Here’s a readers’ theatre setting of 1 Kings 21:
1-21a, the suggested Old Testament reading for Proper 6 C. It is set for three
voices.
Readers’
Theatre: 1 Kings 21: 1-21a
One: Now there was a man named Naboth, from
Jezreel,
who owned a vineyard in Jezreel
beside the palace of King Ahab of
Samaria.
One day Ahab said to Naboth,
Two: “Since your vineyard is so convenient to my
palace,
I would like to buy it to use as a vegetable
garden.
I will give you a better vineyard in
exchange,
or if you prefer, I will pay you for it.
One: But Naboth replied,
“The Lord forbid that I should give
you the inheritance
that was passed down by my ancestors.”
So Ahab went home angry and sullen because of
Naboth’s answer.
The king went to bed with his face to the
wall and refused to eat!
His wife, Jezebel, saw that he was
upset, and asked:
Three: What’s the matter?
What’s made you so upset that you’re not
eating?
Two: I asked Naboth to sell me his vineyard or
trade it, but he refused!
Three: Are you the king of Israel or not?
Get up and eat something, and don’t worry
about it.
I’ll get you Naboth’s vineyard!
One: So Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab’s name,
sealed them with his seal,
and sent them to the elders and other leaders
of the town
where Naboth lived.
In her letters she commanded:
Three: Call the citizens together for fasting and
prayer,
and give Naboth a place of honor.
And then seat two scoundrels across from him
who will accuse him of cursing God and the
king.
Then take him out and stone him to death.
One: So the elders and other town leaders
followed the instructions
Jezebel had written in the letters.
They called for a fast
and put Naboth at a prominent place before
the people.
Then the two scoundrels came and sat down
across from him.
And they accused Naboth before all the
people, saying,
“He cursed God and the king.”
So he was dragged outside the town and stoned
to death.
The town leaders then sent word to Jezebel,
“Naboth has been stoned to death.”
When Jezebel heard the news, she said to
Ahab,
Three: You know the vineyard Naboth wouldn’t sell
you?
Well, you can have it now! He’s dead!
One: So Ahab immediately went down to the
vineyard of Naboth to claim it.
But the Lord said to Elijah,
“Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who
rules in Samaria.
He will be at Naboth’s vineyard in Jezreel,
claiming it for himself.
Give him this message:
‘This is what the Lord says:
Wasn’t it enough that you killed Naboth?
Must you rob him, too?
Because you have done this, dogs will lick
your blood
at the very place where they licked the blood
of Naboth!’”
When Ahab saw Elijah approaching, he
exclaimed:
Two: So, my enemy, you have found me!
One: “Yes,” Elijah answered,
“I have come because you have sold yourself
to what is evil in the Lord’s
sight.
So now the Lord says,
‘I will bring disaster on you and consume
you.
I will destroy every one of your male
descendants,
slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel!’
