Første Kongebog 18
1 Lang Tid efter, i det tredie År, kom HERRENs ord således: "Gå hen og træd frem for Akab, så vil jeg sende Regn over Jorden!"
Now after a long time, the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, Go and let Ahab see you, so that I may send rain on the earth.
2 Da gav Elias sig på Vej for at træde frem for Akab. Da Hungersnøden blev trykkende i Samaria,
So Elijah went to let Ahab see him. Now there was no food to be had in Samaria.
3 kaldte Akab Paladsøversten Obadja til sig. Obadja var en Mand, der alvorligt frygtede HERREN,
And Ahab sent for Obadiah, the controller of the king's house. (Now Obadiah had the fear of the Lord before him greatly;
4 og dengang Jesabel lod HERRENs Profeter udrydde, tog han og skjulte hundrede Profeter, halvtredsindstyve i een Hule og halvtredsindstyve i en anden, og sørgede for Brød og Vand til dem.
For when Jezebel was cutting off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred of them, and kept them secretly in a hole in the rock, fifty at a time, and gave them bread and water.)
5 Akab sagde nu til Obadja: "Kom, lad os drage rundt i Landet til alle Vandkilder og Bække, om vi mulig kan finde så meget Græs, at vi kan holde Liv i Hestene og Muldyrene og slippe for at dræbe noget af Dyrene!"
And Ahab said to Obadiah, Come, let us go through all the country, to all the fountains of water and all the rivers, and see if there is any grass to be had for the horses and the transport beasts, so that we may be able to keep some of the beasts from destruction.
6 Så delte de Landet, som de skulde gennemvandre, mellem sig, således at Akab og Obadja drog hver sin Vej.
So they went through all the country, covering it between them; Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another by himself.
7 Medens nu Obadja var undervejs, se, da trådte Elias ham i Møde; Obadja genkendte ham og faldt på sit Ansigt og sagde: "Er det dig, min Herre Elias?"
And while Obadiah was on his way, he came face to face with Elijah; and seeing who it was, he went down on his face and said, Is it you, my lord Elijah?
8 Han svarede: "Ja, det er mig! Gå hen og sig til din Herre, at Elias er her!"
And Elijah in answer said, It is I; now go and say to your lord, Elijah is here.
9 Men han sagde: "Hvormed har jeg dog syndet, siden du vil give din Træl i Akabs Hånd, for at han kan slå mig ihjel?
And he said, What sin have I done, that you would give up your servant into the hand of Ahab, and be the cause of my death?
10 Så sandt HERREN din Gud lever, der er ikke et Folk eller Rige, min Herre ikke har sendt Bud til for at lede efter dig; og blev der sagt, at du ikke var der, tog han Riget og Folket i Ed på, at de ikke havde fundet dig.
By the life of the Lord your God, there is not a nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent in search of you; and when they said, He is not here; he made them take an oath that they had not seen you.
11 Og nu siger du, at jeg skal gå hen og sige til min Herre, at Elias er her!
And now you say, Go, say to your lord, Elijah is here.
12 Hvis nu HERRENs Ånd, når jeg har forladt dig, fører dig bort til et Sted, jeg ikke kender, og jeg kommer og melder det til Akab, og han ikke finder dig, lader han mig dræbe. Og din Træl har dog frygtet HERREN fra Ungdommen af!
And straight away, when I have gone from you, the spirit of the Lord will take you away, I have no idea where, so that when I come and give word to Ahab, and he sees you not, he will put me to death: though I, your servant, have been a worshipper of the Lord from my earliest years.
13 Er det ikke kommet min Herre for Øre, hvad jeg gjorde, da Jesabel lod HERRENs Profeter dræbe, hvorledes jeg skjulte hundrede af HERRENs Profeter, halvtredsindstyve i een Hule og halvtredsindstyve i en anden, og sørgede for Brød og Vand til dem?
Has my lord not had word of what I did when Jezebel was putting the Lord's prophets to death? how I kept a hundred of them in a secret hole in the rock, fifty at a time, and gave them bread and water?
14 Og nu siger du, at jeg skal gå hen og sige til din Herre, at Elias er her - han lader mig dræbe!"
And now you say, Go and say to your Lord, Elijah is here; and he will put me to death.
15 Da sagde Elias: "Så sandt Hærskarers HERRE lever, han, for hvis Åsyn jeg står, i Dag vil jeg træde frem for ham."
And Elijah said, By the life of the Lord of armies, whose servant I am, I will certainly let him see me today.
