1 Kings 18
18
1And it came to pass after many days, that the word of Jehovah came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself to Ahab; and I will send rain upon the face of the earth. 2And Elijah went to shew himself to Ahab. And the famine was severe in Samaria. 3And Ahab called Obadiah, who was the steward of his house (now Obadiah feared Jehovah greatly; 4and it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Jehovah, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and maintained them with bread and water); 5and Ahab said to Obadiah, Go through the land, to all the fountains of water and to all the torrents, perhaps we may find grass to save the horses and the mules alive, so that we may not have to destroy some of our beasts. 6And they divided the land between them to pass through it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. 7And as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him; and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Is it indeed thou, my lord Elijah? 8And he said to him, I am he: go, say to thy lord, Behold Elijah! 9And he said, What have I sinned, that thou givest thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to put me to death? 10As Jehovah thy God#GodHebrew: Elohim liveth, there is no nation or kingdom whither my lord has not sent to seek thee; and when they said, He is not here, he took an oath of the kingdom or nation that they found thee not. 11And now thou sayest, Go, say to thy lord, Behold Elijah! 12And it shall come to pass when I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of Jehovah shall carry thee whither I know not; and when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he will kill me; and I thy servant fear Jehovah from my youth. 13Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of Jehovah, how I hid a hundred men of Jehovah's prophets by fifty in a cave, and maintained them with bread and water? 14And now thou sayest, Go, say to thy lord, Behold Elijah! and he will kill me. 15And Elijah said, As Jehovah of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will certainly shew myself to him to-day. 16Then Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Is it thou, the troubler of Israel? 18And he said, I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of Jehovah, and thou hast followed the Baals. 19And now send, gather to me all Israel to mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the Asherah four hundred, who eat at Jezebel's table. 20So Ahab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.
21Then Elijah drew near to all the people, and said, How long do ye halt between two opinions? if Jehovah be God#GodHebrew: Elohim follow him; and if Baal, follow him. And the people answered him not a word. 22And Elijah said to the people, I, only I, remain a prophet of Jehovah; and Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23Let them therefore give us two bullocks: and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood, and put no fire; and I will sacrifice the other bullock, and put it on the wood, and put no fire. 24And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of Jehovah; and the god that answers by fire, let him be God#GodHebrew: Elohim And all the people answered and said, The word is good. 25And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose one bullock for yourselves, and sacrifice it first; for ye are the many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire. 26And they took the bullock which had been given them, and sacrificed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, answer us! But there was no voice, and none answered. And they leaped about the altar that had been made. 27And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud; for he is a god; for he is meditating, or gone aside, or he is on a journey; perhaps he sleeps, and will awake. 28And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with swords and spears, till the blood gushed out upon them. 29And it came to pass when midday was past, that they prophesied until the time of the offering up of the oblation; but there was neither voice, nor any that answered, nor any attention. 30Then Elijah said to all the people, Draw near to me. And all the people drew near to him. And he repaired the altar of Jehovah which was broken down. 31And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Jehovah came saying, Israel shall be thy name; 32and with the stones he built an altar in the name of Jehovah, and made a trench round about the altar, of the capacity of two measures of seed; 33and he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it on the wood. And he said, Fill four pitchers with water, and pour it on the burnt-offering, and on the wood. 34And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. 35And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. 36And it came to pass at the time of the offering up of the oblation, that Elijah the prophet drew near, and said, Jehovah, God#GodHebrew: Elohim of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God#GodHebrew: Elohim in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things by thy word. 37Answer me, Jehovah, answer me, that this people may know that thou Jehovah art God#GodHebrew: Elohim and thatthou hast turned their heart back again. 38And the fire of Jehovah fell, and consumed the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39And all the people saw it, and they fell on their faces and said, Jehovah, he is God#GodHebrew: Elohim Jehovah, he is God#GodHebrew: Elohim 40And Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape! And they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the torrent of Kishon, and slaughtered them there.
41And Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. 42And Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed down on the earth, and put his face between his knees. 43And he said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. 44And it came to pass at the seventh time that he said, Behold there is a cloud, small as a man's hand, arising out of the sea. And he said, Go up, say to Ahab, Harness and go down, that the pour of rain stop thee not. 45And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heavens became black with clouds and wind, and there was a great pour of rain. And Ahab got on the chariot, and went to Jizreel. 46And the hand of Jehovah was upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jizreel.
