1 Kings 21

Naboth's Vineyard

1 Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in q Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 And after this Ahab said to Naboth, r "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." 3 But Naboth said to Ahab, "The Lord forbid s that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers." 4 And Ahab t 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.

5 But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, "Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?" 6 And 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.'" 7 And 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 u So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to v the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city. 9 And she wrote in the letters, "Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people. 10 And set two w worthless men opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, x 'You have cursed 1 God and the king.' Then take him out and stone him to death." 11 And the men of his city, v 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 y they proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. 13 And 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. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, "Naboth has been stoned; he is dead."

15 As 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." 16 And 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 z 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 a Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. 19 And 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: b "In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood."'"

20 Ahab said to Elijah, c "Have you found me, O my enemy?" He answered, "I have found you, because d you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. 21 Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and e will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. 22 And I will make your house like f the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like g the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you h have made Israel to sin. 23 And of Jezebel the Lord also said, i 'The dogs shall eat Jezebel within j the walls of Jezreel.' 24 k 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 ( l There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. 26 He acted very abominably in going after m idols, as n the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel.)

27 And when Ahab heard those words, he o tore his clothes and p put sackcloth on his flesh and q fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. 28 And 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; r but in his son's days I will bring the disaster upon his house."

  1. Cross References
    1 Kings 18:45 - 46
    And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
  2. Cross References
    1 Samuel 8:14
    He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.
  3. Cross References
    Leviticus 25:23
    The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.
    Numbers 36:7
    The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
    Ezekiel 46:18
    The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their property. He shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people shall be scattered from his property.
  4. Cross References
    1 Kings 20:43
    And the king of Israel went to his house vexed and sullen and came to Samaria.
  5. Cross References
    Esther 3:12
    Then the king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king's satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's signet ring.
  6. Cross References
    1 Kings 20:7
    Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, "Mark, now, and see how this man is seeking trouble, for he sent to me for my wives and my children, and for my silver and my gold, and I did not refuse him.
    Ruth 4:2
    And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, "Sit down here." So they sat down.
  7. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 13:13
    That certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods,' which you have not known.
  8. Cross References
    Exodus 22:28
    You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.
    Leviticus 24:16
    Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
    Acts 6:11
    Then they secretly instigated men who said, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.
    Acts 23:5
    And Paul said, "I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, 'You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.'
  9. Cross References
    1 Kings 21:8
    So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city.
  10. Cross References
    Isaiah 58:4
    Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.
  11. Cross References
    Psalms 9:12
    For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
  12. Cross References
    1 Kings 16:24
    He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city that he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.
  13. Cross References
    1 Kings 22:38
    And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and the prostitutes washed themselves in it, according to the word of the Lord that he had spoken.
    2 Kings 9:26
    'As surely as I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons - declares the Lord - I will repay you on this plot of ground.' Now therefore take him up and throw him on the plot of ground, in accordance with the word of the Lord."
  14. Cross References
    1 Kings 18:17
    When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is it you, you troubler of Israel?
  15. Cross References
    1 Kings 21:25
    ( There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited.
    2 Kings 17:17
    And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.
    Romans 7:14
    For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
  16. Cross References
    2 Kings 9:8
    For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel.
    1 Kings 14:10
    Therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone.
  17. Cross References
    1 Kings 15:29
    And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite.
  18. Cross References
    1 Kings 16:3
    Behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
    1 Kings 16:11
    When he began to reign, as soon as he had seated himself on his throne, he struck down all the house of Baasha. He did not leave him a single male of his relatives or his friends.
  19. Cross References
    1 Kings 14:16
    And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin.
  20. Cross References
    2 Kings 9:36
    When they came back and told him, he said, "This is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, 'In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel.
  21. Cross References
    2 Samuel 20:15
    And all the men who were with Joab came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah. They cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart, and they were battering the wall to throw it down.
  22. Cross References
    1 Kings 14:11
    Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat, for the Lord has spoken it."
    1 Kings 16:4
    Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat.
  23. Cross References
    1 Kings 16:30 - 33
    And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him.
  24. Cross References
    1 Kings 15:12
    He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
    2 Kings 17:12
    And they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, "You shall not do this.
    2 Kings 21:11
    Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols.
  25. Cross References
    Genesis 15:16
    And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.
  26. Cross References
    2 Kings 6:30
    When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes - now he was passing by on the wall - and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath on his body -
  27. Cross References
    2 Samuel 3:31
    Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner." And King David followed the bier.
  28. Cross References
    2 Samuel 12:16
    David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.
  29. Cross References
    2 Kings 9:25
    Jehu said to Bidkar his aide, "Take him up and throw him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember, when you and I rode side by side behind Ahab his father, how the Lord made this pronouncement against him:
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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