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1 And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, and appear before Ahab, and I will bring rain upon the face of the earth.
2 And Elijah went to appear before Ahab: and the famine was severe in Samaria.
3 And Ahab called Obadiah the steward. Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly.
4 And it came to pass when Jezebel smote the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.
5 And Ahab said to Obadiah, Come, and let us go through the land, and to the fountains of water, and to the brooks, if by any means we may find grass, and may save the horses and mules, and so they will not perish from the tents.
6 And they made a division of the way between them to pass through it: Ahab went one way, and Obadiah went by another way alone.
7 And Obadiah was alone in the way; and Elijah came alone to meet him: and Obadiah hastened, and fell upon his face, and said, My lord Elijah, art thou indeed he?
8 And Elijah said to him, I am: go, say to thy master, Behold, Elijah is here.
9 And Obadiah said, What sin have I committed, that thou givest thy servant into the hand of Ahab to slay me?
10 As the Lord thy God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom, whither my lord has not sent to seek thee; and if they said, He is not here, then has he set fire to the kingdom and its territories, because he has not found thee.
11 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.
12 And it shall come to pass when I shall have departed from thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee to a land which I know not, and I shall go in to tell the matter to Ahab, and he will not find thee and will slay me: yet thy servant fears the Lord from his youth.
13 Has it not been told to thee my lord, what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, that I hid a hundred men of the prophets of the Lord, by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?
14 And now thou sayest to me, Go, say to thy master, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me.
15 And Elijah said, As the Lord of Hosts before whom I stand lives, today I will appear before him.
16 And Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab hastened forth, and went to meet Elijah.
17 And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to Elijah, Art thou he that perverts Israel?
18 And Elijah said, I do not pervert Israel; but it is thou and thy father’s house, in that ye forsake the Lord your God, and thou hast gone after Baalim.
19 And now send, gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and the prophets of shame four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, that eat at Jezebel’s table.
20 And Ahab sent to all Israel, and gathered all the prophets to Mount Carmel.
21 And Elijah drew near to them all: and Elijah said to them, How long wilt ye halt on both feet? if the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, follow him. And the people answered not a word.
22 And Elijah said to the people, I am left, the only one prophet of the Lord; and the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men, and the prophets of the groves four hundred.
23 Let them give us two oxen, and let them choose one for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire on the wood: and I will dress the other bullock, and put on no fire.
24 And do ye call loudly on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord my God, and it shall come to pass that the God who shall answer by fire, he is God. And all the people answered and said, The word which thou hast spoken is good.
25 And Elijah said to the prophets of shame, Choose to yourselves one calf, and dress it first, for ye are many; and call ye on the name of your god; but apply no fire.
26 And they took the calf and dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning till noon, and said, Hear us, O Baal, hear us. And there was no voice, neither was there hearing, and they ran up and down on the altar which they had made.
27 And it was noon, and Elijah the Tishbite mocked them, and said, Call with a loud voice, for he is a god; for he is meditating, or else perhaps he is engaged in business, or perhaps he is asleep, and is to be awakened.
28 And they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves according to their custom with knives and lancets until the blood gushed out upon them.
29 And they prophesied until the evening came; and it came to pass as it was the time of the offering of the sacrifice, that Elijah the Tishbite spoke to the prophets of the abominations, saying, Stand by for the present, and I will offer my sacrifice. And they stood aside and departed.
30 And Elijah said to the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near to him.
31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, as the Lord spoke to him, saying, Israel shall be thy name.
32 And he built up the stones in the name of the Lord, and repaired the altar that had been broken down; and he made a trench that would hold two measures of seed round about the altar.
33 And he piled the cleft wood on the altar which he had made, and divided the whole burnt offering, and laid it on the wood, and laid it in order on the altar, and said, Fetch me four pitchers of water, and pour it on the whole burnt offering, and on the wood. And they did so.
34 And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.
35 And the water ran round about the altar, and they filled the trench with water.
36 And Elijah cried aloud to heaven, and said, Lord God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel, answer me, O Lord, answer me this day by fire, and let all this people know that thou art the Lord, the God of Israel, and I am thy servant, and for thy sake I have wrought these works.
37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, and let this people know that thou art the Lord God, and thou hast turned back the heart of this people.
38 Then fire fell from the Lord out of heaven, and devoured the whole burnt offerings, and the wood and the water that was in the trench, and the fire licked up the stones and the earth.
39 And all the people fell upon their faces, and said, Truly the Lord is God; he is God.
40 And Elijah said to the people, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them; and Elijah brings them down to the brook Kishon, and he slew them there.
41 And Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, and eat and drink, for there is a sound of the coming of rain.
42 And Ahab went up to eat and to drink; and Elijah went up to Carmel, and stooped to the ground, and put his face between his knees,
43 and said to his servant, Go up, and look toward the sea. And the servant looked, and said, There is nothing: and Elijah said, Do thou then go again seven times.
44 And the servant went again seven times: and it came to pass at the seventh time, that, behold, a little cloud like the sole of a man’s foot brought water; and he said, Go up, and say to Ahab, Make ready thy chariot, and go down, lest the rain overtake thee.
45 And it came to pass in the meanwhile, that the heaven grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab wept, and went to Jezreel.
46 And the hand of the Lord was upon Elijah, and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to Jezreel.