Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

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.”

⁴ Ahab went home angry and upset, because he did not like what Naboth from Jezreel had said. (Naboth had said, “I will not give you my family’s land.”) 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 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 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 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 across from him, and 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 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. And they put Naboth in a place of honor before the people. ¹³ Two troublemakers sat across from Naboth and said in front of everybody that they had heard him speak against God and the king. So the people carried Naboth out of the city and killed him with stones. ¹⁴ Then the leaders sent a message to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been killed.”

¹⁵ When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been killed, she told Ahab, “Naboth of Jezreel is 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.

⁹ We do not need to write you about having love for your Christian family, because God has already taught you to love each other. ¹⁰ And truly you do love the Christians in all of Macedonia. Brothers and sisters, now we encourage you to love them even more.

¹¹ Do all you can to live a peaceful life. Take care of your own business, and do your own work as we have already told you. ¹² If you do, then people who are not believers will respect you, and you will not have to depend on others for what you need.