Chronological

Elijah Stops the Rain

17 Now Elijah was a prophet from the town of Tishbe in Gilead. Elijah said to King Ahab, “I serve the Lord, the God of Israel. As surely as the Lord lives, I tell you the truth. No rain or dew will fall during the next few years unless I command it.”

² Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: ³ “Leave this place. Go east and hide near Kerith Ravine. It is east of the Jordan River. ⁴ You may drink from the brook. And I have commanded ravens to bring you food there.” ⁵ So Elijah did what the Lord told him to do. He went to Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and lived there. ⁶ The birds brought Elijah bread and meat every morning and every evening. And he drank water from the brook.

⁷ After a while the brook dried up because there was no rain. ⁸ Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah, ⁹ “Go to Zarephath in Sidon. Live there. I have commanded a widow there to take care of you.”

¹⁰ So Elijah went to Zarephath. When he reached the town gate, he saw a widow there. She was gathering wood for a fire. Elijah asked her, “Would you bring me a little water in a cup? I would like to have a drink.” ¹¹ As she was going to get his water, Elijah said, “Please bring me a piece of bread, too.”

¹² The woman answered, “As surely as the Lord your God lives, I tell you the truth. I have no bread. I have only a handful of flour in a jar. And I have only a little olive oil in a jug. I came here to gather some wood. I will take it home and cook our last meal. My son and I will eat it and then die from hunger.”

¹³ Elijah said to her, “Don’t worry. Go home and cook your food as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread from the flour you have. Bring it to me. Then cook something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘That jar of flour will never become empty. The jug will always have oil in it. This will continue until the day the Lord sends rain to the land.’”

¹⁵ So the woman went home. And she did what Elijah told her to do. So Elijah, the woman and her son had enough food every day. ¹⁶ The jar of flour and the jug of oil were never empty. This happened just as the Lord, through Elijah, said it would.

Elijah Brings a Boy Back to Life

¹⁷ Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. He grew worse and worse. Finally he stopped breathing. ¹⁸ So the woman said to Elijah, “You are a man of God. What have you done to me? Did you come here to remind me of my sin? Did you come here to kill my son?”

¹⁹ Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” So Elijah took the boy from her and carried him upstairs. Elijah laid the boy on the bed in the room where he was staying. ²⁰ Then he prayed to the Lord. He said, “Lord my God, this widow is letting me stay in her house. Why have you done this terrible thing to her? Why have you caused her son to die?” ²¹ Then Elijah lay on top of the boy three times. Elijah prayed to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy live again!”

²² The Lord answered Elijah’s prayer. The boy began breathing again, and he was alive. ²³ Elijah carried the boy downstairs. He gave the boy to his mother and said, “See! Your son is alive!”

²⁴ The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know you really are a man from God. I know that the Lord truly speaks through you!”

Elijah and the Prophets of Baal

18 During the third year without rain, the Lord spoke his word to Elijah. The Lord said, “Go and meet King Ahab. I will soon send rain.” ² So Elijah went to meet Ahab.

By this time there was no food in Samaria. ³ So King Ahab sent for Obadiah. Obadiah was in charge of the king’s palace. (Obadiah was a true follower of the Lord. ⁴ One time Jezebel was killing all the Lord’s prophets. So Obadiah took 100 of them and hid them in two caves. He put 50 in one cave and 50 in another cave. And he brought them food and water.) ⁵ King Ahab said to Obadiah, “Let’s look at every spring and valley in the land. Maybe we can find enough grass to keep our horses and mules alive. Then we will not have to kill our animals.” ⁶ So each one chose a part of the country to search. Ahab went in one direction. Obadiah went in another direction.

⁷ While Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah knew who Elijah was. So he bowed down to the ground before Elijah. He said, “Elijah? Is it really you, master?”

⁸ Elijah answered, “Yes. Go tell your master the king that I am here.”

⁹ Then Obadiah said, “If I tell Ahab that, he will kill me! I have done nothing wrong that I should be killed! ¹⁰ As surely as the Lord your God lives, the king has looked everywhere for you! He has sent people to every country to look for you. If the ruler said you were not there, that was not enough. Ahab then forced the ruler to swear you could not be found in his country. ¹¹ Now you want me to go to my master and tell him, ‘Elijah is here’? ¹² The Spirit of the Lord may carry you to some other place after I leave. If I go tell King Ahab you are here, he will come. If he doesn’t find you, he will kill me! I have followed the Lord since I was a boy. ¹³ Haven’t you heard what I did? When Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets, I hid 100 of them. I put 50 prophets in one cave and 50 prophets in another cave. I brought them food and water. ¹⁴ Now you want me to go and tell the king you are here. He will kill me!”

¹⁵ Elijah answered, “I serve the Lord of heaven’s armies. As surely as the Lord lives, I will stand before Ahab today.”

¹⁶ So Obadiah went to Ahab and told him where Elijah was. Then Ahab went to meet Elijah.

¹⁷ When he saw Elijah, he said, “Is it you—the biggest troublemaker in Israel?”

¹⁸ Elijah answered, “I have not caused trouble in Israel. You and your father’s family have caused all this trouble. You have not obeyed the Lord’s commands. You have followed the Baals. ¹⁹ Now tell all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Also bring the 450 prophets of Baal there. And bring the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

²⁰ So Ahab called all the Israelites and those prophets to Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah stood before the people. He said, “How long will you try to serve both Baal and the Lord? If the Lord is the true God, follow him. But if Baal is the true God, follow him!”

But the people said nothing.

²² Elijah said, “I am the only prophet of the Lord here. But there are 450 prophets of Baal. ²³ So bring two bulls. Let the prophets of Baal choose one bull. Let them kill it and cut it into pieces. Then let them put the meat on the wood. But they are not to set fire to it. Then I will do the same with the other bull. And I will put it on the wood. But I will not set fire to it. ²⁴ You prophets of Baal, pray to your god. And I will pray to the Lord. The god who answers the prayer will set fire to his wood. He is the true God.”

All the people agreed that this was a good idea.

²⁵ Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “There are many of you. So you go first. Choose a bull and prepare it. Pray to your god, but don’t start the fire.”

²⁶ So they took the bull that was given to them and prepared it. They prayed to Baal from morning until noon. They shouted, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound. No one answered. They danced around the altar they had built.

²⁷ At noon Elijah began to make fun of them. He said, “Pray louder! If Baal really is a god, maybe he is thinking. Or maybe he is busy or traveling! Maybe he is sleeping so you will have to wake him!” ²⁸ So the prophets prayed louder. They cut themselves with swords and spears until their blood flowed. (This was the way they worshiped.) ²⁹ The afternoon passed, and the prophets continued to act wildly. They continued until it was time for the evening sacrifice. But no voice was heard. Baal did not answer. No one paid attention.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Now come to me.” So they gathered around him. Elijah rebuilt the altar of the Lord because it had been torn down. ³¹ He took 12 stones. He took 1 stone for each of the 12 tribes. These 12 tribes were named for the 12 sons of Jacob. (Jacob was the man the Lord had called Israel.) ³² Elijah used these stones to rebuild the altar in honor of the Lord. Then he dug a small ditch around it. It was big enough to hold about 13 quarts of seed. ³³ Elijah put the wood on the altar. He cut the bull into pieces and laid them on the wood. Then he said, “Fill four jars with water. Put the water on the meat and on the wood.”

³⁴ Then Elijah said, “Do it again.” And they did it again.

Then he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it the third time. ³⁵ So the water ran off of the altar and filled the ditch.

³⁶ It was time for the evening sacrifice. So the prophet Elijah went near the altar. He prayed, “Lord, you are the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. I ask you now to prove that you are the God of Israel. And prove that I am your servant. Show these people that you commanded me to do all these things. ³⁷ Lord, answer my prayer. Show these people that you, Lord, are God. Then the people will know that you are bringing them back to you.”

³⁸ Then fire from the Lord came down. It burned the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the ground around the altar. It also dried up the water in the ditch. ³⁹ When all the people saw this, they fell down to the ground. They cried, “The Lord is God! The Lord is God!”

⁴⁰ Then Elijah said, “Capture the prophets of Baal! Don’t let any of them run away!” So the people captured all the prophets. Then Elijah led them down to Kishon Valley. There he killed all the prophets.

The Rain Comes Again

⁴¹ Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Now, go, eat and drink. A heavy rain is coming.” ⁴² So King Ahab went to eat and drink. At the same time Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel. There he bent down to the ground with his head between his knees.

⁴³ Then Elijah said to his servant, “Go and look toward the sea.”

The servant went and looked. He said, “I see nothing.”

Elijah told him to go and look again. This happened seven times. ⁴⁴ The seventh time, the servant said, “I see a small cloud. It’s the size of a man’s fist. It’s coming from the sea.”

Elijah told the servant, “Go to Ahab. Tell him to get his chariot ready and to go home now. If he doesn’t leave now, the rain will stop him.”

⁴⁵ After a short time the sky was covered with dark clouds. The wind began to blow. Then a heavy rain began to fall. Ahab got in his chariot and started back to Jezreel. ⁴⁶ The Lord gave his power to Elijah. Elijah tightened his clothes around him. Then he ran ahead of King Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

Elijah at Mount Sinai

19 King Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done. Ahab told her how Elijah had killed all the prophets with a sword. ² So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah. Jezebel said, “By this time tomorrow I will kill you. I will kill you as you killed those prophets. If I don’t succeed, may the gods punish me terribly.”

³ When Elijah heard this, he was afraid. So he ran away to save his life. He took his servant with him. When they came to Beersheba in Judah, Elijah left his servant there. ⁴ Then Elijah walked for a whole day into the desert. He sat down under a bush and asked to die. Elijah prayed, “I have had enough, Lord. Let me die. I am no better than my ancestors.” ⁵ Then Elijah lay down under the tree and slept.

Suddenly an angel came to him and touched him. The angel said, “Get up and eat.” ⁶ Elijah saw near his head a loaf baked over coals and a jar of water. So he ate and drank. Then he went back to sleep.

⁷ Later the Lord’s angel came to him a second time. The angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat. If you don’t, the journey will be too hard for you.” ⁸ So Elijah got up and ate and drank. The food made him strong enough to walk for 40 days and nights. He walked to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. ⁹ There Elijah went into a cave and stayed all night.

Then the Lord spoke his word to him: “Elijah! Why are you here?”

¹⁰ Elijah answered, “Lord, God of heaven’s armies, I have always served you the best I could. But the people of Israel have broken their agreement with you. They have destroyed your altars. They have killed your prophets with swords. I am the only prophet left. And now they are trying to kill me, too!”

¹¹ Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go. Stand in front of me on the mountain. I will pass by you.” Then a very strong wind blew. It caused the mountains to break apart. It broke apart large rocks in front of the Lord. 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 quiet, gentle voice. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his coat. He went out and stood at the entrance to the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “Elijah! Why are you here?”

¹⁴ Elijah answered, “Lord, God of heaven’s armies, I have always served you the best I could. But the people of Israel have broken their agreement with you. They have destroyed your altars. They have killed your prophets with swords. I am the only prophet left. And now they are trying to kill me, too.”

¹⁵ The Lord said to him, “Go back on the road that leads to the desert around Damascus. Enter that city. There pour olive oil on Hazael to make him king over Aram. ¹⁶ Then pour oil on Jehu son of Nimshi to make him king over Israel. Next, pour oil on Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah. He will be a prophet in your place. ¹⁷ Jehu will kill anyone who escapes from Hazael’s sword. And Elisha will kill anyone who escapes from Jehu’s sword. ¹⁸ But I have left 7,000 people living in Israel. Those 7,000 have never bowed down before Baal. Their mouths have never kissed his idol.”

Elisha Becomes a Prophet

¹⁹ So Elijah left there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing a field with a team of oxen. There were 11 teams ahead of him. Elisha was plowing with the twelfth team of oxen. Elijah came up to Elisha. Elijah took off his coat and put it on Elisha. ²⁰ Then Elisha left his oxen and ran to follow Elijah. Elisha said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother good-bye. Then I will go with you.”

Elijah answered, “That is fine. Go back. I won’t stop you.”

²¹ So Elisha went back. He took his pair of oxen and killed them. He used the wooden yoke for the fire. Then he cooked the meat and gave it to the people. And they ate it. Then Elisha went and followed Elijah and became his helper.