Yahweh or Baal on Mount Carmel

²⁰ So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. ²¹ And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “^(A)How long will you be limping between two opinions? ^(B)If Yahweh is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word. ²² Then Elijah said to the people, “I ^(C)alone am left a prophet of Yahweh, but Baal’s prophets are ^(D)450 men. ²³ Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but place no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and put it on the wood, and I will not place fire under it. ²⁴ Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh, and ^(E)the God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people answered and said, “^[a]That is a good word.”

²⁵ So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but place no fire under it.” ²⁶ Then they took the ox which ^[b]was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, “O Baal, answer us.” But there was ^(F)no voice and no one answered. And they ^[c]limped about the altar which ^[d]they had made. ²⁷ Now it happened at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or relieving himself, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.” ²⁸ So they cried with a loud voice and ^(G)gashed themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. ²⁹ Now it happened when noon had passed, that they prophesied ^(H)until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no ^[e]one paid attention.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And ^(I)he repaired the altar of Yahweh which had been pulled down. ³¹ Then Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Yahweh had come, saying, “^(J)Israel shall be your name.” ³² And with the stones he built an altar in ^(K)the name of Yahweh, and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two ^[f]seahs of seed. ^33 (L)Then he arranged the wood and cut the ox in pieces and placed it on the wood. ³⁴ And he said, “Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” And he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. ³⁵ And the water flowed around the altar and he also filled the trench with water.

Yahweh Answers, He Is God

^36 (M)Now it happened at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “^(N)O Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that ^(O)You are God in Israel and that I am Your slave and ^(P)I have done all these things at Your word. ³⁷ Answer me, O Yahweh, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Yahweh, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.” ³⁸ Then the ^(Q)fire of Yahweh fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. ³⁹ And all the people saw it and fell on their faces and said, “^(R)Yahweh, He is God; Yahweh, 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 ^(S)the brook Kishon, ^(T)and slaughtered them there.