CHAPTER 18
1 After many days the word of the Lord was made to Elijah, in the third year, and said, Go, and show thee to Ahab, that I give rain upon the face of the earth, (or Go, and show thyself to Ahab, and I shall send rain upon the face of the earth).
2 Therefore Elijah went to show himself to Ahab; forsooth a great hunger was made in Samaria (or and there was then a great famine in Samaria).
3 And Ahab called Obadiah, the dispenser, either steward, of his house; forsooth Obadiah dreaded greatly the Lord God of Israel (or and Obadiah greatly feared or and greatly revered the Lord God of Israel).
4 For when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, he took an hundred prophets, and hid them, by fifties and fifties, in dens, (or and hid them in caves, fifty by fifty), and fed them with bread and water.
5 Then Ahab said to Obadiah, Go thou into the land, to all the wells of waters, and into all (the) valleys, if in hap we may find grass, and save (the) horses and mules; and [the] work beasts perish not utterly (or and so the work beasts shall not utterly perish).
6 And they parted the countries to themselves, that they should compass those; Ahab went by one way, and Obadiah went by another way, by himself.
7 And when Obadiah was in the way, Elijah met him, (or And when Obadiah was on the way, Elijah met him); and when he had known Elijah, he felled on his face, and said, Whether thou art my lord Elijah?
8 To whom he answered, I am. And Elijah said, Go thou, and say to thy lord, Elijah is present (or Elijah is here).
9 And Obadiah said, What have I sinned, for thou betakest me in(to) the hand of Ahab, that he slay me?
10 Thy Lord God liveth, for no folk either realm is, whither my lord, seeking thee, sent not; and when all men answered, He is not here, he charged greatly all realms and folks, for thou were not found; (As the Lord thy God liveth, for there is no nation, or kingdom, where my lord hath not sent, seeking thee; and when all people answered, He is not here, he greatly charged each kingdom, and nation, to swear, that thou were not found there;)
11 and now thou sayest to me, Go, and say to thy lord, Elijah is present (or Elijah is here).
12 And when I shall depart from thee, the Spirit of the Lord shall bear thee away into a place which I know not; and I shall enter, and tell to Ahab, and he shall not find thee, and he shall slay thee; forsooth thy servant dreadeth the Lord from his young childhood. (And when I shall leave thee, the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee away to a place which I know not; and I shall go, and tell Ahab, but he shall not find thee, and then he shall kill me; and know ye that thy servant feareth the Lord or revereth the Lord, from his young childhood.)
13 Whether it is not showed to thee, my lord, what I did, when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, that I hid of the prophets of the Lord an hundred men, by fifty and fifty, in dens, and I fed them with bread and water? (Was it not told to thee, my lord, what I did, when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, that I hid a hundred of the prophets of the Lord in caves, fifty by fifty, and that I fed them with bread and water?)
14 And now thou sayest, Go, and say to thy lord, Elijah is present/Elijah is nigh, that he slay me. (And now thou sayest, Go, and say to thy lord, Elijah is here. No! he shall kill me!)
15 And Elijah said, The Lord of hosts liveth, before whose sight I stand, for today I shall appear to him. (And Elijah said, As the Lord of hosts liveth, whom I stand before, I shall appear before him today.)
16 Therefore Obadiah went into the meeting of Ahab, and showed it to him; and Ahab came into the meeting of Elijah. (And so Obadiah went to find Ahab, and told him everything; and Ahab came to meet with Elijah.)
17 And when he had seen Elijah, he said, Whether thou art he, that troublest Israel? (And when he had seen Elijah, he said, Art thou he who troublest Israel?)
18 And he said, Not I trouble Israel, but thou, and the house of thy father, which have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and followed Baalim. (And Elijah said, It is not I who trouble Israel, but thou, and the house of thy father, who have deserted the commandments of the Lord, and followed Baalim.)
19 Nevertheless now send thou, and gather to me all Israel, into the hill of Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and [the] four hundred prophets of (the) maumet woods, that eat of the table of Jezebel. (But now send thou, and gather together for me all Israel on Mount Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.)
