Contents ▼▲
Front Matter The Story of a Beautiful Garden The First Baby in the World and His Brother The Great Ship That Saved Eight People The Tower That Was Never Finished The Story of a Long Journey How Abram's Choice Brought Blessing The Angel by the Well The Rain of Fire That Fell on a City The Boy Who Became an Archer How an Angel's Voice Saved a Boy's Life The Story of a Journey after a Wife How Jacob Stole His Brother's Blessing Jacob's Wonderful Dream A Midnight Wrestling Match The Rich Man's Son Who Was Sold as a Slave From the Prison to the Palace How Joseph's Dream Came True A Lost Brother Found From the Land of Famine to the Land of Plenty The Beautiful Baby Who Was Found in a River The Voice from the Burning Bush The River That Ran Blood The Night When a Nation Was Born How the Sea Became Dry Land and the Sky Rained Bre The Mountain That Smoked and Words That Were Spoke How Aaron Made a Golden Calf and What Became of It The Tent Where God Lived Among His People How They Worshipped God in the Tabernacle What Strong Drink Brought to Aaron's Sons The Scapegoat in the Wilderness The Cluster of Grapes from the Land of Canaan How the Long Journey of the Israelites Came to an What a Wise Man Learned from an Ass How Moses Looked upon the Promised Land The Story of Job The Story of a Scarlet Cord How the River Jordan Became Dry The Story of a Wedge of Gold How Joshua Conquered the Land of Canaan The Old Man Who Fought Against the Giants The Avenger of Blook and the Cities of Refuge The Story of an Altar Beside the River The Presnt That Ehud Brought to King Eglon How a Woman Won a Great Victory Gideon and His Brave Three Hundred Jephthah's Rash Promise and What Came from It The Strong Man: How He Lived and How He Died The Idol Temple at Dan and Its Priest How Ruth Gleaned in the Field of Boaz The Little Boy with a Linen Coat How the Idol Fell Down Before the Ark The Last of the Judges The Tall Man Who Was Chosen King How Saul Saved the Eyes of the Men of Jabesh The Brave Young Prince Saul's Great Sin and His Great Loss The Shepherd Boy of Bethlehem The Shepherd Boy's Fight with the Giant The Little Boy Looking for the Arrows Where David Found the Giant's Sword How David Spared Saul's Life The Last Days of King Saul The Shepherd Boy Becomes a King The Sound in the Treetops The Cripple at the King's Table The Prophet's Story of the Little Lamb David's Handsome Son and How He Stole the Kingdom Absalom in the Wood; David on the Throne The Angel with the Drawn Sword on Mount Moriah Solomon on This Father's Throne The Wise Young King The House of God on Mount Moriah The Last Days of Solomon's Reign The Breaking Up of a Great Kingdom The King Who Led Israel to Sin The Prophet Who Raised a Boy to Life The Prayer That Was Answered in Fire The Voice That Spoke to Elijah in the Mount The Wounded Prophet and His Story What Ahab Paid for His Vineyard The Arrow That Killed a King Elijah's Chariot of Fire A Spring Sweetened by Salt The Pot of Oil and the Pot of Poison The Little Boy at Shunem How a Little Girl Helped to Cure a Leper The Chariots of Fire around Elisha What the Lepers Found in the Camp Jehu, the Furious Driver of His Chariot Elisha and the Bow; Jonah and Nineveh How the Ten Tribes Were Lost The First Four Kings of Judah The Little Boy Who Was Crowned King Three Kings and a Great Prophet The Good King Hezekiah The Lost Book Found in the Temple The Last Four Kings of Judah and the Weeping Proph What Ezekiel Saw in the Valley The Jewish Captives in the Court of the King The Golden Image and the Fiery Furnace The Tree That Was Cut Down and Grew Again The Writing upon the Wall Daniel in the Den of Lions The Story of a Joyous Journey The New Temple on Mount Moriah The Beautiful Queen of Persia The Scribe Who Wrote the Old Testament The Nobleman Who Built the Wall of Jerusalem Ezra's Great Bible Class in Jerusalem The Angel by the Altar The Manger of Bethlehem The Star and the Wise Men The Boy in his Father's House The Prophet in the Wilderness Jesus in the Desert, and beside the River The Water Jars at the Wedding Feast The Stranger at the Well The Story of a Boy in Capernaum and a Riot A Net Full of Fishes The Leper and the Man Let Down through the Roof The Cripple at the Pool and the Withered Hand The Twelve Disciples and the Sermon on the Mount The Captain's Servant, the Widow's Son, and a Sinn Some Stories Jesus Told by the Sea "Peace, Be Still" The Little Girl Who Was Raised to Life A Dancing Girl and What Was Given Her The Feast beside the Sea and What Followed It The Answer to a Mother's Prayer The Glory of Jesus on the Mountain The Little Child in the Arms of Jesus At the Feast of Tabernacles The Man with Clay on His Face The Good Shepherd and the Good Samaritan Lazarus Raised to Life Some Parables in Perea The Poor Rich Man and the Rich Poor Man Jesus at Jericho Palm Sunday The Last Vistis of Jesus to the Temple The Parables on the Mount of Olives The Last Supper The Olive Orchard and the High Priests Hall The Crown of Thorns The Darkest Day of All the World The Brightest Day of All the World The Stranger on the Shore The Church of the First Days The Man at the Beautiful Gate The Right Way to Give, and the Wrong Way Stephen with the Shining Face The Man Reading in the Chariot The Voice That Spoke to Saul What Peter Saw by the Sea How the Iron Gate Was Opened The Earliest Missionaries The Song in the Prison Paul's Speech on the Hill Paul at Corinth Paul at Ephesus Paul's Last Journey to Jerusalem The Speech on the Stairs Two Years in Prison The Story That Paul Told to the King Paul in the Storm How Paul Came to Rome and How He Lived There The Throne of God The City of God

Story of the Bible Told for Young and Old - Jesse Hurlbut




What Ahab Paid for His Vineyard


King Ahab's home was at Samaria, the capital of the kingdom. But he had also a palace at Jezreel, which overlooked the great plain of Esdraelon. And beside Ahab's palace at Jezreel was a vineyard, belonging to a man named Naboth Ahab wished to own this vineyard, and he said to Naboth, "Let me have your vineyard, which is near my house. I would like to make of it a garden for vegetables. I will give you a better vineyard in place of it, or I will pay you the worth of it in money."

But Naboth answered the king, "This vineyard has belonged to my father's family for many generations, and I am not willing to give it up or to leave it."

Ahab and Naboth

AHAB AND NABOTH


Ahab was very angry when he heard this. He came into his house, and refused to eat; but lay down on his bed, and turned his face to the wall. His wife Jezebel came to him, and said, "Why are you so sad? What is troubling you?"

And Ahab answered her, "I asked Naboth to sell me his vineyard, or to let me give him another vineyard for it, and he would not."

Then Jezebel said to him, "Do you indeed rule over the kingdom of Israel? Rise up, and eat your dinner and enjoy yourself. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth" Then Queen Jezebel sat down, and wrote a letter in Ahab's name, and sealed it with the king's seal. And in the letter she wrote, "Let the word be given out that a meeting of the men of Jezreel is to be held, and set Naboth up before all the people. Have ready two men, no matter how worthless and wicked they may be, who will swear that they heard Naboth speak words of cursing against God and against the king. Then take Naboth out, and stone him with stones until he is dead."

Such was the fear of Queen Jezebel among all the people, that they did as she gave command They held a meeting, and set Naboth up in presence of the people; then they brought in two men, who told lies, declaring that they had heard Naboth speak words of cursing against God and against the king; and then they dragged Naboth out of the city, and stoned him, and killed him. Afterward they sent word to Queen Jezebel that Naboth was dead, and Jezebel said to Ahab, "Now you can go and take as your own the vineyard of Naboth in Jezreel; for Naboth is no longer living; he is dead."

Then Ahab rose in his chariot from Samaria to Jezreel, and with him were two of his captains, one named Jehu, and another named Bidkar. Just as they were riding in the vineyard that had been Naboth's, suddenly Elijah, the prophet, with his mantle of skin, stood before them.

Ahab was startled as he saw Elijah, and he called out, "Have you found me, O my enemy?"

"I have found you," answered Elijah, "because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord. In the place where dogs liked up the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick up your own blood. I will bring evil upon you, and will sweep you away; and I will cut off every man-child from Ahab; and I will make your family like the family of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin. And because your wife, Jezebel, has stirred you up to sin, she shall die, and the wild dogs of the city shall eat the body of Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel."

When Ahad heard these words of Elijah he saw how wickedly he had acted, and he felt sorrow for his sin. He put on sackcloth, and fasted, and sought for mercy. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah, saying, "Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before me, and shows sorrow for his sin? Because of this, I will not bring the evil in his lifetime, but after he is dead, I will bring it upon his children."