1 Kings 18:16–40

¹⁶So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and he told him, so Ahab went to meet Elijah. ¹⁷When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is this you who throws Israel into confusion?” ¹⁸He said, “I did not throw Israel into confusion; rather you and the house of your father have by forsaking the commands of Yahweh when you went after the Baals! ¹⁹So then, send word and assemble all of Israel to me on Mount Carmel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at the table of Jezebel.”

²⁰So Ahab sent word among the Israelites,^f and he assembled the prophets to Mount Carmel. ²¹Elijah approached to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping over two opinions? If Yahweh is God, go after him; but if Baal, go after him.” But the people did not answer him a word. ²²Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of Yahweh, but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men. ²³Let them give us two bulls, and let them choose for themselves one bull, cut him in pieces, and put it on the wood, but don’t let them start a fire on it. I will prepare the other bull and set it on the wood, but I will put no fire on it. ²⁴Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh, and it shall be that the god who answers by fire, he is God.”^g Then all the people answered and said, “The word is good!”

²⁵Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are the majority, and call on the name of your god, but don’t set fire under it.” ²⁶So they took the bull that he allowed to them, prepared it, and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice and there was no answer, so they limped^h about the altar which they had made. ²⁷It happened at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god! Perhaps he is meditating, or is using the bathroom,ⁱ or is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must wake up!” ²⁸So they called out with a loud voice, and they cut themselves with swords and with spears as was their custom, until the blood poured out over them. ²⁹It happened as noon passed, they raged until the time of the evening offering, but there was no voice, there was no answer, and no one paid attention.

³⁰Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me,” so all the people came closer to him. He repaired the altar of Yahweh that had been destroyed. ³¹Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of God came, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” ³²With them, he built an altar in the name of Yahweh, and he made a trench which would have held^j about two seahs of seed, all around the altar. ³³And he arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces, and placed it on the wood.^k Then he said, “Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” ³⁴He said, “Do it again!” They did it again. He said, “Do it a third time!” So they did it a third time. ³⁵The water went all around the altar, and the trench also was filled with water.

³⁶It happened at the offering of the evening oblation, Elijah the prophet went near, and he said, “O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and that I have done all of these things by your words. ³⁷Answer me, O Yahweh, answer me; that this people may know that you, O Yahweh, are God and that you have turned their hearts back again.” ³⁸Then the fire of Yahweh fell, and it consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust; and the water which was in the trench it licked up! ³⁹When all the people saw, they fell on their faces and said, “Yahweh, he is God! Yahweh, he is God!” ⁴⁰Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; don’t let any man of them escape!” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the wadi^l of Kishon and killed them there.