Elijah at Mount Carmel

²⁰ So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. ²¹ Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions?^(A) If Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him.”^(B) But the people didn’t answer him a word.

²² Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord,^(C) but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. ²³ Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire. ²⁴ Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh.^(D) The God who answers with fire, He is God.”

All the people answered, “That sounds good.”

²⁵ Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god but don’t light the fire.”

²⁶ So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound;^(E) no one answered. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.

²⁷ At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away;^[a] or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!”^{(F) 28} They shouted loudly, and cut themselves^(G) with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them. ²⁹ All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice,^(H) but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention.^(I)

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near me.” So all the people approached him. Then he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been torn down:^{(J) 31} Elijah took 12 stones—according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel will be your name”^(K)— ³² and he built an altar^(L) with the stones in the name of Yahweh. Then he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold about four gallons.^{[b][c] 33} Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. He said, “Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood.” ³⁴ Then he said, “A second time!” and they did it a second time. And then he said, “A third time!” and they did it a third time. ³⁵ So the water ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water.

³⁶ At the time for offering the evening sacrifice,^(M) Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,^(N) today let it be known^(O) that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that at Your word I have done all these things. ³⁷ Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that You, Yahweh, are God^(P) and that You have turned their hearts back.”

³⁸ Then Yahweh’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. ³⁹ When all the people saw it, they fell facedown^(Q) and said, “Yahweh, He is God! Yahweh, He is God!”^(R)

The Fall of Samaria

⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea,^(A) the king of Assyria captured Samaria. He deported^(B) the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah and by the Habor, Gozan’s river, and in the cities of the Medes.^(C)

Why Israel Fell

⁷ This disaster happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt^(D) and because they had worshiped^[a] other gods.^{(E) 8} They had lived according to the customs of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites^(F) and the customs the kings of Israel had introduced.^{(G) 9} The Israelites secretly did what was not right^[b] against the Lord their God. They built high places in all their towns from watchtower^(H) to fortified city. ¹⁰ They set up for themselves sacred pillars^(I) and Asherah poles^(J) on every high hill and under every green tree.^{(K) 11} They burned incense on all the high places just like those nations that the Lord had driven out before them. They did evil things, provoking the Lord. ¹² They served idols, although the Lord had told them, “You must not do this.”^{(L) 13} Still, the Lord warned^(M) Israel and Judah through every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep My commands and statutes according to all the law I commanded your ancestors and sent to you through My servants the prophets.”^(N)

¹⁴ But they would not listen. Instead they became obstinate like^[c] their ancestors who did not believe the Lord their God.^{(O) 15} They rejected His statutes and His covenant He had made with their ancestors^(P) and the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves,^(Q) following the surrounding nations the Lord had commanded them not to imitate.^(R)

¹⁶ They abandoned all the commands of the Lord their God. They made cast images^(S) for themselves, two calves, and an Asherah pole.^(T) They worshiped the whole heavenly host^(U) and served Baal.^{(V) 17} They made their sons and daughters pass through the fire^(W) and practiced divination and interpreted omens.^(X) They devoted themselves to do what was evil in the Lord’s sight and provoked Him.^(Y)

¹⁸ Therefore, the Lord was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence.^(Z) Only the tribe of Judah remained.^(AA)