16 Obadja gik da Akab i Møde og meldte ham det, og Akab gik Elias i Møde.
So Obadiah went to Ahab and gave him the news; and Ahab went to see Elijah.
17 Da Akab fik Øje på Elias, sagde han til ham: "Er det dig, du, som bringer Ulykke over Israel!"
And when he saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, Is it you, you troubler of Israel?
18 Men han svarede: "Det er ikke mig, der har bragt Ulykke over Israel, men dig og din Faders Hus, fordi I har forladt HERREN og holder eder til Ba'alerne!
Then he said in answer, I have not been troubling Israel, but you and your family; because, turning away from the orders of the Lord, you have gone after the Baals.
19 Men send nu Bud og kald hele Israel sammen til mig på Karmels Bjerg og tillige de 450 Ba'alsprofeter og de 400 Asjeraprofeter, som spiser ved Jesabels Bord!"
Now send, and get Israel together before me at Mount Carmel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal who get their food at Jezebel's table.
20 Da sendte Akab Bud rundt til alle Israeliterne og samlede Profeterne på Karmels Bjerg.
So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and got the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
21 Elias trådte så frem for alt Folket og sagde: "Hvor længe vil I blive ved at halte til begge Sider? Er HERREN Gud, så hold eder til ham, og er Ba'al Gud, så hold eder til ham!" Men Folket svarede ham ikke et Ord.
And Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you go on balancing between two opinions? if the Lord is God, then give worship to him; but if Baal, give worship to him. And the people said not a word in answer.
22 Da sagde Elias til Folket: "Jeg er den eneste af HERRENs Profeter, der er tilbage, og Ba'als Profeter er 450 Mand;
Then Elijah said to the people, I, even I, am the only living prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
23 lad os nu få to unge Tyre; så skal de vælge den ene Tyr og hugge den i Stykker og lægge den på Brændet, men Ild må de ikke lægge til; den anden vil jeg lave til og lægge på Brændet, men uden at tænde Ild.
Now, let them give us two oxen; and let them take one for themselves, and have it cut up, and put it on the wood, but put no fire under it; I will get the other ox ready, and put it on the wood, and put no fire under it.
24 Så skal I påkalde eders Guds Navn, og jeg vil påkalde HERRENs Navn; den Gud, der svarer med Ild, han er Gud!" Alt Folket sagde: "Det Forslag er godt!"
And do you make prayers to your god, and I will make a prayer to the Lord: and it will be clear that the one who gives an answer by fire is God. And all the people in answer said, It is well said.
25 Derpå sagde Elias til Ba'als Profefer: "Vælg eder den ene Tyr og lav den til først, thi I er de mange, og påkald så eders Guds Navn, men I må ikke tænde Ild!"
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Take one ox for yourselves and get it ready first, for there are more of you; and make your prayers to your god, but put no fire under.
26 Så tog de Tyren og lavede den til og påkaldte Ba'als Navn fra Morgen til Middag, idet de råbte: "Hør os, Ba'al!" Men ikke en Lyd hørtes, der var ingen, som svarede; og de dansede haltende omkring det Alter, de havde opført.
So they took the ox which was given them, and made it ready, crying out to Baal from morning till the middle of the day, and saying, O Baal, give ear to us. But there was no voice and no answer. And they were jumping up and down before the altar they had made.
27 Men da det var blevet Middag, hånede Elias dem og sagde: "I må råbe højt, thi han er jo en Gud! Han er vel faldet i Tanker eller gået afsides eller rejst bort, eller han er faldet i Søvn og må først vågne!"
And in the middle of the day, Elijah made sport of them, saying, Give louder cries, for he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or he may have gone away for some purpose, or he may be on a journey, or by chance he is sleeping and has to be made awake.
28 Da råbte de højt, og som de havde for Skik, sårede de deres Legemer med Sværd og Spyd, til Blodet flød ned ad dem.
So they gave loud cries, cutting themselves with knives and swords, as was their way, till the blood came streaming out all over them.
29 Og da det var over Middag, begyndte de at rase, og det varede lige til hen imod Afgrødeofferets Tid, men ikke en Lyd hørtes, ingen svarede, og ingen agtede derpå.
And from the middle of the day they went on with their prayers till the time of the offering; but there was no voice, or any answer, or any who gave attention to them.
30 Da sagde Elias til alt Folket: "Kom hen til mig!" Og da alt Folket var kommet hen til ham, satte han HERRENs nedbrudte Alter i Stand.
