1 Kings
18:16–46
So
Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When
Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, ‘Is it you, you troubler of Israel?’ He
answered, ‘I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father’s house,
because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals.
Now therefore have all Israel assemble for me at Mount Carmel, with the four
hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah,
who eat at Jezebel’s table.’
Elijah’s
Triumph over the Priests of Baal
So Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and
assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. Elijah then came near to all the
people, and said, ‘How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If
the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.’ The people did not
answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, ‘I, even I only, am left a
prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets number four hundred and fifty. Let two
bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in
pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other
bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it.
Then you call on the name of your
god and I will call on the name of the Lord; the god who answers by fire is
indeed God.’ All the people answered, ‘Well spoken!’ Then Elijah said to the
prophets of Baal, ‘Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you
are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.’ So they
took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal
from morning until noon, crying, ‘O Baal, answer us!’ But there was no voice,
and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made. At noon Elijah
mocked them, saying, ‘Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating,
or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and
must be awakened.’ Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut
themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. As
midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation,
but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.
Then Elijah said to all the people,
‘Come closer to me’; and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired
the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down; Elijah took twelve stones,
according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of
the Lord came, saying, ‘Israel shall be your name’; with the stones he built an
altar in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar, large
enough to contain two measures of seed. Next he put the wood in order, cut the
bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, ‘Fill four jars with water
and pour it on the burnt-offering and on the wood.’ Then he said, ‘Do it a
second time’; and they did it a second time. Again he said, ‘Do it a third
time’; and they did it a third time, so that the water ran all round the altar,
and filled the trench also with water.
At the time of the offering of the
oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, ‘O Lord, God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I
am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding. Answer
me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God,
and that you have turned their hearts back.’
Then the fire of the Lord fell and
consumed the burnt-offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even
licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they
fell on their faces and said, ‘The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.’
Elijah said to them, ‘Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them
escape.’ Then they seized them; and Elijah brought them down
to the
Wadi Kishon, and killed them there.
The
Drought Ends
Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go up, eat and
drink; for there is a sound of rushing rain.’ So Ahab went up to eat and to
drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; there he bowed himself down upon
the earth and put his face between his knees. He said to his servant, ‘Go up
now, look towards the sea.’ He went up and looked, and said, ‘There is
nothing.’ Then he said, ‘Go again seven times.’ At the seventh time he said,
‘Look, a little cloud no bigger than a person’s hand is rising out of the sea.’
Then he said, ‘Go and say to Ahab, “Harness your chariot and go down before the
rain stops you.” ‘ In a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and
wind; there was heavy rain. Ahab rode off and went to Jezreel. But the hand of
the Lord was on Elijah; he girded up his loins and ran in front of Ahab to the
entrance of Jezreel. (NRSV)
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