Beginning
Elijah Rebukes Ahab
18 Quite some time later—three years later!—this message from the Lord came to Elijah: “Go visit Ahab, and I’ll send some rain to the surface of the ground.” 2 So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab, right when the famine in Samaria was most severe.
3 Ahab called for Obadiah, his household supervisor. This man, who feared the Lord very much, 4 had taken 100 prophets and had hidden them by fifties in a cave, providing them with food and water when Jezebel was trying to destroy the Lord’s prophets.
5 Ahab had instructed Obadiah, “Go throughout the land to all of the water springs and to all of the valleys. Maybe we’ll find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive. Also, maybe we won’t have to kill some of our cattle.” 6 So they divided the land between them so they could conduct their survey. Ahab went off by himself in one direction and Obadiah went off by himself in the other.
7 While Obadiah was on the road, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him and bowed down with his face to the ground. “It’s you, isn’t it, my master Elijah?”
8 “I am,” he replied. “Go tell your master, ‘Look! Elijah!’”
9 But Obadiah replied, “What did I do wrong, that you would put me in a position where Ahab would execute me? 10 As surely as the Lord your God lives, there isn’t a nation or kingdom where my master hasn’t tried to find you. Whenever they would say ‘He isn’t here,’ he forced that kingdom or nation to swear that they hadn’t seen you. 11 But now you’re saying ‘Go tell your master, “Elijah is here!”’ 12 As soon as I’ve left you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you off to I don’t know where! Then when I go tell Ahab and he can’t find you, he’ll kill me, even though I have been your servant and have feared the Lord since I was young! 13 Hasn’t anyone told you, my master, what I did when Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets? I hid 100 of the Lord’s prophets by fifties in a cave and provided food and water for them. 14 Now you’re saying, ‘Go tell your master, “Elijah’s here!”’ He’s sure to kill me!”
15 But Elijah promised him, “As the Lord of the Heavenly Armies lives, in whose presence I stand, I will appear to Ahab today.”
16 So Obadiah went out to meet Ahab and reported to him. Then Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab asked him, “Is it really you, you destroyer of Israel?”
18 But Elijah[a] replied, “I’m no destroyer of Israel. But you and your ancestor’s household have been doing that, because you have abandoned the Lord’s commandments and have followed the Baals. 19 So go gather all of Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. Bring along 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah who are funded at Jezebel’s expense.”[b]
Elijah Defeats the Prophets of Baal
20 Ahab sent for the Israelis and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel, 21 where Elijah approached all the people and asked them, “How long will you keep hesitating[c] between both sides? If the Lord is God, go after him. If Baal, go after him.”
But the people didn’t say a word.
22 So Elijah told the people, “I’m the only one left over as a prophet of the Lord, am I? But Baal’s prophets number 450 men? 23 So let them provide two oxen. They can choose one ox for themselves. Cut it up, lay it on top of some wood, but don’t set fire to it. I will prepare the other ox and lay it on top of some wood, and I won’t set fire to it. 24 Then you can call on the name of your god, and I’ll call on the name of the Lord. Let the God who answers by fire be our God!”
“That’s a good idea!” all the people shouted.
25 So Elijah told the prophets of Baal, “Choose an ox for yourselves and you prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but don’t set fire to the offering.”
26 So they took the ox that was given to them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from early morning until noon. “Baal! Answer us!” they cried. But there was no response. Nobody answered. So they kept on dancing[d] around the altar that they had made.
27 Starting about noon, Elijah began to tease them:
“Shout louder!
“He’s a god, so maybe he’s busy.
“Maybe he’s relieving himself.
“Maybe he’s busy someplace.
“Maybe he’s taking a nap and somebody needs to wake him up.”
28 So the prophets of Baal[e] cried even louder and slashed themselves with swords and lances until their blood gushed out all over them, as was their custom. 29 They kept on raving right through midday and until it was time to offer the evening sacrifice, but there was still no response. Nobody answered, and nobody paid attention.
