Jubilee2000 - I Kings - 18

18:1  And it came to pass [after] many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.

18:2  And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab. And [there was] a severe famine in Samaria.

18:3  And Ahab called Obadiah, who [was] the governor of [his] house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly,

18:4  for when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took one hundred prophets and hid them in groups of fifty in caves and sustained them with bread and water.)

18:5  And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go through the land to all the fountains of water and to all the brooks; peradventure we may find herbage to save the horses and mules alive that we not lose all the beasts.

18:6  So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

18:7  And as Obadiah was in the way, Elijah met him; and when he recognized him, he fell on his face, and said, [Art] thou not my lord Elijah?

18:8  And he answered him, I [am]; go, tell thy lord, [Behold] Elijah.

18:9  And he said, In what have I sinned that thou should deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, for [him] to slay me?

18:10  [As] the LORD thy God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek thee; and when they [all] said, [He is] not [here]; he has caused kingdoms and nations to swear an oath if they have found thee [or] not.

18:11  And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold Elijah.

18:12  And it shall come to pass [as soon as] I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee where I know not; and [so] when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me; but I, thy servant, fear the LORD from my youth.

18:13  Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid one hundred men of the LORD'S prophets in groups of fifty in caves and sustained them with bread and water?

18:14  And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, [Behold] Elijah; and he shall slay me.

18:15  And Elijah said unto him, As the LORD of the hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself unto him today.

18:16  Then Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab came to meet Elijah.

18:17  And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, [Art] thou he that troubles Israel?

18:18  And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.

18:19  Now therefore send [and] gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of the groves, who eat at Jezebel's table.

18:20  Then Ahab sent unto all the sons of Israel and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel.

18:21  And Elijah came near unto all the people and said, How long shall ye halt between two opinions? If the LORD [is] God, follow him; but if Baal, [then] follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.

18:22  Then Elijah spoke again unto the people, I, [even] I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets [are] four hundred and fifty men.

18:23  Give us, therefore, two bullocks, and let them choose one bullock for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay [it] on wood and put no fire [under it]; and I will dress the other bullock and lay [it] on wood and put no fire [under it].

18:24  And invoke ye in the name of your gods, and I will invoke in the name of the LORD; and it shall be that the God that answers by fire is God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

18:25  So Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves and dress [it] first, for ye [are] many, and invoke in the name of your gods, but put no fire [under it].

18:26  And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed [it] and invoked in the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, answer us. But [there was] no voice nor anyone that answered. And they jumped up and down near the altar which they had made.

18:27  And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud, for he [is] a god; peradventure he is talking or he had to go to the latrine, or he is on a journey, [or] he sleeps and will awake.

18:28  And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets until the blood gushed out upon them.

18:29  And when midday was past, [even] so they prophesied until the [time] of the offering of the [evening] sacrifice, and [there was] neither voice nor anyone that answered nor anyone that heard.

18:30  Then Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD [that was] broken down.

18:31  And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name;

18:32  and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD; then he made a trench round about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.

18:33  And he put the wood in order and cut the bullock in pieces and laid [it] on the wood and said, Fill four pitchers with water and pour [it] on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.

18:34  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.

18:35  So that the water ran round about the altar, and he had filled the trench also with water.

18:36  And it came to pass at [the time of] the offering of the [evening] sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, LORD God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou [art] God in Israel and [that I am] thy servant and [that] I have done all these things at thy word.

18:37  Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that thou [art] the LORD God and [that] thou shalt convert their heart back again [to thee].

18:38  Then fire of the LORD fell, which consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that [was] in the trench.

18:39  And seeing it, all the people fell on their faces, and they said, The LORD, he [is] the God; the LORD, he [is] the God.

18:40  And Elijah said unto them, Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they seized them; and Elijah took them down to the brook Kishon and slew them there.

18:41  Then Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat and drink; for [there is] a sound of abundance of rain.

18:42  So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, and he cast himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees

18:43  and said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked and said, [There is] nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

18:44  And the seventh time he said, Behold, a little cloud like the palm of a man's [hand] arises out of the sea. And he said, Go and say to Ahab, Prepare [thy chariot] and descend that the rain not stop thee.

18:45  And it came to pass in the meanwhile that the heavens became black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.

18:46  And the hand of the LORD was upon Elijah, who girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.: