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.
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 And Eliu went to appear before Achaab: and the famine [was] severe in Samaria.
So Elijah went to let Ahab see him. Now there was no food to be had in Samaria.
3 And Achaab called Abdiu the steward. Now Abdiu feared the Lord greatly.
And Ahab sent for Obadiah, the controller of the king's house. (Now Obadiah had the fear of the Lord before him greatly;
4 And it came to pass when Jezabel struck 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.
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 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.
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 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 went through all the country, covering it between them; Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another by himself.
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, are you [indeed] he?
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 And Eliu said to him, I [am]: go say to your master, Behold, Eliu [is here].
And Elijah in answer said, It is I; now go and say to your lord, Elijah is here.
9 And Abdiu said, What sin have I committed, that you give your servant into the hand of Achaab to kill me?
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 [As] the Lord your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom, whither my lord has not sent to seek you; and if they said, He is not [here], then has he set fire to the kingdom and its territories, because he has not found you.
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 And now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Eliu [is here].
And now you say, Go, say to your lord, Elijah is here.
12 And it shall come to pass when I shall have departed from you, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry you to a land which I know not, and I shall go in to tell the matter to Achaab, and he will not find you and will kill me: yet your servant fears the Lord from his youth.
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 Has it not been told to you my lord, what I did when Jezabel killed 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?
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 And now you say to me, Go, say to your master, Behold, Eliu [is here]: and he shall kill me.
And now you say, Go and say to your Lord, Elijah is here; and he will put me to death.
15 And Eliu said, [As] the Lord of Hosts before whom I stand lives, today I will appear before him.
And Elijah said, By the life of the Lord of armies, whose servant I am, I will certainly let him see me today.
16 And Abdiu went to meet Achaab, and told him: and Achaab hasted forth, and went to meet Eliu.
So Obadiah went to Ahab and gave him the news; and Ahab went to see Elijah.
17 And it came to pass when Achaab saw Eliu, that Achaab said to Eliu, Are you he that perverts Israel?
And when he saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, Is it you, you troubler of Israel?
18 And Eliu said, I do not pervert Israel; but it is you and your father's house, in that you forsake the Lord your God, and you have gone after Baalim.
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 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 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 And Achaab sent to all Israel, and gathered all the prophets to mount Carmel.
So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and got the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
21 And Eliu drew near to them all: and Eliu said to them, How long will you halt on both feet? if the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, follow him. And the people answered not a word.
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 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 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 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.
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 And do you 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 you have spoken [is] good.
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 And Eliu said to the prophets of shame, Choose to yourselves one calf, and dress it first, for you [are] many; and call you on the name of your god; but apply no fire.
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 And they took the calf and dressed 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 altar which they [had] made.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 And Eliu said to the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near to him.
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 And Eliu took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, as the Lord spoke to him, saying, Israel shall be your name.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
And he said, Do it a third time, and they did it a third time.
35 And the water ran round about the altar, and they filled the trench with water.
And the water went all round the altar, till the drain was full.
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 you are the Lord, the God of Israel, and I [am] your servant, and for your sake I have wrought these works.
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 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, and let this people know that you are the Lord God, and you have turned back the heart of this people.
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 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, burning up the offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and drinking up the water in the drain.
39 And all the people fell upon their faces, and said, Truly the Lord [is] God; he [is] God.
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 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 killed them there.
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 And Eliu said to Achaab, Go up, and eat and drink, for [there is] a sound of the coming of rain.
Then Elijah said to Ahab, Up! take food and drink, for there is a sound of much rain.
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 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 and said to his servant, Go up, and look towards the sea. And the servant looked, and said, There is nothing: and Eliu said, Do you then go again seven times.
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 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 your chariot, and go down, lest the rain overtake you.
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 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.
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 And the hand of the Lord [was] upon Eliu, and he girded up his loins, and ran before Achaab to Jezrael.
And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he made himself strong, and went running before Ahab till they came to Jezreel.
