1 Kings 18
1 And it came to pass, after many days, that, the word of Yahweh, came unto Elijah, in the third year, saying, —Go, shew thyself unto Ahab, that I may send rain upon the face of the ground.
After a long time, in the third year of the drought, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the face of the earth.”
2 And Elijah went, to show himself unto Ahab. Now, the famine, was severe in Samaria.
So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria,
3 And Ahab had called for Obadiah, who was over his house. Now, Obadiah, was one who revered Yahweh, exceedingly.
and Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Now Obadiah greatly feared the LORD,
4 And so it came to pass, when Jezebel was cutting off the prophets of Yahweh, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifties in caves, and sustained them, with bread and water.
for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)
5 So then Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go, and let us pass throughout the land, unto all the fountains of water, and unto all the ravines, peradventure we may find grass, and save alive horse and mule, and not have more of the beasts cut off.
Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go throughout the land to every spring and every valley. Perhaps we will find grass to keep the horses and mules alive so that we will not have to destroy any livestock.”
6 So they divided to them the land, to pass through it, —Ahab, went one way, by himself, and, Obadiah, went another way, by himself.
So they divided the land to explore. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went the other way by himself.
7 And so it was, as Obadiah was on the road, that lo! Elijah, met him, —and he recognised him, and fell upon his face, and said—Now art, thou, my lord Elijah?
Now as Obadiah went on his way, Elijah suddenly met him. When Obadiah recognized him, he fell facedown and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?”
8 And he said to him—I, am! Go, say to thy lord: Here, is, Elijah!
“It is I,” he answered. “Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here!’”
9 And he said—How have I sinned, —that, thou, art delivering thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to put me to death?
But Obadiah replied, “How have I sinned, that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to put me to death?
10 By the life of Yahweh thy God, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee, and, when they have said—Nay! he hath taken an oath of the kingdom or the nation, that no one could find thee;
As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent someone to search for you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made that kingdom or nation swear that they had not found you.
11 and, now, thou, art saying, —Go say to thy lord, Here, is, Elijah;
And now you say, ‘Go tell your master that Elijah is here!’
12 so shall it come to pass, as soon as, I, go from thee, that, the spirit of Yahweh, shall carry thee away—whither I know not, and so, when I go in to tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, then will he slay me, —and yet, thy servant, hath revered Yahweh, from my youth.
I do not know where the Spirit of the LORD may carry you off when I leave you. Then when I go and tell Ahab and he does not find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have feared the LORD from my youth.
13 Was it not told my lord, what I did when Jezebel was slaying the prophets of Yahweh, —how I hid, of the prophets of Yahweh, a hundred men—by fifties—in caves, and sustained them with bread and water?
Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the prophets of the LORD? I hid a hundred prophets of the LORD, fifty men per cave, and I provided them with food and water.
14 and yet, now, thou, art saying, Go, tell thy lord—Here, is, Elijah; and so he will slay me!
And now you say, ‘Go tell your lord that Elijah is here!’ He will kill me!”
15 Then said Elijah—By the life of Yahweh of hosts, before whom I stand, to-day, will I show myself unto him.
Then Elijah said, “As surely as the LORD of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will present myself to Ahab today.”
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him, —and, Ahab, went to meet, Elijah.
So Obadiah went to inform Ahab, who went to meet Elijah.
17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Now, art, thou, troubling Israel?
When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”
18 And he said—I have not troubled Israel, but, thou and the house of thy father, —in that ye have forsaken the commandments of Yahweh, and followed Baal.
“I have not troubled Israel,” Elijah replied, “but you and your father’s house have, for you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and have followed the Baals.
19 Now, therefore, send, gather unto me all Israel, unto Mount Carmel, —and the prophets of Baal, four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the Sacred Stem, four hundred, who do eat at the table of Jezebel.
Now summon all Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
20 So Ahab sent among all the sons of Israel, —and gathered the prophets unto Mount Carmel.
So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.
21 And Elijah drew near unto all the people, and said—How long are ye limping on the two divided opinions? If, Yahweh, be GOD, follow, him, but, if, Baal, follow, him. But the people answered him, not a word.
Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people did not answer a word.
22 Then said Elijah unto the people—I, am left, Yahweh’s, only, prophet, —but, the prophets of Baal, are four hundred and fifty men.
Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the LORD, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.
23 Let there be given us, therefore, two bullocks, and let them choose for themselves one bullock, and cut it in pieces, and lay it upon the wood, but, fire, shall they not put, —then, I, will make ready the other bullock, and place upon the wood, but, fire, will I not put.
Get two bulls for us. Let the prophets of Baal choose one bull for themselves, cut it into pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. And I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire.