20 Ahab sent to all the sons of Israel, and gathered together the prophets in the hill of Carmel. (And so Ahab sent for all the Israelites, and gathered together the prophets on Mount Carmel.)
21 Forsooth Elijah nighed to all the people of Israel, and said, How long halt ye into two parts? (or How long shall ye waver between two paths?) If the Lord is God, follow ye him; and if Baal is God, follow ye him. And the people answered not one word to him.
22 And Elijah said again to the people, I dwelled alone a prophet of the Lord; soothly the prophets of Baal be four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the maumet woods be four hundred men. (And Elijah said to the people, I am the only prophet of the Lord still left; but there be four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and four hundred prophets of Asherah.)
23 (Let) Twain oxes be given to us; and choose they one ox, and they shall cut (it) into gobbets, and put it on wood, but put they not fire under (it); and I shall make (ready) the tother ox into sacrifice(or and I shall prepare the other ox for sacrifice), and I shall put (it) on the wood, and I shall not put fire under (it either).
24 Call ye the name of your gods, and I shall call the name of my God; and the God that heareth by fire falling down, given from heaven to waste the sacrifice, be he God. And all the people answered, and said, The reason is best, that Elijah hath spoken. (Then call ye on the name of your god, and I shall call on the name of my God; and the God who answereth with fire falling down, that is, with fire given from heaven to consume the sacrifice, he is God. And all the people answered, and said, What Elijah hath spoken is reasonable.)
25 Therefore Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose ye one ox to you, and make ye (ready) first your sacrifice, for ye be the more; and call ye the names of your gods, and put ye not fire under. (And so Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose ye one ox for yourselves, and prepare ye first your sacrifice, for ye be the more; and then call ye on the name of your god, but put ye no fire under it.)
26 And when they had taken the ox, whom Elijah gave to them, they made (ready the) sacrifice, and called the name of Baal, from the morrowtide till to midday, and said, Baal, hear us! And no voice was, neither any that answered; and they skipped over the altar, which they had made. (And when they had taken the ox, which was given to them, they prepared the sacrifice, and called on the name of Baal, from the morning until midday, and said, Baal, hear us! But there was no voice, nor anyone who answered; even as they leapt all around the altar, which they had made.)
27 And when it was then midday, Elijah scorned them, and said, Cry ye with [a] greater voice, for Baal is your god, and in hap he speaketh with another, either he is in a harbourgerie, either in the way, either certainly he sleepeth, that he be raised up. (And when it was midday, Elijah scorned them, and said, Cry ye with a greater voice, for Baal is your god, and perhaps he speaketh with another, or else he is at an inn, or he is on the way, or certainly he sleepeth, so that he must be raised up.)
28 Therefore they cried with [a] great(er) voice, and they cut themselves with knives and lancets, after their custom, till they were beshed with blood.
29 But after that midday passed, and while they prophesied, or prayed, the time came, in which the sacrifice is wont to be offered, neither voice was heard of their gods, neither any answered, neither perceived them praying. (But after that midday had passed, and yet while they prophesied, and prayed, the time came, in which the evening sacrifice was wont to be offered, and still neither the voice was heard of their god, nor did anyone answer them, nor did anyone perceive their prayers.)
30 [And] Elijah said to all the people, Come ye to me. And when the people came to him, he arrayed the altar of the Lord, that was destroyed. (And Elijah said to all the people, Come ye close to me. And when the people came close to him, he repaired the altar of the Lord that was destroyed.)
31 And he took twelve stones, by the number of the lineages of the sons of Jacob (or which was the number of the tribes of Jacob), to which Jacob the word of the Lord was made, and said, Israel shall be thy name.
32 And he builded an altar of stones, in the name of the Lord, and he made a leading-to of water, either a ditch, (or and he made a leading-to, or a ditch, for the water), as by two little ditches, or furrows, in the compass of the altar*.
33 And he dressed [the] wood, and he parted the ox by (its) members, and put it upon the wood, and said, Fill ye four pots with water, and pour ye it upon the burnt sacrifice (to be), and upon the wood.
34 And again he said, Also the second time do ye this. And they did (it) the second time. And he said, Do ye the same thing the third time; and they did (it) the third time.
35 And the waters ran about the altar, and the ditch, or(the)rut, of [the] leading-to of water was filled. (And the water ran about the altar, and the ditch, or the rut, of the leading-to for the water, was completely filled.)
36 And when the time was then, that the burnt sacrifice should be offered, Elijah the prophet nighed, and said, Lord God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, show thou today that thou art God of Israel, and that I am thy servant, and have done all these words by thy commandment. (And when it was the time, that the burnt sacrifice should be offered, Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel, or Jacob, show thou today that thou art the God of Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things by thy commandment.)
37 Lord, hear thou me; Lord, hear thou me; that this people learn, that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast converted again the heart of them. (Lord, hear thou me; Lord, hear thou me; so that this people shall learn that thou art the Lord God, and thou shalt turn their hearts back to thee again.)
38 Soothly [the] fire of the Lord felled down then, and devoured the burnt sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, and it licked up also the powder, and the water that was in the leading-(to), (or the rut), of (the) water. (Then the fire of the Lord fell down, and devoured the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and it also licked up the water that was in the ditch, or in the rut, for the water.)
39 And when all the people had seen this, the people felled into his face (or the people fell down on their faces), and said, The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.
40 And Elijah said to them, Take ye the prophets of Baal; not one soothly escape of them. And when they had taken them, Elijah led them to the strand of Kishon, and killed them there. (And Elijah said to them, Take ye hold of the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape. And when they had taken hold of them, Elijah led them to the Kishon Stream or to the Kishon Gorge, and they killed them there.)
41 And Elijah said to Ahab, Go thou up, and eat, and drink, for the sound of much rain is nigh. (And Elijah said to Ahab, Go thou to eat, and drink, for there is the sound of much rain coming.)
42 Ahab went up to eat and drink; but Elijah went up into (the top of) the hill of Carmel, and he set lowly his face to the earth, betwixt his knees; (So Ahab went to eat and drink; but Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel, and he put his face low to the ground, between his knees;)
43 and said to his servant, Go thou up, and behold thou against the sea. And when he had gone up, and beheld, he said, Nothing is (there). And again Elijah said to him, Turn thou again seven times. (and said to his servant, Go thou up now, and behold the sea. And when he had gone, and beheld it, he said, There is nothing there. And Elijah said to him, Do it again; and in all, he commanded him to do it seven times.)
44 And in the seventh time, lo! a little cloud, as the step of a man, went up from the sea. And Elijah said, Go thou up, and say to Ahab, Join thy chariot, and go down, lest the rain before-occupy thee. (And on the seventh time, behold! a little cloud, like the hand of a man, went up from the sea. And Elijah said, Go thou up now, and say to Ahab, Join up thy chariot, and get going, or the rain shall stop thee!)
45 And when they turned them hither and thither, lo! heavens were made dark, and cloud, and wind, and great rain was made. Therefore Ahab went up (into his chariot), and went into Jezreel; (And when they turned themselves here and there, behold! the skies were made dark with clouds and wind, and a great rain came. And so Ahab went up into his chariot, and went back to Jezreel;)
46 and the hand of the Lord was made upon Elijah, and when his loins were girded, he ran before Ahab, till he came into Jezreel. (and the hand of the Lord was made upon Elijah, and when his loins were girded up, he ran ahead of Ahab, all the way back to Jezreel.)
* CHAPTER 18:32 In Hebrew it is thus, ‘And he made a furrow of three bushels of seed, that is, so much seed (as) might be sown within the compass of the furrow (or And he made a furrow, or ditch, around the altar, deep enough to hold three bushels of seed that might be sown within the compass of the furrow)’, as Rabbi Solomon saith.