18After a long time, in the third^u year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and present^v yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain^w on the land.” ²So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.

Now the famine was severe^x in Samaria, ³and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, his palace administrator.^y (Obadiah was a devout believer^z in the Lord. ⁴While Jezebel^a was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden^b them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied^c them with food and water.) ⁵Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs^d and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals.”^e

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Cross references

u 1 Ki 17:1; Lk 4:25
vver 15
wSee Dt 28:12
xSee Lev 26:26
y 1 Ki 16:9
z Ne 7:2
a 1 Ki 21:23; 2 Ki 9:7
bSee 1 Ki 17:3; Isa 16:3; 25:4; 32:2; Ob 1:14
c Jer 26:24
d Jer 14:3
eSee Ge 47:4

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.” So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, and when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water.) And Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys. Perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the animals.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

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

The famine was severe in Samaria. Ahab called for Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. Obadiah was a man who greatly feared the Lord and took a hundred prophets and hid them, fifty men to a cave, and provided them with food and water when Jezebel slaughtered the Lord’s prophets. Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go throughout the land to every spring 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.”

NLTNew Living Translation

Later on, in the third year of the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, “Go and present yourself to King Ahab. Tell him that I will soon send rain!” So Elijah went to appear before Ahab.

Meanwhile, the famine had become very severe in Samaria. So Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Obadiah was a devoted follower of the Lord. Once when Jezebel had tried to kill all the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had hidden 100 of them in two caves. He put fifty prophets in each cave and supplied them with food and water.) Ahab said to Obadiah, “We must check every spring and valley in the land to see if we can find enough grass to save at least some of my horses and mules.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

It happened many days later that the word of Yahweh came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab so that I may give rain on the surface of the earth.” So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. Ahab summoned Obadiah who was over the house. (Now Obadiah was fearing Yahweh greatly. It had happened that when Jezebel killed the prophets of Yahweh, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in the cave and sustained them with food and water.) Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the wadis. Perhaps we may find green grass that we may keep horses and mules alive and that we might not lose any of the animals.”

KJV 1900King James Version

And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth. And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria. And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly: For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.

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