1 Kings 18
1 And the days are many, and the word of Jehovah hath been unto Elijah in the third year, saying, 'Go, appear unto Ahab, and I give rain on the face of the ground;'
And it happened after many days that the word of YHWH came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, "Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth."
2 and Elijah goeth to appear unto Ahab. And the famine is severe in Samaria,
So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. And the famine was severe in Samaria.
3 and Ahab calleth unto Obadiah, who [is] over the house — and Obadiah hath been fearing Jehovah greatly,
And Ahab summoned Obadiah, the steward of the house. (Now Obadiah feared YHWH greatly.
4 and it cometh to pass, in Jezebel's cutting off the prophets of Jehovah, that Obadiah taketh a hundred prophets, and hideth them, fifty men in a cave, and hath sustained them with bread and water —
And it came about, when Jezebel was killing the prophets of YHWH, that Obadiah took one hundred prophets and hid them, fifty by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
5 and Ahab saith unto Obadiah, 'Go through the land, unto all fountains of waters, and unto all the brooks, if so be we find hay, and keep alive horse and mule, and do not cut off any of the cattle.'
And Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go through the land, to all the springs of water, and to all the wadis. Perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, that we not lose all the animals."
6 And they apportion to themselves the land, to pass over into it; Ahab hath gone in one way by himself, and Obadiah hath gone in another way by himself;
So they divided the land between them to explore it; Ahab went one way alone, and Obadiah went another way alone.
7 and Obadiah [is] in the way, and lo, Elijah — to meet him; and he discerneth him, and falleth on his face, and saith, 'Art thou he — my lord Elijah?'
And as Obadiah was on the way, look, Elijah met him; and he recognized him and fell on his face and said, "Is it you, my lord Elijah?"
8 And he saith to him, 'I [am]; go, say to thy lord, Lo, Elijah.'
He answered him, "It is I. Go, tell your lord, 'Look, Elijah is here.'"
9 And he saith, 'What have I sinned, that thou art giving thy servant into the hand of Ahab — to put me to death?
And he said, "How have I sinned, that you would deliver your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me?
10 Jehovah thy God liveth, if there is a nation and kingdom whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee; and they said, He is not, then he caused the kingdom and the nation to swear, that it doth not find thee;
As YHWH your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom, where my lord has not sent to seek you. When they said, 'He is not here,' he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they did not find you.
11 and now, thou art saying, Go, say to thy lord, Lo, Elijah;
Now you say, 'Go, tell your lord, "Look, Elijah is here."'
12 and it hath been, I go from thee, and the Spirit of Jehovah doth lift thee up, whither I know not, and I have come to declare to Ahab, and he doth not find thee, and he hath slain me; and thy servant is fearing Jehovah from my youth.
It will happen, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of YHWH will carry you I do not know where; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he can't find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have feared YHWH from my youth.
13 'Hath it not been declared to my lord that which I have done in Jezebel's slaying the prophets of Jehovah, that I hide of the prophets of Jehovah a hundred men, fifty by fifty in a cave, and sustained them with bread and water?
Wasn't it told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of YHWH, how I hid one hundred men of YHWH's prophets, fifty by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?
14 and now thou art saying, Go, say to my lord, Lo, Elijah — and he hath slain me!'
Now you say, 'Go, tell your lord, "Look, Elijah is here";' and he will kill me."
15 And Elijah saith, 'Jehovah of Hosts liveth, before whom I have stood, surely to-day I appear unto him.'
Elijah said, "As YHWH of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely present myself to him today."
16 And Obadiah goeth to meet Ahab, and declareth [it] to him, and Ahab goeth to meet Elijah,
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 and it cometh to pass at Ahab's seeing Elijah, that Ahab saith unto him, 'Art thou he — the troubler of Israel?'
It happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"
18 And he saith, 'I have not troubled Israel, but thou and the house of thy father, in your forsaking the commands of Jehovah, and thou goest after the Baalim;
He answered, "I have not troubled Israel; but you, and your father's house, in that you have forsaken the commandments of YHWH, and you have followed the Baals.
19 and now, send, gather unto me all Israel, unto the mount of Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the shrine, four hundred — eating at the table of Jezebel.'
Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and four hundred fifty of the prophets of Baal, and four hundred of the prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."
20 And Ahab sendeth among all the sons of Israel, and gathereth the prophets unto the mount of Carmel;
So Ahab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
21 and Elijah cometh nigh unto all the people, and saith, 'Till when are ye leaping on the two branches? — if Jehovah [is] God, go after Him; and if Baal, go after him;' and the people have not answered him a word.
Elijah came near to all the people, and said, "How long will you keep limping between two positions? If YHWH is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." But the people did not answer him a word.
22 And Elijah saith unto the people, 'I — I have been left a prophet of Jehovah — by myself; and the prophets of Baal [are] four hundred and fifty men;
Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of YHWH; but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men, and the prophets of Asherah four hundred.
23 and let them give to us two bullocks, and they choose for themselves the one bullock, and cut it in pieces, and place [it] on the wood, and place no fire; and I — I prepare the other bullock, and have put [it] on the wood, and fire I do not place; —
Let them therefore give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under. And I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under it.
