heard that Naboth of Jezreel was dead, he got up and went to the vineyard to take ·it for his own [possession of it].
17 At this time the ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to the prophet Elijah the Tishbite. The Lord said, 18 “Go to Ahab king of Israel in Samaria. He is at Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone to take ·it as his own [possession of it]. 19 Tell Ahab that I, the Lord, say to him, ‘·You have [L Have you not…?] murdered Naboth and taken his land. So I tell you this: In the same place the dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, they will also lick up your blood [1 Kin. 22:37–38]!’”
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 [L sold yourself to do evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord]. 21 So the Lord says to you, ‘I will ·soon destroy you [bring evil/disaster on you]. I will ·kill you [sweep you away] and ·every [L cut off every] ·male [L one who urinates against the wall] in your ·family [L house], both slave and free. 22 Your ·family [L house] will be like the ·family [L house] of King Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the ·family [L house] of King Baasha son of Ahijah. I will destroy you, because you have ·made me angry [provoked/aroused me to anger] and have led the people of Israel to sin.’
23 “And the Lord also says, ‘Dogs will eat the body of Jezebel in the ·city [fields; boundaries] of Jezreel [2 Kin. 9:30–37].’
24 “Anyone in Ahab’s ·family [L house] who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the ·fields [country] will be eaten by ·birds [vultures; L birds of the air/sky; 16:4].”
25 There was no one like Ahab who ·had chosen so often [L sold himself] to do ·what the Lord said was wrong [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord], ·because his wife Jezebel influenced him to do evil [urged on by his wife Jezebel]. 26 Ahab ·sinned terribly [acted most detestably/abominably] by ·worshiping [following; going after] idols, just as the Amorites did. And the Lord had ·taken away their land and given it to [driven them out before] the people of Israel.
27 After Elijah finished speaking, Ahab tore his clothes. He put on ·rough cloth [sackcloth; burlap; C indicating sorrow and contrition] and fasted, and even slept in ·the rough cloth [sackcloth; burlap] and walked about ·dejectedly [despondently; with slow steps].
28 The ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to Elijah the Tishbite: 29 “·I see that [L Have you seen how…?] Ahab ·is now sorry for what he has done [has now humbled himself before me]. So I will not ·cause the trouble to come to him during his life [L bring this evil/disaster on him during his days], but I will wait until his son is king. Then I will bring this ·trouble [evil; disaster] to Ahab’s ·family [L house].”
1 Kings 21
New American Standard Bible
Ahab Covets Naboth’s Vineyard
21 Now it came about after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in (A)Jezreel beside the palace of Ahab, the king of Samaria. 2 And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “(B)Give me your vineyard so that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is close beside my house, and I will give you a better vineyard in place of it; if [a]you prefer, I will give you what [b]it is worth in money.” 3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid me (C)that I would give you the inheritance of my fathers!” 4 (D)So Ahab entered his house sullen and furious because of the [c]answer that Naboth the Jezreelite had given to him, since he said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned his face away, and ate no [d]food.
5 But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “How is it that your spirit is so sullen that you are not eating [e]food?” 6 So he said to her, “It is because I was speaking to Naboth the Jezreelite and saying to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you a vineyard in place of it.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” 7 Jezebel his wife said to him, “(E)Do you now [f]reign over Israel? Arise, eat bread, and let your heart be joyful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
8 (F)So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to (G)the elders and to the nobles who were living with Naboth in his city. 9 Now she had written in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people; 10 and seat two (H)worthless men opposite him, and have them testify against him, saying, ‘(I)You [g]cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and (J)stone him [h]to death.”
Jezebel’s Plot
11 So the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did just as Jezebel had sent word to them, just as it was written in the letters which she had sent them. 12 They (K)proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth at the head of the people. 13 Then the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him; and the worthless men testified against him, against Naboth, before the people, saying, “Naboth [i]cursed God and the king.” (L)So they took him outside the city and stoned him [j]to death with stones. 14 Then they sent word to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”
15 And when 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.” 16 When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab got up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
17 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18 “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, (M)who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. 19 And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says: “(N)Have you murdered and also taken possession?”’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘The Lord says this: “(O)In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick up your blood, yours as well.”’”
20 Then Ahab said to Elijah, “(P)Have you found me, enemy of mine?” And he [k]answered, “I have found you, (Q)because you have given yourself over to do evil in the sight of the Lord. 21 Behold, I am bringing disaster upon you, and I (R)will utterly sweep you away, and will eliminate from Ahab every male, both [l]bond and free in Israel; 22 and (S)I will make your house (T)like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and because you (U)have misled Israel into sin. 23 The Lord has also spoken of Jezebel, saying, ‘(V)The dogs will eat Jezebel in the [m]territory of Jezreel.’ 24 (W)The one belonging to Ahab, who dies in the city, the dogs will eat; and the one who dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat.”
25 (X)There certainly was no one like Ahab who gave himself over to do evil in the sight of the Lord, [n]because Jezebel his wife incited him. 26 (Y)He also acted very despicably in following idols, (Z)conforming to everything that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord drove out from the sons of Israel.
27 Yet it came about, when Ahab heard these words, that (AA)he tore his clothes and put [o]on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about despondently. 28 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; I will bring the disaster upon his house (AB)in his son’s days.”
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 21:2 Lit it is good in your eyes
- 1 Kings 21:2 Lit this
- 1 Kings 21:4 Lit word...had spoken to him
- 1 Kings 21:4 Lit bread
- 1 Kings 21:5 Lit bread
- 1 Kings 21:7 Lit exercise kingship
- 1 Kings 21:10 Lit blessed, an ancient euphemism to avoid any mention of the cursing of God
- 1 Kings 21:10 Lit so that he dies
- 1 Kings 21:13 See note 1 v 10
- 1 Kings 21:13 Lit with stones so that he died
- 1 Kings 21:20 Lit said
- 1 Kings 21:21 Or child and adult
- 1 Kings 21:23 As in some mss and ancient versions; MT rampart
- 1 Kings 21:25 Or whom Jezebel his wife
- 1 Kings 21:27 Lit sackcloth on his flesh
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New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