30 Eventually, Elijah told everybody, “Come here!” So everybody approached him, and he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been torn down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Jacob’s descendants, to whom the message from the Lord had come that “Israel is to be your name.” 32 So Elijah used the stones to build an altar to the name of the Lord. But then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold two measures[f] of seed. 33 Then he laid the wood in order, cut the bull into pieces, and laid them on top of the wood.
“Fill four pitchers with water,” he ordered. “Then pour them out on the burnt offering and the wood.”
34 “Do it a second time,” he ordered. So they did it a second time.
“Do it a third time,” he said. So they did it a third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and completely filled the trench.[g]
Elijah’s Prayer and God’s Answer by Fire
36 As the time for the evening offering arrived, Elijah the prophet approached and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I, your servant, have done all of this in obedience to your word. 37 Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people may know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning back their hearts again.”
38 Right then the Lord’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, the dust, and even the water that was in the trench! 39 When all the people saw what had happened, they fell flat on their faces and cried out “The Lord is God! The Lord is God!”
40 But Elijah said, “Arrest the prophets of Baal. Don’t let even one of them get away.” So the people[h] seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi[i] Kishon and executed them there.
The Rain Storm Ends the Drought
41 After this, Elijah told Ahab, “Get up and have something to eat and drink, because there’s the sound of a coming rainstorm.” 42 So Ahab got up to get something to eat and drink while Elijah went back up to the top of Mount[j] Carmel, where he bowed low to the ground and placed his face between his knees.
43 Then he told his young servant, “Go and look toward the sea.”
So he went and looked out to sea. “Nothing there,” he said.
But Elijah told him to go back seven times. 44 On the seventh look, he said, “Look! There’s a cloud, a small one, about the size of a man’s hand. It’s coming up out of the sea!”
“Get up and find Ahab!” Elijah[k] said. “Tell him, ‘Mount your chariot and ride down the mountain[l] so the storm doesn’t stop you.’”
45 A little while later, the sky turned black with storm clouds and winds, and there was a heavy shower. So Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 46 After Ahab had left,[m] the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah, and he tucked his mantle into his belt and outran Ahab in a race to the city gate of Jezreel.
Elijah Runs from Jezebel
19 Ahab complained to Jezebel about everything that Elijah had done, especially the part about him killing all the prophets of Baal with a sword. 2 Jezebel sent a messenger to tell Elijah, “May the gods do the same to me and even more if tomorrow about this time I haven’t made you like one of those prophets you had killed.”[n]
3 Elijah was terrified, so he got up and ran for his life to Beer-sheba, which is part of Judah, and left his servant there 4 and ran for a day’s journey deep into the wilderness. He found a juniper tree, sat down under it, and prayed that he could die. He asked God, “Enough! Lord! Take my life, because I’m not better than my ancestors!” 5 Then he lay down and went to sleep under the juniper tree. All of a sudden, there was an angel, who kept grabbing him and telling him, “Get up! Eat!”
6 So he looked around, and there near his head was a muffin sitting on top of some heated stones, along with a jar of water. Elijah ate and drank and then lay down again. 7 Later, the angel of the Lord came a second time, grabbed him, and said “Get up! Eat! The journey ahead[o] is too difficult for you!” 8 So Elijah[p] got up, ate and drank, and survived on that one meal for 40 days and nights as he set out on his journey to Horeb, God’s mountain.
Elijah Talks to God at Horeb
9 Elijah[q] arrived at a cave and stayed there. All of a sudden this message came from the Lord: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 “I’ve been very zealous for the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies,” he replied. “The Israelis have abandoned your covenant, demolished your altars, executed your prophets with swords, and I—that’s right, just me!—am the only one left. Now they’re seeking my life, to get rid of me!”
11 “Go out,” he responded, “and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord.” And there was the Lord, passing by! A tremendous, mighty windstorm was tearing at the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces in the presence of the Lord, but the Lord was not in the windstorm. After the wind there came an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake there came fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 As soon as Elijah heard it, he covered his face in his mantle, went outside, and stood at the entrance to the cave. And there a voice spoke to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 “I’ve been very zealous for the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies,” he replied. “The Israelis have abandoned your covenant, demolished your altars, executed your prophets with swords, and I—that’s right, just me!—am the only one left. Now they’re seeking my life, to get rid of me!”
