Beginning

Elijah and Obadiah

18 When there had been no rain for three years, the Lord told Elijah, ‘Go and meet King Ahab. After that, I will send rain to make the ground wet again.’ ² So Elijah went to meet Ahab.

At that time, the famine in Samaria was very bad. ³ King Ahab told his officer Obadiah to come and meet him. Obadiah had authority over the king's palace.

Obadiah obeyed the Lord very faithfully.^{[a] 4} At one time, Ahab's wife Jezebel was killing many of the Lord's prophets. While she was doing this, Obadiah had kept 100 prophets safe. He had hidden them in two caves, with 50 prophets in each cave. He had also given them food and water.

⁵ Now Ahab said to Obadiah, ‘Go through all the land to where there are valleys and springs of water. See if we can find some grass to feed the horses and mules. Then we will not have to kill our animals.’ ⁶ So Ahab and Obadiah went to different parts of the country. Ahab went in one direction and Obadiah went in another direction.

⁷ While Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized Elijah. He bent his body down towards the ground in front of Elijah. Obadiah said, ‘Is it really you, my master, Elijah?’ ⁸ Elijah replied. ‘Yes! Now go and tell your master that Elijah is here again.’ ⁹ Obadiah said, ‘Why are you sending me to my death? What have I done to hurt you? Ahab will certainly kill me if I tell him you are here! ¹⁰ As surely as the Lord your God lives, my master, King Ahab, has sent people everywhere to look for you. He has looked in every nation and every kingdom. When they say, “Elijah is not here!” he makes them promise that they are speaking the truth. ¹¹ But now you are telling me to go to my master. You want me to say, “Elijah is here!” ¹² When I leave you, I do not know where the Lord's Spirit will take you. I may not be able to find you again. Then if I tell Ahab that I have seen you, he still will not find you. So he will kill me.

But I have served the Lord faithfully since I was a young man. ¹³ You know, sir, about what I did when Jezebel was killing the Lord's prophets. I hid 100 prophets in two caves. I put 50 prophets in each cave. I gave them food and water. ¹⁴ But now you tell me to go to my master and say, “Elijah is here!” I know that he will kill me!’

¹⁵ Elijah said, ‘I serve the Lord Almighty. As surely as he lives, I promise that I will meet with King Ahab today.’

Elijah and Baal's prophets

¹⁶ So Obadiah went to Ahab. He told Ahab where Elijah was. So King Ahab went to meet Elijah. ¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, ‘Is that really you, the man who brings trouble to Israel?’ ¹⁸ Elijah replied, ‘I have not brought trouble to Israel. But you and your father's family have done that. You have refused to obey the Lord's commands. Instead, you have worshipped the false gods of Baal. ¹⁹ Now, tell people from all over Israel to come and meet me. They must meet me on Mount Carmel. Also, bring the 450 prophets who serve Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah that Jezebel provides with food.’

²⁰ So Ahab sent men to take that message to all the Israelites. He brought the prophets to meet together at Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah stood up in front of the people and he said, ‘You must now decide who to worship! If the Lord is the true God, worship him. But if Baal is God, worship him.’ But the people said nothing.

²² Then Elijah said to them, ‘I am the only prophet of the Lord who is still here. Baal has 450 prophets here.^{[b] 23} Now fetch two bulls for us. Baal's prophets can choose one bull for themselves. Then they must cut it into pieces. They must put the pieces on the wood on the altar. But they must not light the fire. After that, I will prepare the other bull and I will put it on the wood. But I will not light the fire. ²⁴ Then, you pray to your god, and I will pray to the Lord. The god who answers and who sends fire to light the wood, he is the true God!’ All the people agreed that this was a good idea.

