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 [^LThe 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 [^Lthe 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 [^Lstoned and is dead].”

¹⁵ When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been ·killed [^Lstoned 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].