In the town of Jezreel, a man named Naboth owned a vineyard next to the palace of King Ahab. The king told Naboth he wanted to buy the vineyard and make it into a vegetable garden. He said, “I’ll pay you full value in silver, or if you prefer, I’ll give you a better vineyard someplace else.

Naboth said, “No. I couldn’t sell this vineyard. It has been owned by our family for several hundred years.”

At first, this made the king angry. He went home and refused to eat anything. Finally he became depressed and went and lay in his bed facing the wall.

Jezebel, the king’s wife, asked him what was wrong. He said, “I asked Naboth to sell me his vineyard and he told me no! I even offered him a better vineyard in exchange for his.”

Jezebel said, “Oh, is that all? Well, come have something to eat, and don’t worry about Naboth’s vineyard. I’ll get it for you.”

She wrote a letter to the town officials. It said, “Go get Naboth and have him stand before you. Bring in two liars that will swear he cursed God and the king. Then take him out and stone him until he’s dead.” She signed Ahab’s name to the letter and sealed it with the official seal.

The city leaders did exactly as they were told. They got Naboth and condemned him to death. After the stoning, they sent a message back to Jezebel saying, “Naboth is dead.”

She went to her husband and said, “You now own the vineyard you wanted. Go and enjoy it because Naboth is dead.” When the king heard this good news, he went to see his vineyard.

At that same moment, the Lord said to Elijah, “King Ahab just stole Naboth’s vineyard. Go tell him this. ‘You murdered Naboth and the dogs licked his blood from the ground. Dogs will lick your blood at that exact spot.’ ”

Elijah went and found Ahab at Naboth’s vineyard. When the king saw the prophet coming, he said, “Well, look at this. My enemy has found me.”

“Yes, I found you. And you have found every way possible to do the things God hates. Now it’s time for judgment. Your punishment will be just like King Jeroboam. You’ll have no descendants. First, dogs will eat the body of your wife Jezebel. After that, your entire family will be eliminated from the earth. Dogs will eat all your relatives that die in the city. Birds will eat those who die in the country.”

This struck Ahab in the heart. He ripped his clothes in sorrow. He fasted and wore sackcloth day and night. Finally, the Lord said to Elijah, “Ahab is truly sorry for what he did. Therefore, I won’t destroy his family until after he’s dead. All that I said will happen when his son is king.”