15 The Lord replied to him, “Go! Return to Damascus, and when you get there, anoint Hazael as king over Aram, 16 anoint Nimshi’s son Jehu as king over Israel, and anoint Shaphat’s son Elisha from Abel-meholah as a prophet to replace you. 17 Whoever escapes from Hazael’s sword Jehu will execute, and whoever escapes from Jehu’s sword Elisha will put to death. 18 Nevertheless, I’ve reserved 7,000 in Israel who have neither bowed their knees to Baal nor kissed him.”
Elisha Chosen to Replace Elijah
19 Elijah left there and located Shaphat’s son Elisha, who was plowing, along with a total of[r] twelve pairs of oxen.[s] (He was plowing with the twelfth pair.) As Elijah passed by, he tossed his cloak at Elisha.[t] 20 He abandoned the oxen, ran off to follow Elijah, and asked him, “Please, let me kiss my mother and father good-bye, and then I’ll come after you.”
“Go back again,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”
21 So Elisha[u] turned back, took the pair of oxen, sacrificed them, boiled their flesh using the farm implements for fuel, and gave the food to the people with him.[v] Then he got up, followed Elijah, and became his servant.
Ahab Attacks the Arameans
20 A little while later, King Ben-hadad of Aram mustered an army of cavalry and chariots in a military confederacy with 32 kings, invaded Samaria, and set up siege encampments there. 2 Then he sent envoys to visit King Ahab of Israel and told him, “This is what Ben-hadad says: 3 ‘Your silver and gold belong to me. So do the most beautiful of your wives and children.’”
4 “Whatever you want, your majesty,” the king of Israel answered. “I belong to you, as does everything I own.”
5 After delivering Ahab’s answer,[w] the envoys returned with this message: “This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘I’ve sent my envoys to you to tell you that your silver, gold, wives, and children are to be given to me. 6 About this time tomorrow, I’ll send my servants to you, and they’ll search through your palace and your servants’ houses. Whatever is important to you will be seized[x] and taken away.’”
7 Then the king of Israel called together all of the elders of the land and told them, “Please note that this man is here looking for trouble. He sent a message to me, demanding my wives, my children, and my silver and gold, and I haven’t refused him.”
8 “Don’t listen to him,” all the elders and the people replied. “And don’t agree to his terms.”[y]
9 So he told Ben-hadad’s envoys, “Tell his majesty the king, ‘Everything that you asked for the first time I will do, but this thing I cannot do.’” So the envoys left to deliver Ahab’s response. They[z] returned a little while later.
10 Beh-hadad sent this message back: “May the gods do so to me, and more than that also, if the dust that remains of Samaria is enough to fill up a few handfuls for all of the armies at my disposal.”
11 But the king of Israel replied, “Tell him, ‘The one who is starting to strap on his battle armor should never brag like the one who is taking it off.’”
12 Ben-hadad received Ahab’s response[aa] while he was celebrating with his kings in the battle pavilions. “Sound ‘Battle Stations!’” he ordered, and the army began to prepare their attack.
God’s Prophets Rebuke Ahab
13 Right about then, a prophet approached King Ahab of Israel and told him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You see all of this great big army, do you? Well now, I’m going to deliver them all right into your hand, and you will learn that I am the Lord!’”
14 “By whom?” Ahab asked.
“This is what the Lord says,” the prophet replied. “‘By the young men who serve as officials within the provinces.’”
“Who is to begin the battle?” Ahab asked.
“You,” the prophet answered.
15 So Ahab[ab] gathered together 232 young men who served as officials within the provinces and then mustered 7,000 soldiers from among the Israelis. 16 They attacked at noon, just as Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the battle pavilions, along with the 32 kings who had joined him. 17 The young men who served as officials within the provinces led the charge, and somebody informed Ben-hadad, “Some men have come out from Samaria.”
18 “Take them alive, whether they’ve come in peace or not,” he ordered.
