Elijah and Obadiah

18 After a long time, in the third^(A) year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and present^(B) yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain^(C) on the land.”

²⁵ I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land.^(A)

¹⁷ Elijah was a human being, even as we are.^(A) He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.^(B)

Elijah Announces a Great Drought

17 Now Elijah^(A) the Tishbite, from Tishbe^[a] in Gilead,^(B) said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain^(C) in the next few years except at my word.”

¹² The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse^(A) of his bounty,^(B) to send rain^(C) on your land in season and to bless^(D) all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.^(E)

¹⁵ Elijah said, “As the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present^(A) myself to Ahab today.”

Elijah on Mount Carmel

¹⁶ So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. ¹⁷ When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler^(B) of Israel?”

¹⁸ “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you^(C) and your father’s family have. You have abandoned^(D) the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. ¹⁹ Now summon^(E) the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel.^(F) And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”^(G)

²⁰ So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.^{(H) 21} Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver^(I) between two opinions? If the Lord^(J) is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

But the people said nothing.

²² Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left,^(K) but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.^{(L) 23} Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. ²⁴ Then you call^(M) on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord.^(N) The god who answers by fire^(O)—he is God.”

Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”

²⁵ Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since 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 given them and prepared it.

Then they called^(P) on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response;^(Q) no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

²⁷ At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”^{(R) 28} So they shouted louder and slashed^(S) themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. ²⁹ Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice.^(T) But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.^(U)

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar^(V) of the Lord, which had been torn down. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.”^{(W) 32} With the stones he built an altar in the name^(X) of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs^[a] of seed. ³³ He arranged^(Y) the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”

³⁴ “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.

“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. ³⁵ The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

³⁶ At the time^(Z) of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham,^(AA) Isaac and Israel, let it be known^(AB) today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.^{(AC) 37} Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know^(AD) that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

³⁸ Then the fire^(AE) of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

³⁹ When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate^(AF) and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”^(AG)

⁴⁰ Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley^(AH) and slaughtered^(AI) there.

² So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.

Now the famine was severe^(A) in Samaria,

⁴ I will send you rain^(A) in its season,^(B) and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.^(C)