²⁵ Elijah said to Baal's prophets, ‘There are many of you, so choose one of the bulls and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but do not light the fire.’ ²⁶ So Baal's prophets took a bull as Elijah had told them. They prepared it and they put it on the altar that they had made. Then they prayed to Baal all the time, from morning until noon. They shouted, ‘Baal, answer us!’ But there was no voice that answered them. They jumped and they danced around the altar. ²⁷ At noon, Elijah began to laugh at them. ‘Shout louder!’ he said. ‘He is a god, isn't he? Maybe he is thinking about something else! Or has he left the room for a moment? Maybe he has gone away from home on a journey. Or perhaps he is asleep and you need to wake him up!’

²⁸ So Baal's prophets shouted louder. They cut themselves with swords and knives, as their customs taught them to do. Soon, there was blood all over them. ²⁹ They continued to shout and dance all the afternoon, until the time of the evening offering. But there was no voice to reply. There was no answer at all.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, ‘Come nearer to me.’ When they came, Elijah mended the Lord's altar that had broken into pieces. ³¹ Elijah picked up 12 stones, one for each of the tribes that were Jacob's descendants. Jacob was the man that the Lord had given the new name ‘Israel’. ³² Elijah used the 12 stones to build an altar that would give honour to the Lord. He dug a hole in the ground all around it. The hole was big enough to contain 15 litres of seeds. ³³ Then he put wood on the altar. He cut the bull into pieces and he put the pieces on top of the wood. Then he said to the people, ‘Fill four large jars with water. Pour the water all over the offering and the wood.’ ³⁴ After they did that, Elijah told them, ‘Do it again!’ So they did it again. Then he told them, ‘Do it a third time!’ So they did it for the third time. ³⁵ The water poured down all the sides of the altar. It filled the hole that was around the altar.

³⁶ The time came for the evening offering. Then God's prophet Elijah came to the front of the altar. He prayed, ‘Lord, you are the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. Show people clearly today that you are the God who rules over Israel. Show that I am your servant. Show that I have done all these things because you commanded me to do them. ³⁷ Please answer me, Lord! Answer me so that these people will know that you, Lord, are the true God. They will know that you have caused them to turn back to serve you again.’

³⁸ Then the Lord sent fire down from above. It burned the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the dirt. It made all the water in the hole around the altar disappear! ³⁹ When all the people saw this, they threw themselves down on the ground. They shouted, ‘The Lord is the true God! Yes, the Lord is God!’ ⁴⁰ Then Elijah said, ‘Take hold of Baal's prophets! Do not let any of them run away!’ So they caught them. Then Elijah took the prophets down to the Kishon Valley. There, he punished them with death.

Elijah waits for rain

⁴¹ Then Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go now and have some food to eat. Go quickly, because there is the sound of heavy rain that is coming.’ ⁴² So Ahab went away to eat and to drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel. He bent low down towards the ground. He put his face between his knees. ⁴³ He said to his servant, ‘Go up and look towards the sea.’ So his servant did that. He said to Elijah, ‘There is nothing to see there.’ Elijah told his servant seven times, ‘Go back and look again.’ ⁴⁴ The seventh time, the servant said, ‘I can see a small cloud above the sea that is coming this way. It is only as big as a man's hand.’^[c] So Elijah said, ‘Go and tell Ahab, “Prepare your chariot now! Go back down quickly before the rain stops you.” ’ ⁴⁵ As Elijah said this, the sky became very dark with black clouds. The wind started to blow and there was a heavy storm of rain.

King Ahab rode away towards Jezreel. ⁴⁶ Then the Lord gave Elijah special power. Elijah tied his robe into his belt and he ran all the way to Jezreel. Ahab followed him.

Elijah runs away

19 King Ahab told Jezebel about everything that Elijah had done. He told her how Elijah had killed all Baal's prophets with a sword. ² So Jezebel sent someone with this message to Elijah: ‘By this time tomorrow, I will make sure that you are dead, the same as Baal's prophets! If I do not do that, I pray that the gods will kill me instead.’

