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.
And the days are many, and the word of YHWH has been to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, appear to Ahab, and I give rain on the face of the ground”;
2 And Eliu went to appear before Achaab: and the famine [was] severe in Samaria.
and Elijah goes to appear to Ahab. And the famine is severe in Samaria,
3 And Achaab called Abdiu the steward. Now Abdiu feared the Lord greatly.
and Ahab calls to Obadiah, who [is] over the house—and Obadiah has been fearing YHWH 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.
and it comes to pass, in Jezebel’s cutting off the prophets of YHWH, that Obadiah takes one hundred prophets, and hides them, fifty men in a cave, and has sustained them with 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 says to Obadiah, “Go through the land, to all fountains of waters, and to all the brooks, perhaps we find hay, and keep alive horse and mule, and do not cut off any of the livestock.”
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.
And they apportion the land to themselves, to pass over into it; Ahab has gone in one way by himself, and Obadiah has gone in another way 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 Obadiah [is] in the way, and behold, Elijah [is there] to meet him; and he discerns him, and falls on his face and says, “Are you he—my lord Elijah?”
8 And Eliu said to him, I [am]: go say to your master, Behold, Eliu [is here].
And he says to him, “I [am]; go, say to your lord, Behold, Elijah.”
9 And Abdiu said, What sin have I committed, that you give your servant into the hand of Achaab to kill me?
And he says, “What have I sinned, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab—to put me to 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.
Your God YHWH lives, if there is a nation and kingdom to where my lord has not sent to seek [for] you; and they said, He is not, then he caused the kingdom and the nation to swear, that it does not find you;
11 And now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Eliu [is here].
and now, you are saying, Go, say to your lord, Behold, Elijah;
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 it has been, I go from you, and the Spirit of YHWH lifts you up to where I do not know, and I have come to declare to Ahab, and he does not find you, and he has slain me; and your servant is fearing YHWH from my youth.
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 it not been declared to my lord that which I have done in Jezebel’s slaying the prophets of YHWH, that I hide one hundred men of the prophets of YHWH, fifty by fifty in a cave, and sustained them with 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 are saying, Go, say to my lord, Behold, Elijah—and he has slain me!”
15 And Eliu said, [As] the Lord of Hosts before whom I stand lives, today I will appear before him.
And Elijah says, “YHWH of Hosts lives, before whom I have stood, surely I appear to him today.”
16 And Abdiu went to meet Achaab, and told him: and Achaab hasted forth, and went to meet Eliu.
Obadiah goes to meet Ahab, and declares [it] to him, and Ahab goes to meet Elijah.
17 And it came to pass when Achaab saw Eliu, that Achaab said to Eliu, Are you he that perverts Israel?
[And it] comes to pass at Ahab’s seeing Elijah that Ahab says to him, “Are you he—the 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.
And he says, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and the house of your father, in your forsaking the commands of YHWH, and you go after the Ba‘alim;
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.
and now, send, gather all Israel to me, to the Mount of Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Ba‘al, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who are eating at the table of Jezebel.”
20 And Achaab sent to all Israel, and gathered all the prophets to mount Carmel.
And Ahab sends among all the sons of Israel, and gathers the prophets to the Mount of 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 comes near to all the people and says, “Until when are you leaping on the two branches? If YHWH [is] God, go after Him; and if Ba‘al, go after him”; and the people have not answered him a word.
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.
And Elijah says to the people, “I have been left, by myself, a prophet of YHWH; and the prophets of Ba‘al [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.
and let them give two bullocks to us, and they choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and place [it] on the wood, and place no fire; and I prepare the other bullock, and have put [it] on the wood, and I do not place fire—
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 you have called in the name of your god, and I call in the Name of YHWH, and it has been, the god who answers by fire—He [is] the God.” And all the people answer and say, “The word [is] good.”
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.
And Elijah says to the prophets of Ba‘al, “Choose one bullock for yourselves, and prepare [it] first, for you [are] the multitude, and call in the name of your god, and place no fire.”
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.
And they take the bullock that [one] gave to them, and prepare [it], and call in the name of Ba‘al from the morning even until the noon, saying, “O Ba‘al, answer us!” And there is no voice, and there is none answering; and they leap on the altar that one 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 it comes to pass, at noon, that Elijah mocks at them and says, “Call with a loud voice, for he [is] a god, for he is meditating, or pursuing, or on a journey; it may be he is asleep, and awakes.”
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.
And they call with a loud voice, and cut themselves, according to their ordinance, with swords and with spears, until a flowing of blood [is] on 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 it comes to pass, at the passing by of the noon, that they feign themselves prophets until the going up of the present, and there is no voice, and there is none answering, and there is none attending.
30 And Eliu said to the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near to him.
And Elijah says to all the people, “Come near to me”; and all the people come near to him, and he repairs the altar of YHWH that is 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 takes twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of YHWH was, saying, “Israel is 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 he builds an altar with the stones, in the Name of YHWH, and makes a trench, as about the space of two measures of seed, around the altar.
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 arranges the wood, and cuts the bullock in pieces, and places [it] on the wood, and says, “Fill four pitchers of water, and pour [them] on the burnt-offering, and on 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.
and he says, “Do [it] a second time”; and they do [it] a second time; and he says, “Do [it] a third time”; and they do [it] a third time;
35 And the water ran round about the altar, and they filled the trench with water.
and the water goes around the altar, and he has also filled the trench with water.
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.
And it comes to pass, at the going up of the [evening] present, that Elijah the prophet comes near and says, “YHWH, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that You [are] God in Israel, and that I, Your servant, have done the whole of these things by Your word;
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.
answer me, O YHWH, answer me, and this people [then] knows that You [are] YHWH God; and You have turned their heart backward.”
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.
And a fire falls [from] YHWH, and consumes the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and it has licked up the water that [is] in the trench.
39 And all the people fell upon their faces, and said, Truly the Lord [is] God; he [is] God.
And all the people see, and fall on their faces, and say, “YHWH, He [is] the God! YHWH, He [is] the 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 says to them, “Catch the prophets of Ba‘al; do not let a man escape from them”; and they catch them, and Elijah brings them down to the Brook of Kishon, and slaughters them there.
41 And Eliu said to Achaab, Go up, and eat and drink, for [there is] a sound of the coming of rain.
And Elijah says to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, because of the sound of the noise of the shower.”
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,
And Ahab goes up to eat, and to drink, and Elijah has gone up to the top of Carmel, and he stretches himself out on the earth, and he places 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 says to his young man, “Now go up, look attentively [toward] the way of the sea”; and he goes up and looks attentively, and says, “There is nothing”; and he says, “Turn back,” 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 it comes to pass, at the seventh, that he says, “Behold, a little thickness as the palm of a man is coming up out of the sea.” And he says, “Go up, say to Ahab, Bind and go down, and the shower does not restrain 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.
And it comes to pass, in the meantime, that the heavens have become black—thick clouds and wind—and the shower is great; and Ahab rides, and goes 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 YHWH has been on Elijah, and he girds up his loins, and runs before Ahab, until your entering Jezreel.