24 and ye have called in the name of your god, and I — I call in the name of Jehovah, and it hath been, the god who answereth by fire — He [is] the God.' And all the people answer and say, 'Good [is] the word.'
You call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of YHWH, and the god who answers by fire, he is God." All the people answered, "It is well said."
25 And Elijah saith to the prophets of Baal, 'Choose for you the one bullock, and prepare first, for ye [are] the multitude, and call ye in the name of your god, and place no fire.'
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves, and prepare it first, for you are the majority, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it."
26 And they take the bullock that [one] gave to them, and prepare, and call in the name of Baal from the morning even till the noon, saying, 'O Baal, 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 bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, "Baal, answer us." But there was no voice, nor any who answered. And they limped about the altar they had made.
27 And it cometh to pass, at noon, that Elijah playeth on them, and saith, '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, an doth awake.'
And it came about, at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, "Cry aloud, for he is a god. Maybe he is thinking about it, or he is busy, or he is on a trip, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened."
28 And they call with a loud voice, and cut themselves, according to their ordinance, with swords and with spears, till a flowing of blood [is] on them;
And they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with swords and spears, until the blood gushed out on them.
29 and it cometh to pass, at the passing by of the noon, that they feign themselves prophets till the going up of the present, and there is no voice, and there is none answering, and there is none attending.
And when midday was past, they prophesied until the offering up of the offering; but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.
30 And Elijah saith to all the people, 'Come nigh unto me;' and all the people come nigh unto him, and he repaireth the altar of Jehovah that is broken down;
Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me"; and all the people came near to him. He repaired the altar of YHWH that had been torn down.
31 and Elijah taketh twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of Jehovah was, saying, 'Israel is thy name;'
Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of YHWH came, saying, "Israel shall be your name."
32 and he buildeth with the stones an altar, in the name of Jehovah, and maketh a trench, as about the space of two measures of seed, round about the altar.
And with the stones he built an altar in the name of YHWH. And he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two seahs of seed.
33 And he arrangeth the wood, and cutteth in pieces the bullock, and placeth [it] on the wood, and saith, 'Fill ye four pitchers of water, and pour on the burnt-offering, and on the wood;
And he arranged the wood, and cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood.
34 and he saith, 'Do [it] a second time;' and they do [it] a second time; and he saith, 'Do [it] a third time;' and they do [it] a third time;
And he said, "Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering, and on the wood." And they did so. And he said, "Do it a second time"; and they did it the second time. And he said, "Do it a third time"; and they did it the third time.
35 and the water goeth round about the altar, and also, the trench he hath filled with water.
And the water ran around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.
36 And it cometh to pass, at the going up of the [evening -]present, that Elijah the prophet cometh nigh and saith, 'Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to-day let it be known that Thou [art] God in Israel, and I Thy servant, that by Thy word I have done the whole of these things;
It happened at the time of the offering up of the offering, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, "YHWH, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.
37 answer me, O Jehovah, answer me, and this people doth know that Thou [art] Jehovah God; and Thou hast turned their heart backward.'
Hear me, YHWH, hear me, that this people may know that you, YHWH, are God, and that you have turned their heart back again."
38 And there falleth a fire of Jehovah, and consumeth the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and the water that [is] in the trench it hath licked up.
Then the fire of YHWH fell, and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 And all the people see, and fall on their faces, and say, 'Jehovah, He [is] the God, Jehovah, He [is] the God.'
And when all the people saw it, they fell facedown and said, "YHWH, he is God. YHWH, he is God."
40 And Elijah saith to them, 'Catch ye the prophets of Baal; let not a man escape of them;' and they catch them, and Elijah bringeth them down unto the stream Kishon, and doth slaughter them there.
And Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Do not let one of them escape." And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon, and killed them there.
41 And Elijah saith to Ahab, 'Go up, eat and drink, because of the sound of the noise of the shower.'
And Elijah said to Ahab, "Get up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of a heavy rain."
42 And Ahab goeth up to eat, and to drink, and Elijah hath gone up unto the top of Carmel, and he stretcheth himself out on the earth, and he placeth his face between his knees,
So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down toward the ground, and put his face between his knees.
43 and saith unto his young man, 'Go up, I pray thee, look attentively the way of the sea;' and he goeth up and looketh attentively, and saith, 'There is nothing;' and he saith, 'Turn back,' seven times.
And he said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up, and looked, and said, "There is nothing." Then he said, "Go again" seven times. And the servant went again seven times.
44 And it cometh to pass, at the seventh, that he saith, 'Lo, a little thickness as the palm of a man is coming up out of the sea.' And he saith, 'Go up, say unto Ahab, 'Bind — and go down, and the shower doth not restrain thee.'
It happened at the seventh time, that he said, "Look, a small cloud, like a man's hand, is rising out of the sea." He said, "Go up, tell Ahab, 'Get ready and go down, so that the rain doesn't stop you.'"
45 And it cometh to pass, in the meantime, that the heavens have become black — thick clouds and wind — and the shower is great; and Ahab rideth, and goeth to Jezreel,
It happened in a little while, that the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.
46 and the hand of Jehovah hath been on Elijah, and he girdeth up his loins, and runneth before Ahab, till thine entering Jezreel.
The hand of YHWH was on Elijah; and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