³ Elijah became very afraid. He ran away to save his life. He arrived at Beersheba in Judah.^[d] He left his servant there. ⁴ Then Elijah went into the desert by himself. He travelled for about a day. He found a small tree there and he sat down under it. He prayed that he might die. He said, ‘Lord, I have had enough trouble! Take my life from me. It is no better for me here than to be with my dead ancestors.’ ⁵ Then he lay down under the tree and he slept. Suddenly, an angel came and touched him. The angel said, ‘Get up and eat something.’ ⁶ When Elijah looked, he saw some bread near his head. Someone had baked it on a fire. There was also a jar of water. So he ate the bread and he drank the water. Then he lay down again to sleep. ⁷ The angel of the Lord came back a second time. He touched Elijah and he said, ‘Get up and eat more food. Then you will be strong enough to go on a long journey.’ ⁸ So Elijah got up. He ate the food and he drank the water. The meal made him strong enough to travel for 40 days and 40 nights. He travelled to Sinai, the mountain of God.^[e]

The Lord appears to Elijah

⁹ Elijah went into a cave on Sinai mountain and he stayed there all night. Suddenly, the Lord spoke to Elijah. He asked Elijah, ‘Elijah, why have you come here?’ ¹⁰ Elijah replied, ‘The Israelites have turned away from the covenant that you made with them. They have destroyed your altars.^[f] They have killed your prophets with swords. But I have always served the Lord God Almighty faithfully. Now I am the only prophet that is still alive and they are trying to kill me too.’ ¹¹ The Lord said, ‘Go out from the cave and stand on the mountain, in front of me. I, the Lord, will pass in front of you.’

Then a very strong wind broke the mountain apart. It broke the rocks into pieces as the Lord came near. But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake, there was a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a very quiet voice. ¹³ When Elijah heard that, he covered his face with his robe. He went out and he stood at the entrance of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘Elijah, why have you come here?’^{[g] 14} Elijah said, ‘The Israelites have turned away from the covenant that you made with them. They have destroyed your altars. They have killed your prophets with swords. But I have always served the Lord God Almighty faithfully. Now I am the only prophet that is still alive and they are trying to kill me too.’

¹⁵ The Lord said to Elijah, ‘Go back again along the way that you came. Go to the desert which is near Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to make him king of Syria. ¹⁶ You must also anoint Nimshi's grandson Jehu to make him king of Israel. Then anoint Shapat's son Elisha from Abel Meholah to be my prophet after you. ¹⁷ Jehu's army will kill anyone that Hazael's army does not kill. Then Elisha will kill anyone who escapes from Jehu. ¹⁸ But remember this: I still have 7,000 people in Israel who have not worshipped Baal. They have not kissed his idols.’

Elisha becomes Elijah's servant

¹⁹ Elijah went away from Sinai. He found Shaphat's son, Elisha. Elisha was ploughing a field with 12 pairs of oxen. Elisha himself was using the 12th pair of oxen to plough. Elijah went to Elisha and he threw his robe over him.^{[h] 20} So Elisha left his oxen in the field and he ran after Elijah.

Elisha said, ‘Let me go home first to kiss my father and my mother and say “goodbye”. Then I will come with you.’ Elijah replied, ‘Yes, go back home. But do not forget about what I have done to you.’

²¹ So Elisha went back to his field. He took his pair of oxen and he killed them as a sacrifice. He burned wood from the plough to cook the meat. He gave the meat to the people who were there and they ate it. Then he left home to go with Elijah and to become his helper.

Ben-Hadad attacks Samaria

20 Ben-Hadad was the king of Syria.^[i] He got all his army together. 32 other kings with their horses and chariots joined with him. He went to attack the city of Samaria. He put his army all around it and then he attacked it. ² He sent men to take a message to Ahab, the king of Israel, who was in the city. ³ The message said: ‘This message is from King Ben-Hadad. He says, “Your silver and your gold now belong to me. Your best wives and your strongest children will also be mine.” ’

⁴ The king of Israel replied, ‘My master, the king, I agree with what you have said. I, and everything that I have, belongs to you.’

