1 Kings 21:1-16

International Children’s Bible

Naboth’s Vineyard

21 A man named Naboth owned a vineyard. It was 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. 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.”

⁴ So Ahab went home, angry and upset. He did not like what Naboth from Jezreel had said. (Naboth had said, “I will not give you my family’s land.”) So Ahab lay down on his bed. He turned his face to the wall and refused to eat.

⁵ His wife, Jezebel, came in. She asked him, “Why are you upset? Why do 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 over Israel? Get out of bed. Eat something. Cheer up. I will get Naboth’s vineyard for you.”

⁸ So Jezebel wrote some letters and signed Ahab’s name to them. And she used his own seal to seal them. Then she sent them to the elders and important men who lived in Naboth’s town. ⁹ The letter she wrote said: “Declare a day during which the people are to give up eating. Call the people together. And give Naboth a place of honor among them. ¹⁰ Seat two troublemakers across from him. Have them say they heard Naboth speak against God and the king. Then take Naboth out of the city and kill him with stones.”

¹¹ So the elders and important men of Jezreel obeyed Jezebel’s command. ¹² They declared a special day. On that day the people were to give up eating. They called the people together. And they put Naboth in a place of honor before the people. ¹³ Then two troublemakers sat across from Naboth. They said they had heard Naboth speak against God and the king. So the people carried Naboth out of the city. And they killed him with stones. ¹⁴ Then the leaders sent a message to Jezebel. It said, “Naboth has been killed.”

¹⁵ When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been killed, she told Ahab. She said, “Naboth of Jezreel is dead. Now you may go and take for yourself his vineyard you wanted.” ¹⁶ When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he left. He went to the vineyard to take it for his own.