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.” ² So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.

Now the famine was severe^(D) in Samaria, ³ and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, his palace administrator.^(E) (Obadiah was a devout believer^(F) in the Lord. ⁴ While Jezebel^(G) was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden^(H) them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied^(I) them with food and water.) ⁵ Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs^(J) and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals.”^{(K) 6} So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another.

⁷ As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized^(L) him, bowed down to the ground, and said, “Is it really you, my lord Elijah?”

⁸ “Yes,” he replied. “Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”

⁹ “What have I done wrong,” asked Obadiah, “that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? ¹⁰ As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look^(M) for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you. ¹¹ But now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ ¹² I don’t know where the Spirit^(N) of the Lord may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the Lord since my youth. ¹³ Haven’t you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord? I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. ¹⁴ And now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ He will kill me!”

¹⁵ Elijah said, “As the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present^(O) 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^(P) of Israel?”

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

²⁰ So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.^{(V) 21} Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver^(W) between two opinions? If the Lord^(X) 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,^(Y) but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.^{(Z) 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^(AA) on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord.^(AB) The god who answers by fire^(AC)—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^(AD) on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response;^(AE) 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.”^{(AF) 28} So they shouted louder and slashed^(AG) 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.^(AH) But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.^(AI)

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar^(AJ) 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.”^{(AK) 32} With the stones he built an altar in the name^(AL) of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs^[a] of seed. ³³ He arranged^(AM) 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^(AN) of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham,^(AO) Isaac and Israel, let it be known^(AP) today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.^{(AQ) 37} Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know^(AR) that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

³⁸ Then the fire^(AS) 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^(AT) and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”^(AU)

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^(AV) and slaughtered^(AW) there.

⁴¹ And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” ⁴² So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.^(AX)

⁴³ “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.

“There is nothing there,” he said.

Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”

⁴⁴ The seventh time^(AY) the servant reported, “A cloud^(AZ) as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”

So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”

⁴⁵ Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain^(BA) started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.^{(BB) 46} The power^(BC) of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt,^(BD) he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

The Division of the Land

48 “These are the tribes, listed by name: At the northern frontier, Dan^(A) will have one portion; it will follow the Hethlon road^(B) to Lebo Hamath;^(C) Hazar Enan and the northern border of Damascus next to Hamath will be part of its border from the east side to the west side.

² “Asher^(D) will have one portion; it will border the territory of Dan from east to west.

³ “Naphtali^(E) will have one portion; it will border the territory of Asher from east to west.

⁴ “Manasseh^(F) will have one portion; it will border the territory of Naphtali from east to west.

⁵ “Ephraim^(G) will have one portion; it will border the territory of Manasseh^(H) from east to west.^(I)

⁶ “Reuben^(J) will have one portion; it will border the territory of Ephraim from east to west.

⁷ “Judah^(K) will have one portion; it will border the territory of Reuben from east to west.

⁸ “Bordering the territory of Judah from east to west will be the portion you are to present as a special gift. It will be 25,000 cubits^[a] wide, and its length from east to west will equal one of the tribal portions; the sanctuary will be in the center of it.^(L)

⁹ “The special portion you are to offer to the Lord will be 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits^[b] wide.^{(M) 10} This will be the sacred portion for the priests. It will be 25,000 cubits long on the north side, 10,000 cubits wide on the west side, 10,000 cubits wide on the east side and 25,000 cubits long on the south side. In the center of it will be the sanctuary of the Lord.^{(N) 11} This will be for the consecrated priests, the Zadokites,^(O) who were faithful in serving me^(P) and did not go astray as the Levites did when the Israelites went astray.^{(Q) 12} It will be a special gift to them from the sacred portion of the land, a most holy portion, bordering the territory of the Levites.

¹³ “Alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites will have an allotment 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide. Its total length will be 25,000 cubits and its width 10,000 cubits.^{(R) 14} They must not sell or exchange any of it. This is the best of the land and must not pass into other hands, because it is holy to the Lord.^(S)

¹⁵ “The remaining area, 5,000 cubits^[c] wide and 25,000 cubits long, will be for the common use of the city, for houses and for pastureland. The city will be in the center of it ¹⁶ and will have these measurements: the north side 4,500 cubits,^[d] the south side 4,500 cubits, the east side 4,500 cubits, and the west side 4,500 cubits.^{(T) 17} The pastureland for the city will be 250 cubits^[e] on the north, 250 cubits on the south, 250 cubits on the east, and 250 cubits on the west. ¹⁸ What remains of the area, bordering on the sacred portion and running the length of it, will be 10,000 cubits on the east side and 10,000 cubits on the west side. Its produce will supply food for the workers of the city.^{(U) 19} The workers from the city who farm it will come from all the tribes of Israel. ²⁰ The entire portion will be a square, 25,000 cubits on each side. As a special gift you will set aside the sacred portion, along with the property of the city.

²¹ “What remains on both sides of the area formed by the sacred portion and the property of the city will belong to the prince. It will extend eastward from the 25,000 cubits of the sacred portion to the eastern border, and westward from the 25,000 cubits to the western border. Both these areas running the length of the tribal portions will belong to the prince, and the sacred portion with the temple sanctuary will be in the center of them.^{(V) 22} So the property of the Levites and the property of the city will lie in the center of the area that belongs to the prince. The area belonging to the prince will lie between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin.

²³ “As for the rest of the tribes: Benjamin^(W) will have one portion; it will extend from the east side to the west side.

²⁴ “Simeon^(X) will have one portion; it will border the territory of Benjamin from east to west.

²⁵ “Issachar^(Y) will have one portion; it will border the territory of Simeon from east to west.

²⁶ “Zebulun^(Z) will have one portion; it will border the territory of Issachar from east to west.

²⁷ “Gad^(AA) will have one portion; it will border the territory of Zebulun from east to west.

²⁸ “The southern boundary of Gad will run south from Tamar^(AB) to the waters of Meribah Kadesh, then along the Wadi of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.^(AC)

²⁹ “This is the land you are to allot as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel, and these will be their portions,” declares the Sovereign Lord.^(AD)

The Gates of the New City

³⁰ “These will be the exits of the city: Beginning on the north side, which is 4,500 cubits long, ³¹ the gates of the city will be named after the tribes of Israel. The three gates on the north side will be the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah and the gate of Levi.

³² “On the east side, which is 4,500 cubits long, will be three gates: the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin and the gate of Dan.

³³ “On the south side, which measures 4,500 cubits, will be three gates: the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar and the gate of Zebulun.

³⁴ “On the west side, which is 4,500 cubits long, will be three gates: the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher and the gate of Naphtali.^(AE)

³⁵ “The distance all around will be 18,000 cubits.^[f]

“And the name of the city from that time on will be: