Elijah’s Message to Ahab

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

The famine was severe in Samaria.(D) Ahab called for Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace.(E) Obadiah was a man who greatly feared the Lord(F) and took a hundred prophets and hid them, fifty men to a cave, and provided them with food and water when Jezebel(G) slaughtered the Lord’s prophets.(H) Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go throughout the land to every spring and to every wadi. Perhaps we’ll find grass so we can keep the horses and mules alive and not have to destroy any cattle.”(I) They divided the land between them in order to cover it. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went the other way by himself.

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The Contest on Mount Carmel

18 Later on, in the third year of the drought, the Lord said to Elijah, “Go and present yourself to King Ahab. Tell him that I will soon send rain!” So Elijah went to appear before Ahab.

Meanwhile, the famine had become very severe in Samaria. So Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Obadiah was a devoted follower of the Lord. Once when Jezebel had tried to kill all the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had hidden 100 of them in two caves. He put fifty prophets in each cave and supplied them with food and water.) Ahab said to Obadiah, “We must check every spring and valley in the land to see if we can find enough grass to save at least some of my horses and mules.” So they divided the land between them. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

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