1 Kings 18

Elijah’s Message to Ahab

18After a long time, the word of the Lord ^hcame to Elijah in the third year: ⁱ“Go and present yourself to Ahab. ^jI will send rain on the surface of the land.” ²So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.

The famine was severe in Samaria. ^k3Ahab called for Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. ^lObadiah was a man who greatly feared the Lord ^m4and took 100 prophets and hid them, 50 men to a cave, and provided them with food and water when Jezebel ⁿslaughtered the Lord’s prophets. ^o5Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go throughout the land to every spring of water and to every wadi. Perhaps we’ll find grass so we can keep the horses and mules alive and not have to destroy any cattle.” ^p6They divided the land between them in order to cover it. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went the other way by himself.

⁷While Obadiah was walking along the road, Elijah suddenly met him. ^qWhen Obadiah recognized him, he fell with his face to the ground and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?”

⁸“It is I,” he replied. “Go tell your lord, ‘Elijah is here!’ ”

⁹But Obadiah said, “What sin have I committed, ^rthat you are handing your servant over to Ahab to put me to death? ¹⁰As 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 they had not found you.

¹¹“Now you say, ‘Go tell your lord, “Elijah is here!” ’ ¹²But when I leave you, the Spirit of the Lord may carry you off ^sto some place I don’t know. Then when I go report to Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have feared the Lord from my youth. ¹³Wasn’t it reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the Lord’s prophets? I hid 100 of the prophets of the Lord, 50 men to a cave, and I provided them with food and water. ¹⁴Now you say, ‘Go tell your lord, “Elijah is here!” ’ He will kill me!”

¹⁵Then Elijah said, “As the Lord of Hosts lives, ^tbefore whom I stand, today I will present myself to Ahab.”

¹⁶Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him. Then Ahab went to meet Elijah. ¹⁷When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, you destroyer of Israel?” ^u

¹⁸He replied, “I have not destroyed Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because you have abandoned the Lord’s commands ^vand followed the Baals. ^w19Now summon all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel, ^xalong with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah ^ywho eat at Jezebel’s table.”

Elijah at Mount Carmel

²⁰So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. ²¹Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? ^zIf Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him.” ^aBut the people didn’t answer him a word.

²²Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, ^bbut Baal’s prophets are 450 men. ²³Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire. ²⁴Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh. ^cThe God who answers with fire, He is God.”

All the people answered, “That sounds good.”

²⁵Then 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 don’t light the fire.”

²⁶So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound; ^dno one answered. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.

²⁷At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; ^eor maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!” ^f28They shouted loudly, and cut themselves ^gwith knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them. ²⁹All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, ^hbut there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention. ⁱ

³⁰Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near me.” So all the people approached him. Then he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been torn down: ^j31Elijah took 12 stones—according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel will be your name” ^k— ³²and he built an altar ^lwith the stones in the name of Yahweh. Then he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold about four gallons. ^mn33Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. He said, “Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood.” ³⁴Then he said, “A second time!” and they did it a second time. And then he said, “A third time!” and they did it a third time. ³⁵So the water ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water.

³⁶At the time for offering the evening sacrifice, ^oElijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, ^ptoday let it be known ^qthat You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that at Your word I have done all these things. ³⁷Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that You, Yahweh, are God ^rand that You have turned their hearts back.”

³⁸Then Yahweh’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. ³⁹When all the people saw it, they fell facedown ^sand said, “Yahweh, He is God! Yahweh, He is God!” ^t

⁴⁰Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! ^uDo not let even one of them escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon ^vand slaughtered them there. ^w41Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a rainstorm.” ^x

⁴²So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah went up to the summit of Carmel. ^yHe bowed down on the ground and put his face between his knees. ^z43Then he said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the sea.”

So he went up, looked, and said, “There’s nothing.”

Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”

⁴⁴On the seventh ^atime, he reported, “There’s a cloud as small as a man’s hand coming from the sea.”

Then Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Get your chariot ready and go down so the rain doesn’t stop you.’ ”

⁴⁵In a little while, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and there was a downpour. So Ahab got in his chariot and went to Jezreel. ^b46The power of the Lord ^cwas on Elijah, and he tucked his mantle under his belt ^dand ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.