⁵ Ben-Hadad's men then took another message to Ahab. They said to him, ‘This is what Ben-Hadad says: “I already told you that you must give me your silver, your gold, your wives and your children. ⁶ At this time tomorrow, I will send my officers to look for things in your palace. They will also look in the houses of your officers. They will take away everything that is valuable.” ’

⁷ Then King Ahab told all the leaders of Israel to come to him. He said to them, ‘See what this man is doing! He wants to cause trouble! He asked me to give him my wives, my children, my silver and my gold. And I did not refuse to do it.’ ⁸ The leaders and the people answered King Ahab, ‘Do not listen to that man. Do not agree to do what he is asking for.’

⁹ So King Ahab said to the men who brought the messages from King Ben-Hadad, ‘Say this to my master, the king of Syria: “I agree to do everything that you asked for the first time. But I will not let you take the other things that you want.” ’

So the men took Ahab's answer back to Ben-Hadad. ¹⁰ Then Ben-Hadad sent men with another message to Ahab. He said, ‘I promise that my soldiers will completely destroy Samaria! There will be nothing left! There will not even be enough dirt to fill the hands of each of my soldiers. I pray that the gods will punish me very much if that does not happen!’ ¹¹ The king of Israel replied, ‘Tell King Ben-Hadad, “Do not boast when you are preparing for a battle. Wait until the battle has finished and you know that you have won.” ’

¹² When Ben-Hadad received Ahab's message, he and the other kings were drinking wine in their tents. Ben-Hadad told his officers, ‘Prepare to attack!’ So they prepared to attack the city of Samaria.

The Lord rescues Israel

¹³ Then a prophet came to Ahab, the king of Israel. He said, ‘The Lord says this to you: “Look at Ben-Hadad's great army! Today I will put them under your power. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’ ¹⁴ King Ahab asked, ‘But who will fight this battle?’ The prophet answered, ‘This is what the Lord says: “The young soldiers who are under the authority of each region's officer will do it.” ’ Then Ahab asked, ‘Who will lead them into the battle?’ The prophet answered, ‘You will do that.’

¹⁵ So Ahab brought together the young soldiers of each region. There were 232 of them. Then he brought together the whole Israelite army. There were 7,000 of them.

¹⁶ The soldiers marched out of Samaria at noon. Ben-Hadad and the 32 other kings were still drinking in their tents. They were drunk. ¹⁷ The young soldiers of each region's officers went in front of the Israelite army.

Ben-Hadad had sent men out to watch the Israelites. They told him, ‘Men are marching out from Samaria.’ ¹⁸ Ben-Hadad commanded, ‘If they are coming to make peace with me, catch them alive. If they have come out to fight a battle, do the same thing.’

¹⁹ The Israelites marched out of the city as the young soldiers led the whole army. ²⁰ Each of the Israelite soldiers killed one of the enemy's soldiers. Then the Syrian soldiers ran away as the Israelites chased them. Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, rode away on his horse and he escaped. Some of his soldiers who rode on horses went with him. ²¹ Then the king of Israel came out of the city and he attacked the Syrian horses and chariots. He destroyed them and he won the battle against the Syrian army.

²² After the battle, the prophet came to the king of Israel again. He said to him, ‘Now go and make your army strong. Decide what you need to do. Do this, because next spring the king of Syria will attack you again.’

²³ At the same time, some of the king of Syria's officers said to him, ‘The gods of the Israelites are gods who live in the hills. That is why the Israelites were too strong for us. But if we fight them on the lower ground, we will surely be stronger than them. ²⁴ You should do this: Remove all the other kings. Put your own officers to lead the army instead. ²⁵ Bring together enough men to make an army as big as the one that lost the battle. There must be the same number of horses and chariots. Then we will fight the Israelites on the low ground. If we do that, we will surely be stronger than them.’ Ben-Hadad agreed with them. He did what they had suggested.

