1 Kings 18

1 And after many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go and show yourself to Ahab, and I will give rain on the face of the earth.” 2 And Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. And the famine was severe in Samaria.

3 And Ahab called Obadiah, the steward of his household. Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly: [a] 4 when Jezebel was striking down the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred men, prophets, and hid them fifty to a cave, and kept them alive on bread and water. 5 And Ahab said to Obadiah, “Come, let us go through the land, to the springs of water and to the streams. Perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and the mules alive, and they will not be destroyed from among the cattle.” [b] 6 And they divided the way between them to go through it. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

7 And Obadiah was on the way alone, and Elijah came alone to meet him. And Obadiah hurried and fell on his face and said, “Is it really you, my lord Elijah?” 8 And Elijah said to him, “It is. Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’” 9 And Obadiah said, “What sin have I done, that you are giving your servant into Ahab’s hand to put me to death? 10 As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to look for you. And when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he burned that kingdom and its lands, because he had not found you. 11 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, Elijah is here.’ 12 And it will happen that when I have gone from you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you off to a land I do not know, and I will come in to report to Ahab, and he will kill me — and your servant has feared the Lord from his youth. 13 Has it not been told to you, my lord, what I did when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord — that I hid a hundred men of the prophets of the Lord, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now you say to me, ‘Go, tell your lord, Elijah is here’ — and he will kill me!” 15 And Elijah said, “As the Lord of armies lives, before whom I stand, today I will show myself to him.” [c] 16 And Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him. And Ahab ran out and went to meet Elijah.

17 And when Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to Elijah, “Is it you, the one who is leading Israel astray?” 18 And Elijah said, “I am not leading Israel astray. It is you and your father’s house, in that you have left the Lord your God, and you have gone after the Baals. [d] 19 And now send and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel — and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Shame, and the four hundred prophets of the sacred groves, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” [e] 20 And Ahab sent through all Israel and gathered all the prophets to Mount Carmel.

21 And Elijah came up to them all, and Elijah said to them, “How long will you keep limping on both knees? If the Lord is God, go after him; but if it is Baal, go after him.” And the people answered him not a word. [g] 22 And Elijah said to the people, “I am left, the only prophet of the Lord, and the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men, and the prophets of the sacred grove four hundred. 23 Let them give us two oxen. Let them choose one for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood and put no fire on it; and I will prepare the other ox and put no fire on it. 24 And you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord my God; and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered and said, “The word you have spoken is good.”

25 And Elijah said to the prophets of Shame, “Choose one calf for yourselves and prepare it first, since you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put on no fire.” 26 And they took the calf and prepared it, and they called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, and said, “Hear us, Baal, hear us!” And there was no voice, and there was no one listening. And they ran back and forth on the altar they had made.

27 And it was noon, and Elijah the Tishbite mocked them and said, “Call with a loud voice, since he is a god. He is deep in talk with himself, or he is busy with some matter, or perhaps he is asleep and will get up.” [h] 28 And they called with a loud voice, and cut themselves, as their custom was, with knives and lances, until the blood ran down over them. 29 And they went on prophesying until the afternoon had passed. And the time came for the sacrifice to go up, and there was no voice. And Elijah the Tishbite said to the prophets of the loathsome things, “Stand aside from now on, and I will make my whole burnt offering.” And they stood aside and went away. [i]

30 And Elijah said to the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, by the number of the tribes of Israel, as the Lord had spoken to him, saying, “Israel will be your name.” 32 And he built the stones in the name of the Lord, and he healed the altar that had been torn down, and he made a trench around the altar that would hold about twelve gallons of seed. [j]

33 And he stacked the split wood on the altar he had made, and he cut the whole burnt offering into pieces and laid it on the split wood and stacked it on the altar. 34 And he said, “Bring me four jars of water, and pour it on the whole burnt offering and on the wood.” And they did so. 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 ran all around the altar, and they filled the trench with water.

36 And Elijah cried out to heaven and said, “Lord, God of Abraham and Isaac and Israel, answer me, Lord, answer me today by fire, and let all this people know that you are the Lord, the God of Israel, and that I am your servant, and that for your sake I have done these works. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me by fire, and let this people know that you are the Lord God, and that you have turned the heart of this people back.” [k] 38 Then fire fell from the Lord out of heaven and devoured the whole burnt offering and the split wood and the water that was in the trench; and the fire licked up the stones and the dust. 39 And all the people fell on their faces and said, “Truly the Lord is God. He is God.”

40 And Elijah said to the people, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Let not one of them get away.” And they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slaughtered them there.

41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of the feet of rain.” 42 And Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up on Carmel and bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. 43 And he said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the sea.” And the servant looked and said, “There is nothing.” And Elijah said, “Go back again, seven times.” And the servant went back seven times.

44 And at the seventh time — there was a little cloud, like the print of a man’s foot, bringing up water. And he said, “Go up and say to Ahab, ‘Harness your chariot and go down, so the rain does not catch you.’” 45 And meanwhile the sky went black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab wept, and he went to Jezreel. [l] 46 And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he pulled his belt tight and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.