Then Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me; and all the people came near. And he put up again the altar of the Lord which had been broken down.
31 Elias tog tolv Sten, svarende til Tallet på Jakobs Sønners Stammer, han, til hvem HERRENs Ord lød: "Israel skal dit Navn!"
And Elijah took twelve stones, the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the Lord had said, Israel will be your name:
32 Og af disse Sten byggede han et Alter i HERRENs Navn og gravede rundt om Alteret en Rende på omtrent to Sea Land.
And with the stones he made an altar to the name of the Lord; and he made a deep drain all round the altar, great enough to take two measures of seed.
33 Derpå lagde han Brændet tilrette, huggede Tyren i Stykker og lagde den på Brændet.
And he put the wood in order, and, cutting up the ox, put it on the wood. Then he said, Get four vessels full of water and put it on the burned offering and on the wood. And he said, Do it a second time, and they did it a second time;
34 Så sagde han: "Fyld fire Krukker med Vand og hæld det ud over Brændofferet og Brændet!" Og da de havde gjort det, sagde han: "Een Gang til!" Og da de havde gjort det anden Gang, sagde han: "Een Gang til!" Og de gjorde det endnu en Gang.
And he said, Do it a third time, and they did it a third time.
35 Det drev af Vand rundt om Alteret, også Renden fik han fyldt med Vand.
And the water went all round the altar, till the drain was full.
36 Men ved Afgrødeofferets Tid trådte Profeten Elias frem og sagde: "HERRE, Abrahams, Isaks og Israels Gud! Lad det kendes i Dag, at dut er Gud i Israel og jeg din Tjener, og at jeg har gjort alt dette på dit Ord!
Then at the time of the offering, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be seen this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things by your order.
37 Hør mig, HERRE, hør mig, for at dette Folk må kende, at du HERRE er Gud, og at du atter drager deres Hjerte til dig"
Give me an answer, O Lord, give me an answer, so that this people may see that you are God, and that you have made their hearts come back again.
38 Da for HERRENs Ild ned og fortærede Brændofferet og Brændet og Stenene og Jorden; endog Vandet i Renden slikkede den bort.
Then the fire of the Lord came down, burning up the offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and drinking up the water in the drain.
39 Da alt Folket så det, faldt de på deres Ansigt og råbte: "HERREN er Gud, HERREN er Gud!"
And when the people saw it, they all went down on their faces, and said, The Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is God.
40 Men Elias sagde til dem: "Grib Ba'als Profeter, lad ingen af dem slippe bort!" Og de greb dem, og Elias førte dem ned til Kisjonbækken og dræbte dem der.
And Elijah said to them, Take the prophets of Baal, let not one of them get away. So they took them, and Elijah made them go down to the stream Kishon, and put them to death there.
41 Derpå sagde Elias til Akab: "Gå op og spis og drik, thi der høres Susen af Regn."
Then Elijah said to Ahab, Up! take food and drink, for there is a sound of much rain.
42 Da gik Akab op for at spise og drikke; men Elias gik op på Karmels Top og bøjede sig til Jorden med Ansigtet mellem Knæene.
So Ahab went up to have food and drink, while Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he went down on the earth, putting his face between his knees.
43 Så sagde han til sin Tjener: "Gå op og se ud over Havet!" Og han gik op og så ud, men sagde: "Der er intet!" Syv Gange sagde han til ham: "Gå derop igen!" Og syv Gange vendte Tjeneren tilbage.
And he said to his servant, Go now, and take a look in the direction of the sea. And he went up, and after looking said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times; and he went seven times.
44 Men syvende Gang sagde han: "Nu stiger der en lille Sky op af Havet, så stor som en Mands Hånd!" Da sagde Elias: "Gå hen og sig til Akab: Spænd for og kør hjem, at du ikke skal blive opholdt af Regnen!"
And the seventh time he said, I see a cloud coming up out of the sea, as small as a man's hand. Then he said, Go up and say to Ahab, Get your carriage ready and go down or the rain will keep you back.
45 Et Øjeblik efter var Himmelen sort af Stormskyer, og der faldt en voldsom Regn. Akab steg til Vogns og kørte til Jizre'el;
And after a very little time, the heaven became black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab went in his carriage to Jezreel.
46 men HERRENs Hånd kom over Elias, så han omgjordede sine Lænder og løb foran Akab lige til Jizre'el.
And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he made himself strong, and went running before Ahab till they came to Jezreel.