²⁶ The next spring, King Ben-Hadad brought together the men for his army. The Syrian army marched to Aphek to fight against the Israelites. ²⁷ King Ahab brought together the Israelite army and he gave them food and weapons. Then they marched out to fight against the Syrian army. The Israelite soldiers stood there in two groups. They looked like two small groups of goats! The Syrian soldiers were so many that they covered all the land around.

²⁸ God's servant, the prophet, went to the king of Israel. He said to the king, ‘This is what the Lord says: “The Syrians think that the Lord is a god who lives only in the hills. They think that he has no authority in the valleys. But I will give you power over all their great army. Then you will know that I am the Lord” ’

²⁹ For seven days, the two armies stayed in their camps where they could see each other. On the seventh day, the battle started. The Israelites killed 100,000 Syrian soldiers on that one day. ³⁰ The other soldiers ran back to Aphek. When they went into the city, the city wall fell on 27,000 of them. King Ben-Hadad also ran into the city. He hid in a room at the back of a house.

³¹ Some of Ben-Hadad's officers said to him, ‘We have heard that the family of kings who rule Israel are kind men. We should show that we are sorry. We will tie sackcloth around our bodies. We will put ropes around our heads. Then maybe King Ahab will let you live.’ ³² So they tied sackcloth around themselves. They put ropes around their heads.^[j] They went to the king of Israel and they said, ‘Your servant Ben-Hadad says, “Please let me live.” ’ King Ahab asked, ‘Is Ben-Hadad still alive? He is like my own brother.’^{[k] 33} When Ben-Hadad's men heard this, they thought that it was a friendly answer. So they quickly agreed, ‘Yes! Ben-Hadad is like your own brother.’ King Ahab said, ‘Go and fetch him.’

So Ben-Hadad came out from Aphek city. Ahab took him up into his chariot. ³⁴ Ben-Hadad said, ‘I will give back to you the cities that my father took from your father. Your traders can have their own markets in Damascus, as my father had in Samaria.’ Ahab answered, ‘If you do that, I will agree to let you go as a free man.’ So King Ahab made an agreement with King Ben-Hadad. Then he let him go home.

A prophet warns King Ahab

³⁵ At this time, the Lord gave a message to a prophet who belonged to a group of prophets. He told the prophet to say to one of his friends, ‘Hit me with your stick.’ But his friend refused to do it.^{[l] 36} So the prophet said to him, ‘You have not obeyed the Lord's command. Because of that, a lion will kill you as soon as you leave here.’ After the man left the prophet, a lion attacked him and it killed him.

³⁷ Then the prophet found another man. He said to him, ‘Please hit me!’ So the man hit him. He hurt the prophet very much. ³⁸ Then the prophet went and he stood beside the road. He was waiting for king Ahab to come. He tied a cloth over his eyes so that the king would not recognize him.

³⁹ When the king came along the road, the prophet shouted to him, ‘Please sir, I went to fight in the middle of the battle. Then someone brought an enemy soldier to me as a prisoner. He said to me, “Keep this prisoner safe. If he escapes for any reason, you will die! To save your life, you will have to pay 3,000 silver coins.” ⁴⁰ But I had other things to do, sir. While I was doing them, the prisoner escaped.’

King Ahab replied, ‘What you have just said shows that you deserve your punishment.’

⁴¹ Then the prophet quickly took away the cloth that covered his eyes. The king recognized that the man was one of the prophets. ⁴² The prophet said to the king, ‘This is what the Lord says to you: “I decided that a man should die, but you have let him go free. So you must pay for his life with your life. Your people will receive the trouble that his people deserved.” ’

⁴³ So King Ahab of Israel went home to his palace in Samaria. He was angry and upset.