20Ahab sent orders to all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. 21Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you keep hopping c-between two opinions?-c If the LORD is God, follow Him; and if Baal, follow him!” But the people answered him not a word. 22Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only prophet of the LORD left, while the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men. 23Let two young bulls be given to us. Let them choose one bull, cut it up, and lay it on the wood, but let them not apply fire; I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, and will not apply fire. 24You will then invoke your god by name, and I will invoke the LORD by name; d-and let us agree:-d the god who responds with fire, that one is God.” And all the people answered, “Very good!”
25Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull and prepare it first, for you are the majority; invoke your god by name, but apply no fire.” 26They took the bull that was given them; they prepared it, and invoked Baal by name from morning until noon, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and none who responded; so they performed a hopping dance about the altar that had been set up. 27When noon came, Elijah mocked them, saying, “Shout louder! After all, he is a god. e-But he may be in conversation, he may be detained, or he may be on a journey,-e or perhaps he is asleep and will wake up.” 28So they shouted louder, and gashed themselves with knives and spears, according to their practice, until the blood streamed over them. 29When noon passed, they f-kept raving-f until the hour of presenting the meal offering. Still there was no sound, and none who responded or heeded.
30Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come closer to me”; and all the people came closer to him. He repaired the damaged altar of the LORD. 31Then Elijah took twelve stones, corresponding to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob—to whom the word of the LORD had come: “Israel shall be your name”g—32and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD. Around the altar he made a trench large enough for two seahs of seed.h 33He laid out the wood, and he cut up the bull and laid it on the wood. 34And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it over the burnt offering and the wood.” Then he said, “Do it a second time”; and they did it a second time. “Do it a third time,” he said; and they did it a third time. 35The water ran down around the altar, and even the trench was filled with water.
36When it was time to present the meal offering, the prophet Elijah came forward and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel! Let it be known today that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your bidding. 37Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God; e-for You have turned their hearts backward.”-e
38Then fire from the LORD descended and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the earth; and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39When they saw this, all the people flung themselves on their faces and cried out: “The LORD alone is God, The LORD alone is God!”
40Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal, let not a single one of them get away.” They seized them, and Elijah took them down to the Wadi Kishon and slaughtered them there.
41Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a rumbling of [approaching] rain,” 42and Ahab went up to eat and drink. Elijah meanwhile climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, crouched on the ground, and put his face between his knees. 43And he said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the Sea.” He went up and looked and reported, “There is nothing.” Seven times [Elijah] said, “Go back,” 44and the seventh time, [the servant] reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising in the west.” Then [Elijah] said, “Go say to Ahab, ‘Hitch up [your chariot] and go down before the rain stops you.”’ 45Meanwhile the sky grew black with clouds; there was wind, and a heavy downpour fell; Ahab mounted his chariot and drove off to Jezreel. 46The hand of the LORD had come upon Elijah. i-He tied up his skirts-i and ran in front of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
19 When Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had put all the prophetsa to the sword, 2Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, b-“Thus and more may the gods do-b if by this time tomorrow I have not made you like one of them.”
3Frightened,c he fled at once for his life. He came to Beer-sheba, which is in Judah, and left his servant there; 4he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush and sat down under it, and prayed that he might die. “Enough!” he cried. “Now, O LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
5He lay down and fell asleep under a broom bush. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6He looked about; and there, beside his head, was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water! He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7The angel of the LORD came a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.” 8He arose and ate and drank; and with the strength from that meal he walked forty days and forty nights as far as the mountain of God at Horeb. 9There he went into a cave, and there he spent the night.
Then the word of the LORD came to him. He said to him, “Why are you here, Elijah?” 10He replied, “I am moved by zeal for the LORD, the God of Hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and put Your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they are out to take my life.” 11“Come out,” He called, “and stand on the mountain before the LORD.”
And lo, the LORD passed by. There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks by the power of the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind—an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12After the earthquake—fire; but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire—a soft murmuring sound.d 13When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his mantle about his face and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then a voice addressed him: “Why are you here, Elijah?” 14He answered, “I am moved by zeal for the LORD, the God of Hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and have put Your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they are out to take my life.”
15The LORD said to him, “Go back by the way you came, [and] on to the wilderness of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael as king of Aram. 16Also anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17Whoever escapes the sword of Hazael shall be slain by Jehu, and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu shall be slain by Elisha. 18I will leave in Israel only seven thousand—every knee that has not knelt to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
19He set out from there and came upon Elisha son of Shaphat as he was plowing. There were twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah came over to him and threw his mantle over him. 20He left the oxen and ran after Elijah, saying: “Let me kiss my father and mother good-by, and I will follow you.” And he answered him, “Go back. What have I done to you?”e 21He turned back from him and took the yoke of oxen and slaughtered them; he boiled f-their meat-f with the gearg of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and became his attendant.
20 King Ben-hadad of Aram gathered his whole army, thirty-two kings accompanied him with horses and chariots. He advanced against Samaria, laid siege to it, and attacked it. 2And he sent messengers to Ahab inside the city 3to say to him, “Thus said Ben-hadad: Your silver and gold are mine, and your beautiful wives and children are mine.” 4The king of Israel replied, “As you say, my lord king: I and all I have are yours.” 5Then the messengers came again and said, “Thus said Ben-hadad: When I sent you the order to give me your silver and gold, and your wives and children, 6I meant that tomorrow at this time I
