1 Kings 18
1 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”;
And it lasted many days, when the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Achab; and I will give rain upon the face of the earth.
2 and Elijah goes to appear to Ahab. And the famine is severe in Samaria,
And Elijah went to show himself unto Achab; and the famine was grievous in Samaria.
3 and Ahab calls to Obadiah, who [is] over the house—and Obadiah has been fearing YHWH greatly,
And Achab called 'Obadiah, who was the superintendent of the house; —(now 'Obadiah feared the Lord greatly;
4 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—
And it happened, when Izebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that 'Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them fifty each in one cave, and provided them with bread and water; )
5 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.”
And Achab said unto 'Obadiah, Go through the land, unto all the springs of water, and unto all the brooks, peradventure we may find grass and keep alive horse and mule, that we lose not all the cattle.
6 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;
So they divided between them the land to pass through it: Achab went one way by himself alone, and 'Obadiah went another way by himself alone.
7 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?”
And as 'Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah came toward him; and he recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou here indeed, my Lord Elijah?
8 And he says to him, “I [am]; go, say to your lord, Behold, Elijah.”
And he said unto him, I am: go, say unto thy Lord, Behold, Elijah is here.
9 And he says, “What have I sinned, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab—to put me to death?
And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldst deliver thy servant into the hand of Achab, to slay me?
10 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;
As the Lord thy God liveth, there is not a nation or kingdom whither my Lord hath not sent to seek thee; and when they said, He is not here: he caused that kingdom and nation to take an oath, that no one could find thee.
11 and now, you are saying, Go, say to your lord, Behold, Elijah;
And now thou sayest, Go, say unto thy Lord, Behold, here is Elijah.
12 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.
And it may come to pass, that, when I go from thee, the spirit of the Lord may carry thee whither I know not; and when I come to inform Achab, and he cannot find thee, he will slay me; but I thy servant have feared the Lord from my youth.
13 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?
Hath it not been told unto my Lord what I did when Izebel slew the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the prophets of the Lord, fifty each in one cave, and provided them with bread and water?
14 And now you are saying, Go, say to my lord, Behold, Elijah—and he has slain me!”
And now thou sayest, Go say to thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he will slay me.
15 And Elijah says, “YHWH of Hosts lives, before whom I have stood, surely I appear to him today.”
Then said Elijah, As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I have stood, surely today will I show myself unto him.
16 Obadiah goes to meet Ahab, and declares [it] to him, and Ahab goes to meet Elijah.
So 'Ohadiah went to meet Achab, and he told it to him; and Achab went to meet Elijah.
17 [And it] comes to pass at Ahab’s seeing Elijah that Ahab says to him, “Are you he—the troubler of Israel?”
And it came to pass, when Achab saw Elijah, that Achab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?
18 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;
And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, through your forsaking the commandments of the Lord, and because thou hast followed the Be'alim.
19 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.”
And now send, assemble unto me all Israel at Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Ba'al four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the grove four hundred, who eat at the table of Izebel.
20 And Ahab sends among all the sons of Israel, and gathers the prophets to the Mount of Carmel;
And Achab sent round among all the children of Israel, and he assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel.
21 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.
And Elijah approached unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between the two opinions? if the Lord be the God, follow him; and if Ba'al—follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
22 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;
And Elijah said unto the people, I have been left a prophet of the Lord by myself alone; but the prophets of Ba'al are four hundred and fifty men.
23 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—
Therefore let there be given unto us two bullocks; and let them choose for themselves the one bullock, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire to it: and I will prepare the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire to it.
24 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.”
And do ye call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and it shall be that the God who answereth by fire, he shall be the [true] God. And all the people answered and said, The proposal is good.
25 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.”
And Elijah said unto the prophets of Ba'al, Choose you for yourselves the one bullock, and prepare it first; for ye are the many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.
26 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.
And they took the bullock which he had given to them, and they prepared it; and they called on the name of Ba'al from morning even until noon, saying, O Ba'al, answer us; but there was no voice, nor any answer: and they danced about the altar which had been made.
27 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.”
And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked at them, and said, Call with a loud voice; for he is a god; either he is holding council, or he is busy in some pursuit, or he is on a journey; or peradventure he sleepeth, and may thus awaken.
28 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;
And they called with a loud voice and cut themselves after their custom with knives and spears, till the blood gushed out over them.
29 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.
And it came to pass, when midday was past, that they practised their follies until near [the time of] the offering of the evening-sacrifice; but there was neither voice, nor any answer, nor any perceptible sound.
30 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;
And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me: and all the people came near unto him; and he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down.
31 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”;
And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord was come, saying, Israel shall be thy name.
32 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.
And he built of the stones an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench as great as would contain two seahs of seed round about the altar.
33 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”;
And he put in order the wood, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid them on the wood,
34 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;
And he said. Fill four jars with water; and they had to pour it on the burnt-offering, and on the wood: 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.
35 and the water goes around the altar, and he has also filled the trench with water.
And the water ran round about the altar; and the trench also he filled with water.
36 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;
And it came to pass, at [the time of] the offering of the evening-sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, O Lord, God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, this day let it be known that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that at thy word I have done all these things.
37 answer me, O YHWH, answer me, and this people [then] knows that You [are] YHWH God; and You have turned their heart backward.”
Answer me, O Lord, answer me, and let all this people know that thou, O Lord, art the [true] God, and thou wilt [then] have turned their heart back again.
38 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.
And there fell a fire of the Lord, and consumed the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust; and the water also that was in the trench did it lick up.
39 And all the people see, and fall on their faces, and say, “YHWH, He [is] the God! YHWH, He [is] the God!”
And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces; and they said, the Lord—he is the God; the Lord—he is the God.
40 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.
And Elijah said unto them, Seize the prophets of Ba'al; not one of them must escape; and they seized them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slaughtered them there.
41 And Elijah says to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, because of the sound of the noise of the shower.”
And Elijah said unto Achab, Go up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.
42 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,
So Achab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down toward the earth, and put his face between his knees;
43 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.
And he said to his servant, Go up, I pray thee, look in the direction of the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, Not the least [is visible]. And he said, Go again, seven times.
44 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.”
And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there is a little cloud like a man's hand arising out of the sea. And he said, Go up, say unto Achab, Harness up [thy chariot], and come down, that the rain may not detain thee.
45 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,
And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heavens were blackened with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Achab rode, and went to Yizre'el.
46 and the hand of YHWH has been on Elijah, and he girds up his loins, and runs before Ahab, until your entering Jezreel.
And the inspiration of the Lord came over Elijah, and he girded up his loins; and he ran before Achab up to the entrance of Yizre'el.
