1 Kings 16-18

New American Standard Bible

Prophecy against Baasha

16 Now the word of the Lord came to ^(A)Jehu the son of ^(B)Hanani against Baasha, saying, ² “Since I ^(C)exalted you from the dust and made you leader over My people Israel, and ^(D)you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have misled My people Israel into sin, provoking Me to anger with their sins, ³ behold, ^(E)I am going to ^[a]burn ^(F)Baasha and his house, and ^(G)I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ^4 (H)Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city, the dogs will eat; and anyone belonging to him who dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat.”

^5 (I)Now as for the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

The Israelite Kings

⁶ And Baasha ^[b]lay down with his fathers and was buried in ^(J)Tirzah, and his son Elah became king in his place. ⁷ Moreover, the word of the Lord through ^(K)the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came against Baasha and his household, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger with ^(L)the work of his hands, by being like the house of Jeroboam, and because ^(M)he struck ^[c]it.

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel at Tirzah, and reigned for two years. ⁹ And his servant ^(N)Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now ^[d]Elah was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, ^(O)who was in charge of the household in Tirzah. ¹⁰ Then Zimri came in and struck him and put him to death in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and he became king in his place. ¹¹ And when he became king, as soon as he sat on his throne, ^(P)he ^[e]killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave ^[f]a single male alive, either of his ^[g]relatives or of his friends.

¹² So Zimri eliminated all the household of Baasha, ^(Q)in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke against Baasha through ^(R)Jehu the prophet, ¹³ for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of his son Elah, which they ^[h]committed and into which they misled Israel, ^(S)provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their ^[i]idols. ^14 (T)Now as for the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned for seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were camped against ^(U)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. ¹⁶ And the people who were camped heard ^[j]it being said, “Zimri has conspired and has also struck and killed the king!” Therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. ¹⁷ Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸ When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over himself with fire, and ^(V)died, ¹⁹ because of his sins which he ^[k]committed, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(W)walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he committed, misleading Israel into sin. ^20 (X)Now as for the rest of the acts of Zimri and his conspiracy which he ^[l]carried out, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

²¹ Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; the other half followed Omri. ²² But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. And Tibni died and Omri became king. ²³ In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel and reigned for twelve years; he reigned for six years at ^(Y)Tirzah. ²⁴ And he purchased the hill ^[m]Samaria from Shemer for ^[n]two talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and named the city which he built ^[o](Z)Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.

²⁵ Now ^(AA)Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and ^(AB)acted more wickedly than all who were before him. ²⁶ For he ^(AC)walked ^[p]entirely in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sins into which he misled Israel, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their ^[q]idols. ²⁷ Now as for the rest of the acts of Omri which he did and his might which he ^[r]displayed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²⁸ And Omri ^[s]lay down with his fathers and was buried in Samaria; and his son Ahab became king in his place.

²⁹ Now Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years. ³⁰ Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord ^(AD)more than all who were before him.

³¹ And as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(AE)he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the ^(AF)Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him. ³² So he erected an altar for Baal at ^(AG)the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. ³³ Ahab also made ^(AH)the ^[t]Asherah. So ^(AI)Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. ^34 (AJ)In his days Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho; he laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

Elijah Predicts Drought

17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of ^[u](AK)the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “^(AL)As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, ^(AM)there shall certainly be neither dew nor rain during these years, except by my word.” ² Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ³ “Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is ^[v]east of the Jordan. ⁴ And it shall be that you will drink from the brook, and ^(AN)I have commanded the ravens to provide food for you there.” ⁵ So he went and did everything according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is ^[w]east of the Jordan. ⁶ And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. ⁷ But it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁹ “Arise, go to ^(AO)Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, ^(AP)I have commanded a widow there to provide food for you.” ¹⁰ So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the entrance of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and ^(AQ)he called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a ^[x]cup, so that I may drink.” ¹¹ As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” ¹² But she said, “^(AR)As the Lord your God lives, ^(AS)I have no food, only a handful of flour in the ^[y]bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering ^[z]a few sticks so that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son, so that we may ^[aa]eat it and ^(AT)die.” ¹³ However, Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said. Just make me a little bread loaf from ^[ab]it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. ¹⁴ For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘The ^[ac]bowl of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil become empty, until the day that the Lord provides rain on the face of the earth.’” ¹⁵ So she went and did everything in accordance with the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶ The ^[ad]bowl of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil become empty, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.

Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son

¹⁷ Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his ^[ae]condition became very grave, until at the end ^[af]he was no longer breathing. ¹⁸ So she said to Elijah, “^[ag](AU)Why is my business any of yours, you ^(AV)man of God? Yet you have come to me to bring my wrongdoing to remembrance, and to put my son to death!” ¹⁹ But he said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her ^[ah]arms and carried him up to the upstairs room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰ And he called to the Lord and said, “Lord, my God, have You also brought catastrophe upon the widow with whom I am ^[ai]staying, by causing her son to die?” ^21 (AW)Then he stretched himself out over the boy three times, and called to the Lord and said, “Lord, my God, please, let this boy’s life return ^[aj]to him.” ²² And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah, ^(AX)and the life of the boy returned ^[ak]to him and he revived. ²³ Elijah then took the boy and brought him down from the upstairs room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” ²⁴ Then the woman said to Elijah, “^(AY)Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

Obadiah Meets Elijah

18 Now it happened ^(AZ)after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and ^(BA)I will provide rain on the face of the earth.” ² So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. ³ Ahab summoned Obadiah, ^(BB)who was in charge of the household. (Now Obadiah ^[al](BC)feared the Lord greatly; ⁴ for ^(BD)when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and ^(BE)provided them with bread and water.) ⁵ Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the river valleys; perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle.” ⁶ So they divided the land between them to ^[am]survey it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

⁷ Now as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him, ^(BF)and he recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is it you, Elijah my master?” ⁸ And he said to him, “It is I. Go, say to your master, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’” ⁹ But he said, “What ^[an]sin have I committed, that you are handing your servant over to Ahab, to put me to death? ^10 (BG)As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom to which my master has not sent word to search for you; and whenever they say, ‘He is not here,’ he makes the kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you. ¹¹ Yet now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here!”’ ¹² And it will come about when I leave you ^(BH)that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to where I do not know; so when I come and inform Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, though I, your servant, have ^[ao]feared the Lord from my youth. ^13 (BI)Has it not been reported to my master what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, that I hid a hundred ^[ap]prophets of the Lord by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water? ¹⁴ Yet now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here”’; he will then kill me!” ¹⁵ Then Elijah said, “^(BJ)As surely as the Lord of armies lives, before whom I stand, I will certainly present myself to him today.” ¹⁶ So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and informed him; then Ahab went to meet Elijah.

¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, ^(BK)Ahab said to him, “Is this you, the cause of disaster to Israel?” ¹⁸ He said, “I have not brought disaster to Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because ^(BL)you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and ^(BM)you have followed the Baals. ¹⁹ Now then, send orders and gather to me all Israel at ^(BN)Mount Carmel, ^(BO)together with 450 prophets of Baal and four hundred prophets of ^[aq](BP)the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

God or Baal on Mount Carmel

²⁰ So Ahab sent orders among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel. ²¹ Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “^(BQ)How long are you going to ^[ar]struggle with the two choices? ^(BR)If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him so much as a word. ²² Then Elijah said to the people, “I ^(BS)alone am left as a prophet of the Lord, while Baal’s prophets are ^(BT)450 men. ²³ Now have them give us two oxen; and have them choose the one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. ²⁴ Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and ^(BU)the God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people replied, “^[as]That is a good idea.”

²⁵ So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose the one ox for yourselves and prepare it first, since there are many of you, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under the ox.” ²⁶ Then they took the ox which ^[at]was given them and they prepared it, and they called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was ^(BV)no voice and no one answered. And they ^[au]limped about the altar which ^[av]they had made. ²⁷ And at noon Elijah ridiculed them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, since he is a god; undoubtedly he is attending to business, or is on the way, or is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep, and will awaken.” ²⁸ So they cried out with a loud voice, and ^(BW)cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until blood gushed out on them. ²⁹ When midday was past, they raved ^(BX)until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and ^[aw]no one paid attention.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come forward to me.” So all the people came forward to him. And ^(BY)he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. ³¹ Then Elijah took twelve stones, corresponding to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “^(BZ)Israel shall be your name.” ³² And with the stones he built an altar in ^(CA)the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two ^[ax]measures of seed. ^33 (CB)Then he laid out the wood, and he cut the ox in pieces and placed it on the wood. ³⁴ And he said, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” And he said, “Do it a second time,” so they did it a second time. Then he said, “Do it a third time,” so they did it a third time. ³⁵ The water flowed around the altar, and he also filled the trench with water.

Elijah’s Prayer

³⁶ Then ^(CC)at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached and said, “^(CD)Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that ^(CE)You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant, and that ^(CF)I have done all these things at Your word. ³⁷ Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that You, Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back.” ³⁸ Then the ^(CG)fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood, and the stones and the dust; and it licked up the water that was in the trench. ³⁹ When all the people saw this, they fell on their faces; and they said, “^(CH)The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God!” ⁴⁰ Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to ^(CI)the brook Kishon, ^(CJ)and slaughtered them there.

⁴¹ Now Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower.” ⁴² So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah went up to the top of ^(CK)Carmel; and he ^(CL)bent down to the earth and put his face between his knees. ⁴³ And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked, but he said, “There is nothing.” Yet Elijah said, “Go back” seven times. ⁴⁴ And when he returned the seventh time, he said, “Behold, ^(CM)a cloud as small as a person’s hand is coming up from the sea.” And Elijah said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Harness your chariot horses and go down, so that the heavy shower does not stop you.’” ⁴⁵ Meanwhile the sky became dark with clouds and wind came up, and there was a heavy shower. And Ahab rode and went to ^(CN)Jezreel. ⁴⁶ Then ^(CO)the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and ^(CP)he ^[ay]belted his cloak around his waist and ^[az]outran Ahab ^[ba]to Jezreel.