Kings III 18
1 And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Eliu in the third year, saying, Go, and appear before Achaab, and I will bring rain upon the face of the earth.
Sometime later, during the third year, a message from the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and appear before Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.”
2 And Eliu went to appear before Achaab: and the famine [was] severe in Samaria.
So Elijah went to appear before Ahab. In the meantime the famine had become severe in Samaria.
3 And Achaab called Abdiu the steward. Now Abdiu feared the Lord greatly.
Ahab summoned Obadiah, the manager of his palace (Obadiah was a very sincere believer in the Lord.
4 And it came to pass when Jezabel smote the prophets of the Lord, that Abdiu took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.
While Jezebel was busy killing the Lord's prophets, Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty in each of two caves, and had provided them with food and water.)
5 And Achaab said to Abdiu, Come, and let us go through the land, and to the fountains of water, and to the brooks, if by any means we may find grass, and may save the horses and mules, and so they will not perish from the tents.
Ahab told Obadiah, “Go throughout the country and check all the springs and valleys. Perhaps we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not lose any of the animals.”
6 And they made a division of the way between them to pass through it: Achaab went one way, and Abdiu went by another way alone.
So they divided the land between them. Ahab went in one direction, and Obadiah the other.
7 And Abdiu was alone in the way; and Eliu came alone to meet him: and Abdiu hasted, and fell upon his face, and said, My lord Eliu, art thou [indeed] he?
As Obadiah went on his way, Elijah came to meet him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?”
8 And Eliu said to him, I [am]: go say to thy master, Behold, Eliu [is here].
“It's me,” Elijah replied. “Go and tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”
9 And Abdiu said, What sin have I committed, that thou givest thy servant into the hand of Achaab to slay me?
“How have I sinned that you are handing me, your servant, over to Ahab to be killed?
10 [As] the Lord thy God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom, whither my lord has not sent to seek thee; and if they said, He is not [here], then has he set fire to the kingdom and its territories, because he has not found thee.
As the Lord your God lives, there's no nation or kingdom where my master hasn't sent someone to search for you. When a nation or kingdom said you weren't there, he made them swear that they couldn't find you.
11 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Eliu [is here].
And now you're telling me to go to my master and announce, ‘Elijah is here!’
12 And it shall come to pass when I shall have departed from thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee to a land which I know not, and I shall go in to tell the matter to Achaab, and he will not find thee and will slay me: yet thy servant fears the Lord from his youth.
I have no idea where the Spirit of the Lord will take you after I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and then he can't find you, he's going to kill me, even though I, your servant, have worshiped the Lord since I was young.
13 Has it not been told to thee my lord, what I did when Jezabel slew the prophets of the Lord, that I hid a hundred men of the prophets of the Lord, by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?
Didn't you hear, my lord, what I did when Jezebel was busy killing the Lord's prophets? I hid a hundred of the Lord's prophets, fifty in each of two caves, and provided them with food and water.
14 And now thou sayest to me, Go, say to thy master, Behold, Eliu [is here]: and he shall slay me.
And now you're telling me to go to my master and announce, ‘Elijah is here.’ He's going to kill me!”
15 And Eliu said, [As] the Lord of Hosts before whom I stand lives, to-day I will appear before him.
Elijah replied, “As the Lord Almighty lives, the one I serve, I will definitely appear before Ahab today.”
16 And Abdiu went to meet Achaab, and told him: and Achaab hasted forth, and went to meet Eliu.
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 And it came to pass when Achaab saw Eliu, that Achaab said to Eliu, Art thou he that perverts Israel?
When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you—you who are causing trouble for Israel?”
18 And Eliu said, I do not pervert Israel; but it is thou and thy father's house, in that ye forsake the Lord your God, and thou hast gone after Baalim.
“I'm not causing trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “It's you and your father's family! You have rejected the Lord's commands and are worshiping the Baals.
19 And now send, gather to me all Israel to mount Carmel, and the prophets of shame four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, that eat [at] Jezabel's table.
Now call together all of Israel and meet me on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who are supported by Jezebel.”
20 And Achaab sent to all Israel, and gathered all the prophets to mount Carmel.
So Ahab summoned all of Israel and also gathered the prophets on Mount Carmel.
21 And Eliu drew near to them all: and Eliu said to them, How long wilt ye halt on both feet? if the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, follow him. And the people answered not a word.
Elijah approached the people and asked them, “How long will you hobble along, hesitating between two opposite beliefs? If the Lord is God, then follow him. But if Baal is God, then follow him.” But the people gave o answer.
22 And Eliu said to the people, I am left, the only one prophet of the Lord; and the prophets of Baal [are] four hundred and fifty men, and the prophets of the groves four hundred.
Then Elijah told them, “I am the only one left of the Lord's prophets—just me alone—but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.
23 Let them give us two oxen, and let them choose one for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire [on] the wood: and I will dress the other bullock, and put on no fire.
Provide us with two bulls. Let the prophets of Baal choose for themselves the one they want, and have them cut it into pieces and place it on the firewood. But don't set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the firewood but I won't set fire to it.
24 And do ye call loudly on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord my God, and it shall come to pass that the God who shall answer by fire, he [is] God. And all the people answered and said, The word which thou hast spoken [is] good.
Then you call on your god by name, and I will call on the Lord by name. The god who replies by sending fire—he is God.” Then all the people said, “We agree to what you say.”
