1 Kings 18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Elijah’s Message to Ahab
18 After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year of the drought,[a] saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab; I will send rain on the earth.”(A) 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria. 3 Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Now Obadiah revered the Lord greatly; 4 when Jezebel was killing off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets, hid them fifty to a cave, and provided them with bread and water.)(B) 5 Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the wadis; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive and not lose some of the animals.” 6 So they divided the land between them to pass through it; Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself.
7 As Obadiah was on the way, Elijah met him; Obadiah recognized him, fell on his face, and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?”(C) 8 He answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here.” 9 And he said, “How have I sinned, that you would hand your servant over to Ahab to kill me? 10 As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom to which my lord has not sent to seek you, and when they would say, ‘He is not here,’ he would require an oath of the kingdom or nation that they had not found you.(D) 11 But now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here.’ 12 As soon as I have gone from you, the spirit of the Lord will carry you I know not where; so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have revered the Lord from my youth.(E) 13 Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets fifty to a cave and provided them with bread and water?(F) 14 Yet now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here’; he will surely kill me.” 15 Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.”(G) 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?”(H) 18 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.(I) 19 Now therefore have all Israel assemble for me at Mount Carmel, with the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”(J)
Elijah’s Triumph over the Priests of Baal
20 So Ahab sent to all the Israelites and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. 21 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.(K) 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty.(L) 23 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. 24 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!”(M) 25 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.” 26 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.(N) 27 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.” 28 Then they cried aloud, and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them.(O) 29 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.(P)
30 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;(Q) 31 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”;(R) 32 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.(S) 33 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.”(T) 34 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, 35 so that the water ran all around the altar and filled the trench also with water.
36 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.(U) 37 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.” 38 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.(V) 39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.”(W) 40 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.(X)
The Drought Ends
41 Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of rushing rain.” 42 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.(Y) 43 He said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” He went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” Then he said, “Go again seven times.” 44 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 say to Ahab, ‘Harness your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’ ” 45 In a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind; there was a heavy rain. Ahab rode off and went to Jezreel. 46 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.(Z)
Footnotes
- 18.1 Heb lacks of the drought
1 Kings 18
Evangelical Heritage Version
Elijah Confronts the Prophets of Baal and Asherah
18 After a long time, the word of the Lord came to Elijah. (It was during the third year.) He said, “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain to water the surface of the ground.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
Now the drought was severe in Samaria. 3 Ahab had summoned his servant Obadiah, the palace administrator. Obadiah was devoted to serving[a] the Lord. 4 When Jezebel was exterminating the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and kept them hidden in two caves, fifty in each cave, and he provided food and water for them.
5 Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and all the streams. Maybe we will find enough grass so that we can keep the horses and mules alive, and we will not have to slaughter the cattle.” 6 In order to cover the whole land, they divided it between the two of them. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
7 While Obadiah was on the way, Elijah suddenly met him. Obadiah recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is that you, my lord Elijah?”
8 Elijah answered him, “Yes, it is. Go and tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”
9 But Obadiah said, “How have I sinned that you would hand your servant over to Ahab for him to kill me? 10 As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is no country or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ then he made that kingdom and nation swear that they could not find you. 11 But now you are telling me, ‘Go, tell your master that Elijah is here.’ 12 As soon as I leave you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to some place I do not know. When I go to tell Ahab and he then does not find you, he will kill me, even though your servant has been devoted to the Lord since my youth.
13 “Has my lord not been told what I did when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord? I kept one hundred of the prophets of the Lord hidden in two caves, fifty in each, and I provided food and water for them. 14 But now you are saying, ‘Go and tell your master that Elijah is here.’”
15 But Elijah said to him, “As surely as the Lord of Armies lives, before whom I stand, I will present myself to him today.” 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and he informed him. Then Ahab came to meet Elijah.
17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, the one who brings trouble on Israel?”
18 Elijah said, “It is not I who have brought trouble on Israel, but rather you and your father’s house, because you abandoned the Lord’s commandments and followed the Baals. 19 But now gather all Israel before me on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” 20 So Ahab sent word to all the people of Israel, and he assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.
21 Then Elijah said to all the people, “How long will you stagger around on two crutches? If the Lord is God, follow him. If Baal is God, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a single word.
22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only one left of the Lord’s prophets, but the prophets of Baal total four hundred fifty men. 23 Provide two bulls for us. Let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it up and place it on the firewood, but they are not to light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the firewood, but I will not light the fire. 24 Then you will call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers with fire, he is God.”
All the people said, “This proposal is good.”
25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull, and you go first because there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god. But do not light the fire.”
26 So they took the bull which had been given to them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, “Baal! Answer us!” But there was not a sound. No one answered. So they staggered[b] around the altar which they had made.
27 When noon came, Elijah mocked them: “Shout louder! He is a god, isn’t he? He may be deep in thought or busy or on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and will wake up!” 28 So they cried out with a loud voice, and according to their practice they cut themselves with daggers and spears until their blood flowed. 29 After noon, they kept up a prophetic frenzy until the time of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound. No one answered. There was no response.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” So they came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come and had proclaimed, “Your name shall be Israel.” 32 He built the stones into an altar in the name of the Lord. Around it he made a trench big enough to hold about twenty-five pounds[c] of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood.
Then he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the sacrifice and on the wood.” 34 Then he said, “Do it again.” So they did it again. Then he said, “Do it a third time.” So they did it a third time. 35 The water flowed all around the altar. It even filled the trench.
36 When the time of the evening sacrifice had arrived, Elijah the prophet stood up and said, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and that I have done all these things by your word. 37 Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you are turning their hearts back to you.”
38 Fire from the Lord fell on the sacrifice and on the wood, the stones, and the dirt. It even licked up the water in the trench. 39 When all the people saw this, they fell on their knees and said, “The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!”
40 Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let a single one of them escape!” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon River and slaughtered them there.
41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for I hear the sound of a heavy rainstorm.” 42 So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. He bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. 43 He said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the sea.”
So his servant went up and looked, and he said, “There is nothing.”
But seven times Elijah told him, “Go again.”
44 On the seventh time the servant said, “There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea.”
Then Elijah said to him, “Go up and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down so that the rain does not stop you.’”
45 Meanwhile, the skies got dark with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab got into his chariot and went to Jezre’el. 46 But the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he hiked up his garments around his waist and ran ahead of Ahab until he came to Jezre’el.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 18:3 Literally greatly feared
- 1 Kings 18:26 An insulting description of their dancing
- 1 Kings 18:32 Hebrew two seahs
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.