1 Kings 21:1-14

New Catholic Bible

Chapter 21

Naboth’s Vineyard. ¹ After these things, it happened that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel near the palace of Ahab, the king of Samaria. ² Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard so that I can use it as a vegetable garden since it is next to my palace. I will give you a better vineyard in its place, or if you prefer, I will pay you its worth in money.” ³ But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”

^4 [a]So Ahab entered his palace furious that Naboth, the Jezreelite, had said to him, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” He laid down upon his bed and turned his face away, refusing to eat anything.

⁵ Jezebel his wife entered and said to him, “Why is your spirit so depressed that you refuse to eat anything?” ⁶ He said to her, “It is because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and I said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard in exchange for money, or, if you like, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ But he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”

⁷ Jezebel, his wife, said to him, “Do you not reign over the kingdom of Israel? Get up and eat something. Cheer up, and I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

⁸ So she wrote some letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived in Naboth’s city. ⁹ In the letters she wrote, “Proclaim a fast, and have Naboth sit in a prominent place among the people. ¹⁰ But place two sons of Belial opposite him to bear false witness, saying, ‘You blasphemed God and the king.’ Then carry him out and stone him to death.”

¹¹ So the men in his city, the elders, and the nobles who lived in his city did what had been written in the letters that had been sent to them. ¹² They proclaimed a fast and had Naboth sit in a prominent place among the people. ¹³ Two men then came in, sons of Belial, and they sat opposite him. The sons of Belial bore witness before the people saying, “Naboth blasphemed God and the king.” They carried him out of the city and they stoned him to death.

¹⁴ They then sent word to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned to death.”