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1 Kings 18: DARBY
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
1 Kings 18
18
The Contest on Mount Carmel
1Later on, in the third year of the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, “Go and present yourself to King Ahab. Tell him that I will soon send rain!” 2So Elijah went to appear before Ahab.
Meanwhile, the famine had become very severe in Samaria. 3So Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Obadiah was a devoted follower of the Lord. 4Once when Jezebel had tried to kill all the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had hidden 100 of them in two caves. He put fifty prophets in each cave and supplied them with food and water.) 5Ahab said to Obadiah, “We must check every spring and valley in the land to see if we can find enough grass to save at least some of my horses and mules.” 6So they divided the land between them. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
7As Obadiah was walking along, he suddenly saw Elijah coming toward him. Obadiah recognized him at once and bowed low to the ground before him. “Is it really you, my lord Elijah?” he asked.
8“Yes, it is,” Elijah replied. “Now go and tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”
9“Oh, sir,” Obadiah protested, “what harm have I done to you that you are sending me to my death at the hands of Ahab? 10For I swear by the Lord your God that the king has searched every nation and kingdom on earth from end to end to find you. And each time he was told, ‘Elijah isn’t here,’ King Ahab forced the king of that nation to swear to the truth of his claim. 11And now you say, ‘Go and tell your master, “Elijah is here.”’ 12But as soon as I leave you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you away to who knows where. When Ahab comes and cannot find you, he will kill me. Yet I have been a true servant of the Lord all my life. 13Has no one told you, my lord, about the time when Jezebel was trying to kill the Lord’s prophets? I hid 100 of them in two caves and supplied them with food and water. 14And now you say, ‘Go and tell your master, “Elijah is here.”’ Sir, if I do that, Ahab will certainly kill me.”
15But Elijah said, “I swear by the Lord Almighty, in whose presence I stand, that I will present myself to Ahab this very day.”
16So Obadiah went to tell Ahab that Elijah had come, and Ahab went out to meet Elijah. 17When Ahab saw him, he exclaimed, “So, is it really you, you troublemaker of Israel?”
18“I have made no trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “You and your family are the troublemakers, for you have refused to obey the commands of the Lord and have worshiped the images of Baal instead. 19Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel.#18:19 Hebrew who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
20So Ahab summoned all the people of Israel and the prophets to Mount Carmel. 21Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent.
22Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but Baal has 450 prophets. 23Now bring two bulls. The prophets of Baal may choose whichever one they wish and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood of their altar, but without setting fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood on the altar, but not set fire to it. 24Then call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by setting fire to the wood is the true God!” And all the people agreed.
25Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “You go first, for there are many of you. Choose one of the bulls, and prepare it and call on the name of your god. But do not set fire to the wood.”
26So they prepared one of the bulls and placed it on the altar. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noontime, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no reply of any kind. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.
27About noontime Elijah began mocking them. “You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed, “for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself.#18:27 Or is busy somewhere else, or is engaged in business. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!”
28So they shouted louder, and following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out. 29They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no response.
30Then Elijah called to the people, “Come over here!” They all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down. 31He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel,#18:31 Hebrew each of the tribes of the sons of Jacob to whom the Lord had said, “Your name will be Israel.” 32and he used the stones to rebuild the altar in the name of the Lord. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold about three gallons.#18:32 Hebrew 2 seahs [14.6 liters] of seed. 33He piled wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood.#18:33 Verse 18:34 in the Hebrew text begins here.
Then he said, “Fill four large jars with water, and pour the water over the offering and the wood.”
34After they had done this, he said, “Do the same thing again!” And when they were finished, he said, “Now do it a third time!” So they did as he said, 35and the water ran around the altar and even filled the trench.
36At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,#18:36 Hebrew and Israel. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation. prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. 37O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”
38Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! 39And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”
40Then Elijah commanded, “Seize all the prophets of Baal. Don’t let a single one escape!” So the people seized them all, and Elijah took them down to the Kishon Valley and killed them there.
Elijah Prays for Rain
41Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go get something to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!”
42So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees.
43Then he said to his servant, “Go and look out toward the sea.”
The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, “I didn’t see anything.”
Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. 44Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”
Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’”
45And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel. 46Then the Lord gave special strength to Elijah. He tucked his cloak into his belt#18:46 Hebrew He bound up his loins. and ran ahead of Ahab’s chariot all the way to the entrance of Jezreel.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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