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 king of Samaria. ² Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “^(B)Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden because it is close beside my house, and I will give you a better vineyard than it in its place; if ^[a]you like, I will give you the price of ^[b]it in money.” ³ But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid me ^(C)that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” ^4 (D)So Ahab came into his house sullen and vexed because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and ate no ^[c]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 ^[d]food?” ⁶ So 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 pleases you, I will give you a vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” ⁷ Jezebel his wife said to him, “^(E)Do you now ^[e]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 letters to ^(G)the elders and to the nobles who were living with Naboth in his city. ⁹ Now she wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people; ¹⁰ and seat two ^(H)worthless men before him, and let them testify against him, saying, ‘^(I)You cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and ^(J)stone him ^[f]to death.”

Jezebel’s Plot

¹¹ So the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did 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 before him; and the worthless men testified against him, even against Naboth, before the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” ^(L)So they took him outside the city and stoned him ^[g]to death with stones. ¹⁴ Then they sent word to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”

¹⁵ 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 arose 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 You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “^(N)Have you murdered and also taken possession?”’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “^(O)In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth the dogs will lick up your blood, even yours.”’”

²⁰ Ahab said to Elijah, “^(P)Have you found me, O my enemy?” And he ^[h]answered, “I have found you, ^(Q)because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord. ²¹ Behold, I will bring evil upon you, and ^(R)will utterly sweep you away, and will cut off from Ahab every male, both 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 made Israel sin. ²³ Of Jezebel also has the Lord spoken, saying, ‘^(V)The dogs will eat Jezebel in the ^[i]district 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 heaven will eat.”

^25 (X)Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, ^[j]because Jezebel his wife incited him. ^26 (Y)He acted very abominably in following idols, ^(Z)according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the sons of Israel.

²⁷ It came about when Ahab heard these words, that ^(AA)he tore his clothes and put ^[k]on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about ^[l]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 evil in his days, but I will bring the evil upon his house ^(AB)in his son’s days.”

Personal Relationships

²¹ “^(A)You have heard that ^[a]the ancients were told, ‘^(B)You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be ^[b]liable to ^(C)the court.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be ^[c]guilty before ^(D)the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘^[d]You good-for-nothing,’ shall be ^[e]guilty before ^[f](E)the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be ^[g]guilty enough to go into the ^[h](F)fiery hell. ²³ Therefore if you are ^(G)presenting your ^[i]offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your ^[j]offering there before the altar and go; first be ^(H)reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your ^[k]offering. ^25 (I)Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Truly I say to you, ^(J)you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last ^[l]cent.

²⁷ “^(K)You have heard that it was said, ‘^(L)You shall not commit adultery’; ²⁸ but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman ^(M)with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ^29 (N)If your right eye makes you ^[m]stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you ^[n]to lose one of the parts of your body, ^[o]than for your whole body to be thrown into ^[p](O)hell. ^30 (P)If your right hand makes you ^[q]stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you ^[r]to lose one of the parts of your body, ^[s]than for your whole body to go into ^[t](Q)hell.

³¹ “It was said, ‘^(R)Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; ^32 (S)but I say to you that everyone who ^[u]divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a ^[v]divorced woman commits adultery.

³³ “Again, ^(T)you have heard that ^[w]the ancients were told, ‘^[x](U)You shall not ^[y]make false vows, but shall fulfill your ^[z]vows to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, ^(V)make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is ^(W)the throne of God, ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is the ^(X)footstool of His feet, or ^[aa]by Jerusalem, for it is ^(Y)the city of the great King. ³⁶ Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is ^[ab]of ^(Z)evil.

³⁸ “^(AA)You have heard that it was said, ‘^(AB)An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but ^(AC)whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. ⁴⁰ If anyone wants to sue you and take your ^[ac]shirt, let him have your ^[ad]coat also. ⁴¹ Whoever ^[ae]forces you to go one mile, go with him two. ^42 (AD)Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

⁴³ “^(AE)You have heard that it was said, ‘^(AF)You shall love your neighbor ^(AG)and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, ^(AH)love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may ^[af]be ^(AI)sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ For ^(AJ)if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸ Therefore ^[ag](AK)you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.