24 Then shall ye call on the name of your god, and, I, will call on the name of Yahweh, and it shall be, the God that respondeth by fire, he, is GOD. And all the people responded—Well spoken!
Then you may call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people answered, “What you say is good.”
25 Then said Elijah to the prophets of Baal—Choose for yourselves one bullock, and make ye ready, first, for, ye, are many, —and call ye on the name of your god, but, fire, shall ye not put.
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.”
26 So they took the bullock which was given them, and made ready, and called on the name of Baal—from the morning even until the noon, saying—O Baal! answer us. But them was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped about by the altar which had been made.
And they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and no one answered as they leaped around the altar they had made.
27 And it came to pass, at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said—Cry with a loud voice, for, a god, he is, either he hath, a meditation, or an occasion to retire, or he hath, a journey, —peradventure, he, sleepeth, and must be awaked.
At noon Elijah began to taunt them, saying, “Shout louder, for he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or occupied, or on a journey. Perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened!”
28 And they cried, with a loud voice, and cut themselves, after their custom, with swords, and with lances, —until the blood gushed out upon them.
So they shouted louder and cut themselves with knives and lances, as was their custom, until the blood gushed over them.
29 And so it was, when noon was passed, that although they prophesied until the offering up of the evening gift, yet was there no voice nor any that answered, nor any that hearkened.
Midday passed, and they kept on raving until the time of the evening sacrifice. But there was no response; no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then said Elijah unto all the people: Draw near unto, me. And all the people drew near unto, him. Then repaired he the broken-down altar of Yahweh; yea Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, —
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people approached him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been torn down.
31 unto whom the word of Yahweh came, saying—Israel, shall be thy name;
And Elijah took twelve stones, one for each tribe of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come and said, “Israel shall be your name.”
32 and built, with the stones, an altar, in the name of Yahweh, —and he made a trench, as large as would contain two measures of seed, round about the altar;
And with the stones, Elijah built an altar in the name of the LORD. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed.
33 and he put in order the wood, —and cut in pieces the bullock, and laid upon the wood. Then said he—Fill four pitchers with water, and pour out upon the ascending-sacrifice, and upon the wood. And they did so.
Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, placed it 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 said, “Fill four waterpots and pour the water on the offering and on the wood.” “Do it a second time,” he said, and they did it a second time. “Do it a third time,” he said, and they did it a third time.
35 And the water ran round about the altar, —moreover also, the trench, filled he with water.
So the water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the gift, that Elijah the prophet drew near, and said, O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel! To-day, let it be known—That, thou, art God in Israel, and that, I, am thy servant, —and that, by thy word, have I done all these things.
At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command.
37 Answer me, O Yahweh! answer me, That this people may know, that, thou—Yahweh, art GOD, —so shalt, thou thyself, have turned their heart back again.
Answer me, O LORD! Answer me, so that this people will know that You, the LORD, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back again.”
38 Then fell fire from Yahweh, and consumed the ascending-sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, —even the water that was in the trench, it licked up.
Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water in the trench.
39 And, when all the people saw it, they fell upon their faces, —and said, Yahweh, he, is GOD, Yahweh, he, is GOD.
When all the people saw this, they fell facedown and said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!”
40 And Elijah said unto them—Seize ye the prophets of Baal—let not, a man, of them escape. So they seized them. And Elijah took them down unto the ravine of Kishon, and slaughtered them there.
Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let a single one escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered them there.
41 Then said Elijah unto Ahab, Go up, eat and drink, —for there is a sound of a downpour of rain.
And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.”
42 So Ahab went up, to eat and to drink, —but, Elijah, went up to the top of Carmel, and bowed himself to the earth, and put his face between his knees.
So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the summit of Carmel, bent down on the ground, and put his face between his knees.
43 Then said he unto his young man—Go up, I pray thee, and look about in the direction of the sea. So he went up, and looked about, and said—There is, nothing whatever. Then said he—Go again, seven times.
“Go and look toward the sea,” he said to his servant. So the servant went and looked, and he said, “There is nothing there.” Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
44 And it came to pass, at the seventh time, that he said, Lo! a little cloud, like a man’s hand coming up from the sea. Then he said—Go up, say unto Ahab—Harness, and get thee down, lest the rain shut thee in.
On the seventh time the servant reported, “There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea.” And Elijah replied, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”
45 And it came to pass, meanwhile, that, the heavens, had enshrouded themselves with clouds and wind, and there came a great rain, and Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel;
Meanwhile, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain began to fall. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.
46 but, the hand of Yahweh, came upon Elijah, so he girded his loins, —and ran before Ahab, until thou enterest Jezreel.
And the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah, and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
