1 Kings 17–19

17TH CHAPTER

Elijah Prophesies a Drought

¹Elijah, who was from Tishbe but had settled in Gilead, said to Ahab, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord God of Israel whom I serve lives, there will be no dew or rain during the next few years unless I say so.” 

²Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: ³“Leave here, turn east, and hide beside the Cherith River, which is east of the Jordan River. ⁴You can drink from the stream, and I’ve commanded ravens to feed you there.” 

⁵Elijah left and did what the Lord’s word ⸤had told him⸥. He went to live by the Cherith River, which is east of the Jordan River. ⁶Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening. And he drank from the stream. 

⁷But after some time the stream dried up because no rain had fallen in the land. 

Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath

⁸Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: ⁹“Get up, go to Zarephath (which belongs to Sidon), and stay there. I’ve commanded a widow there to feed you.” 

¹⁰He got up and went to Zarephath. As he came to the town’s entrance, a widow was gathering wood. He called to her, “Please bring me a drink of water.” ¹¹As she was going to get it, he called to her again, “Please bring me a piece of bread too.” 

¹²She said, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord your God lives, I didn’t bake any bread. I have one handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I’m gathering wood. I’m going to prepare something for myself and my son so that we can eat it and then die.” 

¹³Then Elijah told her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home, and do as you’ve said. But first make a small loaf and bring it to me. Then prepare something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Until the Lord sends rain on the land, the jar of flour will never be empty and the jug will always contain oil.” 

¹⁵She did what Elijah had told her. So she, Elijah, and her family had food for a long time. ¹⁶The jar of flour never became empty, and the jug always contained olive oil, as the Lord had promised through Elijah. 

¹⁷Afterwards, the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. He got so sick that finally no life was left in him. ¹⁸The woman asked Elijah, “What do you and I have in common, man of God?Did you come here to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” 

¹⁹He said to her, “Give me your son.” Elijah took him from her arms, carried him to the upstairs room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰Then he called to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought misery on the widow I’m staying with by killing her son?” ²¹Then Elijah stretched himself over the boy three times and called to the Lord, “Lord my God, please make this child’s life return to him.” ²²The Lord heard Elijah’s request, and the child’s life returned to him. He was alive again. 

²³Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upstairs room of the house, and gave him to his mother. He said, “Look! Your son is alive.” 

²⁴The woman said to Elijah, “Now I’m convinced that you are a man of God and that the Lord’s word from your mouth is true.” 

18TH CHAPTER

Elijah Comes to King Ahab

¹A while later in the third year of the drought, the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: “Present yourself to Ahab. I will allow rain to fall on the ground.” ²So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. 

The famine was particularly severe in Samaria. ³Ahab sent for Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. Obadiah was a devout worshiper of the Lord. ⁴(When Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had hidden 100 prophets in caves. He put 50 prophets in each cave and kept them alive by providing bread and water for them.) ⁵Ahab told Obadiah, “Let’s go throughout the countryside to every spring and stream. If we can find grass, then we can keep the horses and mules alive and not lose any animals.” ⁶So they split up in order to cover the entire countryside. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went the other way by himself. 

⁷Obadiah was on the road when he met Elijah. Obadiah recognized him and immediately bowed down to the ground. “Is it you, my master Elijah?” he asked. 

⁸“Yes,” Elijah answered him. “Tell your master that Elijah is here.” 

⁹Obadiah asked, “What have I done wrong to make you hand me over to Ahab to be killed? ¹⁰I solemnly swear, as the Lord your God lives, my master has searched for you in every region and kingdom. When people would say, ‘He isn’t here,’ my master made that kingdom or region take an oath that they hadn’t found you. 

¹¹“Now you say, ‘Tell your master that Elijah is here.’ ¹²This is what will happen: When I leave you, the Lord’s Spirit will take you away to some unknown place. I’ll tell Ahab, but he won’t be able to find you. Then he will kill me. 

“I have been faithful to the Lord since I was a child. ¹³Haven’t you heard what I did when Jezebel killed the Lord’s prophets? Haven’t you heard how I hid 100 of the Lord’s prophets in caves? I hid 50 prophets in each cave and provided bread and water for them. ¹⁴Now you say that I should tell my master that Elijah is here. He will kill me.” 

