1 Kings, Chapter 18:

Verses from 1 Kings, Chapter 18 of the book of 1 Samuel of the Bible.

Elijah and Obadiah

• 1. After a long time, in the third year of the drought, the word of the Lord came to Elijah, saying, “Go and show yourself to Ahab, for I will send rain on the land.”
• 2. And Elijah went. Now there was a great famine in Samaria,
• 3. Ahab summoned Obadiah, the palace overseer, who greatly feared the Lord.
• 4. Jezebel was destroying the Lord's prophets. So Obadiah gathered a hundred prophets and hid them in two caves, fifty in each, and gave them food and water.
• 5. Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Let us go through all the springs of water and all the valleys in the land. Perhaps we will find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, and we will not have to kill any of the animals.”
• 6. They divided the territory they were going to travel; Ahab went one way, and Obadiah went another.
• 7. As Obadiah was on his way, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground and asked, “Is it really you, my lord Elijah?”
• 8. Elijah replied, “Yes, I am. Go and tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”
• 9. But Obadiah said, “What have I done wrong, that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be killed?
• 10. As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is not a single nation or kingdom where my Lord has not sent someone to search for you. And whenever a country or kingdom claimed that you were not there, he made them swear that they could not find you.
• 11. But now you tell me to go and tell my master, 'Elijah is here.' He will kill me!”
• 12. I have worshiped the Lord from my youth.
• 13. Have you not heard, my lord, what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord? I hid a hundred of them in two caves, fifty in each, and I provided them with food and water.
• 14. And now you tell me to go and tell my master, 'Elijah is here.' He will kill me!”
• 15. Elijah replied, “As surely as the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today.”

Elijah on Mount Carmel

• 16. So Obadiah went and told Ahab, who went to find Elijah.
• 17. When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Are you the troubler of Israel?”
• 18. Elijah replied, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s family have by abandoning the Lord’s commands and following the Baals.
• 19. Now summon all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table.”
• 20. Then Ahab summoned all the Israelites and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.
• 21. Elijah approached the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people did not answer.
• 22 Then Elijah said, “I am the only prophet of the Lord left, but the prophets of Baal number four hundred and fifty.
• 23. Bring two bulls. Let them choose one and prepare it first, cutting it into pieces and placing it on the wood, but do not light a fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood, also without lighting a fire.
• 24. Then you will call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by sending fire is God.” And all the people agreed, saying, “What you have said is good.”
• 25. Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light a fire.”
• 26. They took the bull that was given to them and prepared it. They called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice or answer; they danced around the altar they had made.
• 27. At noon Elijah began to mock them: “Shout louder! After all, he is a god! Perhaps he is thinking or busy or traveling. Perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened!”
• 28. Then they cried out louder and, as was their custom, began to cut themselves with swords and spears until they bled.
• 29. After noon, they continued their prophesying frenziedly until the time of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice, no answer, no sign of attention.
• 30. Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” They all came near to him, and he rebuilt the altar of the Lord that had been torn down.
• 31. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each tribe of the descendants of Jacob, whom the Lord had named Israel,
• 32. and with the stones he rebuilt the altar to the Lord. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed.
• 33. Then he piled up the wood, cut the bull into pieces and placed it on the wood.
• 34. Then he said, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” And they did so.
• 35. “Do it again,” he ordered, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it a third time.
• 36. The water flowed around the altar and filled the trench.
• 37. When the time came for the evening sacrifice, the prophet Elijah approached and prayed: “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, show me today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.
• 38. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that these people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are bringing back their hearts.”
• 39 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones and the dust, and licked up the water in the trench.
• 40. When all the people saw this, they fell down and said, “The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!”
• 41. Then Elijah said, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Don’t let any of them escape.” So they seized them. Elijah brought them down to the Kishon Valley and killed them there.
• 42. Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.”
• 43. Ahab went up to eat and drink. As Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, he bowed down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
• 44. He said to his servant, “Go, look toward the sea.” So the servant went and came back, saying, “There is nothing there.” Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
• 45. The seventh time the servant said, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Get your chariot ready and go down, so that the rain will not stop you.’”
• 46. ​​Meanwhile, the sky became cloudy, the wind picked up, and it began to rain heavily. So Ahab got into his chariot and set out for Jezreel.

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