25 And Eliu said to the prophets of shame, Choose to yourselves one calf, and dress it first, for ye [are] many; and call ye on the name of your god; but apply no fire.
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “You choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, because there are so many of you. Call on your god by name, but don't light the fire.”
26 And they took the calf and drest it, and called on the name of Baal from morning till noon, and said, hear us, O Baal, hear us. And there was no voice, neither was there hearing, and they ran up and down on the alter which they [had] made.
So they took the bull provided and prepared it. Then they called on Baal by name from morning until noon. “Baal, answer us!” they pleaded. But no voice was heard, no one answered. They hobbled in a dance around the altar they had made.
27 And it was noon, and Eliu the Thesbite mocked them, and said, Call with a loud voice, for he is a god; for he is meditating, or else perhaps he is engaged in business, or perhaps he is asleep, and is to be awaked.
At noon Elijah began to mock them. “Shout really loud!” he said. “Isn't he meant to be a god? Maybe he's meditating, or he's gone to the bathroom, or he's away on a trip! Maybe he's asleep and has to be woken up!”
28 And they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves according to their custom with knives and lancets until the blood gushed out upon them.
They shouted even louder and cut themselves with swords and spears until they bled. This was their usual way of worshiping.
29 And they prophesied until the evening came; and it came to pass as it was the time of the offering of the sacrifice, that Eliu the Thesbite spoke to the prophets of the abominations, saying, Stand by for the present, and I will offer my sacrifice. And they stood aside and departed.
Noon came and went, and they went on with their manic “prophesying” until the time of the evening sacrifice. But no voice was heard, no one answered, no one was listening.
30 And Eliu said to the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near to him.
Then Elijah told everyone, “Come over here to me.” They went over to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down.
31 And Eliu took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, as the Lord spoke to him, saying, Israel shall be thy name.
Elijah took twelve stones to represent the tribes of the sons of Jacob. (Jacob was the one who received the Lord's message that said, “Israel shall be your name.”)
32 And he built up the stones in the name of the Lord, and repaired the altar that had been broken down; and he made a trench that would hold two measures of seed round about the altar.
With the stones he built an altar in the Lord's name. He dug a ditch around it that could hold two seahs of seed.
33 And he piled the cleft wood on the altar which he [had] made, and divided the whole-burnt-offering, and laid [it] on the wood, and laid [it] in order on the altar, and said, Fetch me four pitchers of water, and pour [it] on the whole-burnt-offering, and on the wood. And they did so.
He put the wood in place, cut the bull into pieces, and laid it on the wood. Then he told them, “Fill up four large jars with water and pour it over the offering and the wood.”
34 And 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.
“Do it again,” he said. So they did. “Do it for a third time,” he said. So they did it for the third time.
35 And the water ran round about the altar, and they filled the trench with water.
The water ran down all over the altar and even filled the ditch.
36 And Eliu cried aloud to the heaven, and said, Lord God of Abraam, and Isaac, and Israel, answer me, O Lord, answer me this day by fire, and let all this people know that thou art the Lord, the God of Israel, and I [am] thy servant, and for thy sake I have wrought these works.
At the time of the evening sacrifice, the prophet Elijah went over to the altar and prayed: “Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, demonstrate today that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that everything I have done has been at your command.
37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, and let this people know that thou art the Lord God, and thou hast turned back the heart of this people.
Answer me, Lord! Answer me, so that these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are bringing them back to you.”
38 Then fire fell from the Lord out of heaven, and devoured the whole-burnt-offerings, and the wood and the water that was in the trench, and the fire licked up the stones and the earth.
Then the fire of the Lord came down and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the soil—it even licked up the water in the ditch!
39 And all the people fell upon their faces, and said, Truly the Lord [is] God; he [is] God.
When all the people saw this, they fell face down on the ground and shouted, “The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!”
40 And Eliu said to the people, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them; and Eliu brings them down to the brook Kisson, and he slew them there.
Then Elijah ordered them, “Grab hold of the prophets of Baal. Don't let any escape!” They grabbed them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon Valley and killed them there.
41 And Eliu said to Achaab, Go up, and eat and drink, for [there is] a sound of the coming of rain.
Elijah told Ahab, “Go and eat and drink, for I hear the sound of a heavy rain coming.”
42 And Achaab went up to eat and to drink; and Eliu went up to Carmel, and stooped to the ground, and put his face between his knees,
So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah went to the top of Carmel. There he bent down to the ground, putting his face between his knees.
43 and said to his servant, Go up, and look toward the sea. And the servant looked, and said, There is nothing: and Eliu said, Do thou then go again seven times.
“Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. The man went and looked. “There's nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah told him, “Go and look again.”
44 And the servant went again seven times: and it came to pass at the seventh time, that, behold, a little cloud like the sole of a man's foot brought water; and he said, Go up, and say to Achaab, make ready thy chariot, and go down, lest the rain overtake thee.
The seventh time the servant came back and said, “I saw a small cloud the size of a man's hand coming up from the sea.” So Elijah said, “Run to Ahab and tell him, ‘Get your chariot ready and go down before the rain stops you.’”
45 And it came to pass in the meanwhile, that the heaven grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Achaab wept, and went to Jezrael.
Very quickly the sky grew dark with clouds, the wind blew, heavy rain started falling, and Ahab rode down to Jezreel.
46 And the hand of the Lord [was] upon Eliu, and he girt up his loins, and ran before Achaab to Jezrael.
The Lord gave his power to Elijah—he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