19 Meanwhile, as the young men who served as officials within the provinces left the city, their army followed after them. 20 Each man struck down his opponent, and the Arameans ran away with Israel in pursuit. King Ben-hadad of Aram escaped on horseback with the help of[ac] his cavalry. 21 The king of Israel went out and attacked the cavalry and chariots and killed the Arameans in a massive victory.[ad]
22 The prophet approached the king of Israel and told him, “Go replenish your forces and prepare for the future, because early this next year the king of Aram will attack you again.”
The Arameans are Defeated
23 Sure enough, the advisors to the king of Aram told him, “Their gods are mountain gods. That’s why they were stronger than we were. But when we fight them on the plains, we’re certain to be the stronger army! 24 So do this: remove the kings from command[ae] and replace them with captains. 25 Then replace the army that you lost, horse-for-horse and chariot-for-chariot. We’ll fight them on the plains, and we’re certain to be the stronger army.” Ben-hadad[af] listened to what they had to say and carried out their advice.
26 Early the next year, Ben-hadad mustered the Arameans and invaded Aphek in a battle against Israel. 27 The Israelis were mustered, equipped with provisions, and sent out to fight. The Israeli encampment looked like two little flocks of goats compared to how the Aramean encampments[ag] filled the countryside!
28 Right about then, a man of God approached and told the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans keep saying “The Lord is a mountain god, but isn’t a valley god,” I’m going to deliver this entire vast army right into your control, so you’ll learn that I really am the Lord.’” 29 So they remained in opposing camps for seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle commenced, and the Israelis killed 100,000 Aramean infantry troops in a single day. 30 The rest of the Aramean army retreated into Aphek, but the city wall collapsed on 27,000 soldiers who had taken shelter there. Ben-hadad himself ran away and hid inside a closet[ah] somewhere in the city.
31 “Look, now,” his advisors suggested, “we’ve heard that the Israeli kings are merciful. So let’s clothe ourselves with sackcloth, tie our hair back with ropes, and go out to the king of Israel. Maybe he’ll spare your life.” 32 So they put on some sackcloth, tied their hair back with ropes, and approached the king of Israel. “Your servant Ben-hadad says this,” they said. “Please let me live.”
“Is he still alive?” Ahab asked. “He’s my brother.”
33 Ben-hadad’s advisors,[ai] quickly analyzing the signs in what Ahab was saying, responded, “Yes, your brother Ben-hadad.”
“Go get him,” Ahab responded. So Ben-hadad came out to him, and Ahab took him up into his personal chariot.
34 Ben-hadad made this promise to Ahab: “I will restore the cities that my ancestors took from your ancestors. You’ll be able to build streets named after yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.”
“With this promise I will release you,” Ahab[aj] replied. So Ahab[ak] made a treaty with Ben-hadad[al] and let him go.
Ahab is Condemned
35 Right about then, one of the members of the guild[am] of prophets told another through a message from the Lord: “Please strike me!” But the man refused to do so, 36 so he told him, “Because you haven’t obeyed the Lord’s voice, as soon as you leave here, a lion will kill you.” As soon as the man left, a lion found him and killed him.
37 Later, he found another man and told him, “Please strike me!” So the man struck him and wounded him. 38 Then the prophet left and waited for the king to pass by, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes.
39 As the king was passing by, he cried out to the king and told him, “Your servant went out into the middle of the battle, and a soldier turned aside, brought a prisoner to me, and told me, ‘Guard this man. If he turns up missing for any reason at all, you’ll pay for it with your life or be fined one talent[an] of silver.’ 40 While your servant was busy here and there, the prisoner escaped.”
The king told him, “By your actions you’ve earned the proper judgment!”
41 Then the prophet quickly tore off his bandage, and the king of Israel recognized him as being one of the prophets. 42 He told the king,[ao] “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because you let the man whom I had dedicated to destruction go free, therefore your life is to be forfeited for his life, and your people for his people.’”
43 After hearing this, the king of Israel rode back to his palace in Samaria, frustrated and in a foul mood.
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