¹⁵Elijah said, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord of Armies whom I serve lives, I will present myself to Ahab.” 

¹⁶So Obadiah went to tell Ahab. 

Elijah and the Prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel

Ahab went to meet Elijah. ¹⁷When he saw Elijah, Ahab said, “Is that you, you troublemaker of Israel?” 

¹⁸Elijah answered, “I haven’t troubled Israel. You and your father’s family have done it by disobeying the Lord’s commands and following the various Baal gods. ¹⁹Order all Israel to gather around me on Mount Carmel. And bring the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.” 

²⁰Ahab sent word to all the Israelites and brought the prophets together on Mount Carmel. ²¹Elijah stood up in front of all the people and asked them, “How long will you try to have it both ways? If the Lord is God, follow him; if Baal is God, follow him.” The people didn’t say a word. 

²²So Elijah told the people, “I’m the only surviving prophet of the Lord, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. ²³Give us two bulls. Let the prophets of Baal choose one for themselves, cut it into pieces, lay it on the wood, but not set it on fire. I’ll do the same with the other bull. 

²⁴“You call on the name of your gods, but I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire is the real God.” 

All the people answered, “That’s fine.” 

²⁵Elijah told the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves. Prepare yours first, because there are more of you. Call on the name of your god, but don’t set the wood on fire.” 

²⁶They took the bull he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon. They said, “Baal, answer us!” But there wasn’t a sound or an answer. So they danced around the altar they had made. ²⁷At noon Elijah started to make fun of them. “Shout louder, since he is a god. Maybe he’s thinking, relieving himself, or traveling! Maybe he’s sleeping, and you have to wake him!” 

²⁸So they shouted louder. They also cut themselves with swords and spears until their blood flowed. (This is what their ritual called for.) ²⁹In the afternoon they continued to rant and rave until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no sound, no answer, no attention given to them. 

³⁰Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come over here.” So all the people came to him. He rebuilt the Lord’s altar that had been torn down. ³¹Elijah took 12 stones, one for each of the tribes named after Jacob’s sons. (The Lord had spoken his word to Jacob: “Your name will be Israel.”) ³²Elijah built an altar in the Lord’s name with those stones. He also made a trench that could hold 12 quarts of grain around the altar. ³³He arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and put it on the wood. 

³⁴He said, “Fill four jars with water. Pour the water on the offering and on the wood.” Then he said, “Do it again,” and they did it again. Then he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. ³⁵The water flowed around the altar, and even the trench was filled with water. 

³⁶When it was time to offer the sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward. He said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make known today that you are God in Israel and that I’m your servant and have done all these things by your instructions. ³⁷Answer me, Lord! Answer me! Then these people will know that you, Lord, are God and that you are winning back their hearts.” 

³⁸So a fire from the Lord fell down and consumed the burnt offering, wood, stones, and dirt. The fire even dried up the water that was in the trench. ³⁹All the people saw it and immediately bowed down to the ground. “The Lord is God!” they said. “The Lord is God!” 

⁴⁰Elijah told them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let any of them escape.” The people seized them, and Elijah took them to the Kishon River and slaughtered them there. 

The Drought Ends

⁴¹Then Elijah told Ahab, “Get up, eat, and drink. It sounds like a heavy rain ⸤is coming⸥.” ⁴²Ahab got up to eat and drink. 

Elijah went to the top of Carmel and bowed down on the ground to pray. ⁴³He said to his servant, “Please go back to ⸤Mount Carmel⸥, and look toward the sea.” 

He went up, looked, ⸤came back,⸥ and said, “There’s nothing.” 

Seven times Elijah told him, “Go back.” 

⁴⁴After the seventh time the servant said, “A little cloud like a man’s hand is coming from the sea.” 

Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Prepare ⸤your chariot⸥, and leave before the rain delays you.’ ” 

⁴⁵Gradually, the sky grew darker with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. Ahab got into his chariot to go back to Jezreel. ⁴⁶The Lord’s power was on Elijah. He hiked up his robe and ran ahead of Ahab until they came to Jezreel. 

19TH CHAPTER

Elijah Flees from Jezebel

¹Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including how he had executed all the prophets. ²Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah. She said, “May the gods strike me dead if by this time tomorrow I don’t take your life the way…