1 Kings 18
18
Elijah’s Message to Ahab
1After a long time, the word of the Lord # 1Kg 17:8 came to Elijah in the third year: # 1Kg 17:1; Jms 5:17 “Go and present yourself to Ahab. # 1Kg 16:29-33 I will send rain on the surface of the land.” 2So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
The famine was severe in Samaria. # 1Kg 16:24,29 3Ahab called for Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. # 1Kg 16:9 Obadiah was a man who greatly feared the Lord # Neh 7:2; Pr 3:5-6 4and took 100 prophets and hid them, 50 men to a cave, and provided them with food and water when Jezebel # 1Kg 16:31; Rv 2:20 slaughtered the Lord’s prophets. # 1Kg 18:13 5Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go throughout the land to every spring of water and to every wadi. Perhaps we’ll find grass so we can keep the horses and mules alive and not have to destroy any cattle.” # Gn 47:4 6They divided the land between them in order to cover it. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went the other way by himself.
7While Obadiah was walking along the road, Elijah suddenly met him. # 2Kg 1:6-8 When Obadiah recognized him, he fell with his face to the ground and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah? ”
8“It is I,” he replied. “Go tell your lord, ‘Elijah is here! ’ ”
9But Obadiah said, “What sin have I committed, # 1Kg 17:18 that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to put me to death? 10As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent someone to search for you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made that kingdom or nation swear they had not found you.
11“Now you say, ‘Go tell your lord, “Elijah is here! ” ’ 12But when I leave you, the Spirit of the Lord may carry you off # 2Kg 2:16; Ac 8:39 to some place I don’t know. Then when I go report to Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have feared the Lord from my youth. 13Wasn’t it reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the Lord’s prophets? I hid 100 of the prophets of the Lord, 50 men to a cave, and I provided them with food and water. 14Now you say, ‘Go tell your lord, “Elijah is here! ” ’ He will kill me! ”
15Then Elijah said, “As the Lord of Hosts lives, # 1Kg 17:1 before whom I stand, today I will present myself to Ahab.”
16Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him. Then Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, you destroyer of Israel? ” # Jos 7:25; 1Kg 21:20
18He replied, “I have not destroyed Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because you have abandoned the Lord’s commands # 1Kg 9:9; 16:25-26 and followed the Baals. # 1Kg 16:31-32 19Now summon all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel, # Jos 19:26; 2Kg 2:25 along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah # 1Kg 16:33; 22:6 who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
Elijah at Mount Carmel
20So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. 21Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? # 2Kg 17:41 If Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him.” # Jos 24:15; Mt 6:24 But the people didn’t answer him a word.
22Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, # 1Kg 19:10,14 but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. 23Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire. 24Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh. # Gn 4:26; Rm 10:13 The God who answers with fire, He is God.”
All the people answered, “That sounds good.”
25Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god but don’t light the fire.”
26So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us! ” But there was no sound; # Jr 10:5; 1Co 8:4 no one answered. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.
27At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; # Or has turned aside; possibly to relieve himself or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up! ” # Hab 2:19 28They shouted loudly, and cut themselves # Lv 19:28; Dt 14:1 with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them. 29All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, # Ex 29:39,41 but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention. # 2Kg 19:12; Is 16:12
30Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near me.” So all the people approached him. Then he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been torn down: # 1Kg 19:10 31Elijah took 12 stones — according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel will be your name” # Gn 32:28; 35:10; 2Kg 17:34 — 32and he built an altar # Gn 12:7,8; 22:9 with the stones in the name of Yahweh. Then he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold about four gallons. # LXX reads trench containing two measures of seed # Lit altar corresponding to a house of two seahs of seed 33Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. He said, “Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood.” 34Then he said, “A second time! ” and they did it a second time. And then he said, “A third time! ” and they did it a third time. 35So the water ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water.
36At the time for offering the evening sacrifice, # 1Kg 18:29 Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, # Ex 3:6; 4:5 today let it be known # Nm 16:28 that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that at Your word I have done all these things. 37Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that You, Yahweh, are God # Jos 4:24; Jn 11:42 and that You have turned their hearts back.”
38Then Yahweh’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39When all the people saw it, they fell facedown # Lv 9:24; Mt 17:6 and said, “Yahweh, He is God! Yahweh, He is God! ” # 1Kg 18:21,24
40Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! # 1Kg 18:19,22 Do not let even one of them escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon # Jdg 4:7; 5:21 and slaughtered them there. # Dt 13:5; 2Kg 10:24-25 41Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a rainstorm.” # 1Kg 17:1; 18:1
42So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah went up to the summit of Carmel. # 1Kg 18:19 He bowed down on the ground and put his face between his knees. # 1Sm 12:17; Jms 5:18 43Then he said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the sea.”
So he went up, looked, and said, “There’s nothing.”
Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
44On the seventh # Jos 6:15; Lk 12:54 time, he reported, “There’s a cloud as small as a man’s hand coming from the sea.”
Then Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Get your chariot ready and go down so the rain doesn’t stop you.’ ”
45In a little while, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and there was a downpour. So Ahab got in his chariot and went to Jezreel. # Jos 17:16; Jdg 6:33 46The power of the Lord # 2Kg 3:15 was on Elijah, and he tucked his mantle under his belt # Ex 12:11; 2Kg 4:29; 9:1; Jr 1:17; 1Pt 1:13 and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
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© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
1 Kings 18
18
Elijah and the Prophets of Baal
1After some time, in the third year of the drought, the LORD said to Elijah, “Go and present yourself to King Ahab, and I will send rain.” 2So Elijah started out.
The famine in Samaria was at its worst, 3so Ahab called in Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Obadiah was a devout worshipper of the LORD, 4and when Jezebel was killing the LORD's prophets, Obadiah took a hundred of them, hid them in caves in two groups of fifty, and provided them with food and water.) 5Ahab said to Obadiah, “Let us go and look#18.5 One ancient translation Let us go and look; Hebrew You go and look. at every spring and every riverbed in the land to see if we can find enough grass to keep the horses and mules alive. Maybe we won't have to kill any of our animals.” 6They agreed on which part of the land each one would explore, and set off in different directions.
7As Obadiah was on his way, he suddenly met Elijah. He recognized him, bowed low before him, and asked, “Is it really you, sir?”
8“Yes, I'm Elijah,” he answered. “Go and tell your master the king that I am here.”
9Obadiah answered, “What have I done that you want to put me in danger of being killed by King Ahab? 10By the living LORD, your God, I swear that the king has made a search for you in every country in the world. Whenever the ruler of a country reported that you were not in his country, Ahab would require that ruler to swear that you could not be found. 11And now you want me to go and tell him that you are here? 12What if the Spirit of the LORD carries you off to some unknown place as soon as I leave? Then, when I tell Ahab that you are here, and he can't find you, he will put me to death. Remember that I have been a devout worshipper of the LORD ever since I was a boy. 13Haven't you heard that when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the LORD I hid a hundred of them in caves, in two groups of fifty, and supplied them with food and water? 14So how can you order me to go and tell the king that you are here? He will kill me!”
15Elijah answered, “By the living LORD, whom I serve, I promise that I will present myself to the king today.”
16So Obadiah went to King Ahab and told him, and Ahab set off to meet Elijah. 17When Ahab saw him, he said, “So there you are — the worst troublemaker in Israel!”
18“I'm not the troublemaker,” Elijah answered. “You are — you and your father. You are disobeying the LORD's commands and worshipping the idols of Baal. 19Now order all the people of Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Bring along the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah who are supported by Queen Jezebel.”
20So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and the prophets of Baal to meet at Mount Carmel. 21Elijah went up to the people and said, “How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the LORD is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!” But the people didn't say a word. 22Then Elijah said, “I am the only prophet of the LORD still left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. 23Bring two bulls; let the prophets of Baal take one, kill it, cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood — but don't light the fire. I will do the same with the other bull. 24Then let the prophets of Baal pray to their god, and I will pray to the LORD, and the one who answers by sending fire — he is God.”
The people shouted their approval.
25Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since there are so many of you, you take a bull and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but don't set fire to the wood.”
26They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted, “Answer us, Baal!” and kept dancing round the altar they had built. But no answer came.
27At noon Elijah started making fun of them: “Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is daydreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone on a journey! Or maybe he's sleeping, and you've got to wake him up!” 28So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed. 29They kept on ranting and raving until the middle of the afternoon; but no answer came, not a sound was heard.
30Then Elijah said to the people, “Come closer to me,” and they all gathered round him. He set about repairing the altar of the LORD which had been torn down. 31#Gen 32.28; 35.10He took twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes named after the sons of Jacob, the man to whom the LORD had given the name Israel. 32With these stones he rebuilt the altar for the worship of the LORD. He dug a trench round it, large enough to hold almost fourteen litres of water. 33Then he placed the wood on the altar, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the offering and the wood.” They did so, 34and he said, “Do it again” — and they did. “Do it once more,” he said — and they did. 35The water ran down round the altar and filled the trench.
36At the hour of the afternoon sacrifice the prophet Elijah approached the altar and prayed, “O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove now that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant and have done all this at your command. 37Answer me, LORD, answer me, so that this people will know that you, the LORD, are God, and that you are bringing them back to yourself.”#18.37 you are bringing them back to yourself; or you yourself made them turn away from you.
38The LORD sent fire down, and it burnt up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, scorched the earth and dried up the water in the trench. 39When the people saw this, they threw themselves on the ground and exclaimed, “The LORD is God; the LORD alone is God!”
40Elijah ordered, “Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any of them get away!” The people seized them all, and Elijah led them down to the River Kishon and killed them.
The End of the Drought
41Then Elijah said to King Ahab, “Now, go and eat. I hear the roar of rain approaching.” 42#Jas 5.18While Ahab went to eat, Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, where he bowed down to the ground, with his head between his knees. 43He said to his servant, “Go and look towards the sea.”
The servant went and returned, saying, “I didn't see anything.” Seven times in all Elijah told him to go and look. 44The seventh time he returned and said, “I saw a little cloud no bigger than a man's hand, coming up from the sea.”
Elijah ordered his servant, “Go to King Ahab and tell him to get into his chariot and go back home before the rain stops him.”
45In a little while the sky was covered with dark clouds, the wind began to blow, and heavy rain began to fall. Ahab got into his chariot and started back to Jezreel. 46The power of the LORD came on Elijah; he fastened his clothes tight round his waist and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.