1 Kings 21:1-22:28

English Standard Version

Naboth's Vineyard

21 Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in ^(A)Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. ²And after this Ahab said to Naboth, ^(B)“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.” ³But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid ^(C)that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” ⁴And Ahab ^(D)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.

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.”

⁸^(E)So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to ^(F)the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city. ⁹And she wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people. ¹⁰And set two ^(G)worthless men opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, ^(H)‘You have cursed^[a] God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.” ¹¹And the men of his city, ^(I)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, ¹²^(J)they proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. 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

¹⁷^(K)Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ¹⁸“Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in ^(L)Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. 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: ^(M)“In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.”’”

²⁰Ahab said to Elijah, ^(N)“Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because ^(O)you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. ²¹Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and ^(P)will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. ²²And I will make your house like ^(Q)the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like ^(R)the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you ^(S)have made Israel to sin. ²³And of Jezebel the Lord also said, ^(T)‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel within ^(U)the walls of Jezreel.’ ²⁴^(V)Anyone 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.”

Ahab's Repentance

²⁵(^(W)There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. ²⁶He acted very abominably in going after ^(X)idols, as ^(Y)the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel.)

²⁷And when Ahab heard those words, he ^(Z)tore his clothes and ^(AA)put sackcloth on his flesh and ^(AB)fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. 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; ^(AC)but in his son's days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”

Ahab and the False Prophets

22 For three years Syria and Israel continued without war. ²^(AD)But in the third year ^(AE)Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. ³And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that ^(AF)Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and we keep quiet and do not take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?” ⁴And he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, ^(AG)“I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”

⁵And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the Lord.” ⁶Then the king of Israel ^(AH)gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” ⁷But ^(AI)Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” ⁸And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” ⁹Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah.” ¹⁰Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes, at the threshing floor ^(AJ)at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. ¹¹And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself ^(AK)horns of iron and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘With these ^(AL)you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’” ¹²And all the prophets prophesied so and said, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”

Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab

¹³And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” ¹⁴But Micaiah said, ^(AM)“As the Lord lives, ^(AN)what the Lord says to me, that I will speak.” ¹⁵And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?” And he answered him, “Go up and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” ¹⁶But the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” ¹⁷And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, ^(AO)as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’” ¹⁸And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ^(AP)“Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” ¹⁹And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: ^(AQ)I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, ^(AR)and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; ²⁰and the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. ²¹Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ ²²And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be ^(AS)a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ ²³Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the Lord has declared disaster for you.”

²⁴Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near ^(AT)and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “How did the Spirit of the Lord go from me to speak to you?” ²⁵And Micaiah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day when you go ^(AU)into an inner chamber to hide yourself.” ²⁶And the king of Israel said, “Seize Micaiah, and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son, ²⁷and say, ‘Thus says the king, ^(AV)“Put this fellow in prison and feed him meager rations of bread and water, ^(AW)until I come in peace.”’” ²⁸And Micaiah said, “If you return in peace, ^(AX)the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, ^(AY)“Hear, all you peoples!”