1 Kings 18:4-29

⁴One time when Queen Jezebel had tried to kill all Yahweh's prophets, Obadiah hid a hundred of them in two caves. He put fifty prophets in each cave, and he brought food and water to them.

⁵By this time, the ◄famine/lack of food and water► had become very severe in Samaria. So Ahab summoned Obadiah and said to him, “We must check/look near every spring and in every valley to see if we can find enough grass to give to some of my horses and mules, so that they will not all die.”

⁶So they both started walking throughout the land. Obadiah went in one direction by hmself, and Ahab went in another direction by himself.

⁷While Obadiah was walking along, he saw Elijah coming toward him. Obadiah recognized Elijah and bowed down in front of him and said, “Is it really you, Elijah, my master?”

⁸Elijah replied, “Yes. Now go and tell Ahab, your master, that I am here.”

⁹Obadiah objected. He said, “Sir, I have not RHQ harmed you at all. So why are you sending me back to Ahab? He will kill me!

¹⁰Yahweh your God knows that I am telling the truth when I solemnly declare that King Ahab has searched in every kingdom all over the world HYP to find you. Each time that some king said to him, ‘Elijah is not here,’ Ahab demanded that the king of that country solemnly swear/declare that the king was telling the truth.

¹¹Now you say to me, ‘Go and tell your master that Elijah is here!’

¹²But as soon as I leave you, the Spirit of Yahweh will carry you away, and I will not know where he will take you. So when I tell Ahab that you are here and he comes to me and he does not find you here, he will kill me! But I do not deserve to die because I have revered Yahweh since I was a boy.

¹³My master, have you not heard about what I did when Jezebel wanted to kill all of Yahweh's prophets? I hid a hundred of them in two caves and took food and water to them.

¹⁴Now, sir, you say, ‘Go and tell your master that Elijah is here.’ But if I do that, and he comes and you are not here, he will kill me!”

¹⁵But Elijah replied, “Yahweh, the Almighty One whom I serve IDM, knows that I am telling the truth as I solemnly declare that I will go to meet with Ahab today.”

¹⁶So Obadiah went to tell Ahab that Elijah had come. Ahab went to meet with him.

¹⁷When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, the one who causes trouble for the people of Israel?”

¹⁸Elijah replied, “It is not I who have caused trouble for the people of Israel! You and your family are the ones who have caused trouble! You have refused to obey Yahweh's commands, and you have worshiped the idols of Baal instead.

¹⁹So now, command all the Israeli people to come to Carmel Mountain, and be sure to bring all the 450 prophets who worship Baal and the 400 prophets who worship the goddess Asherah, the ones to whom your wife Jezebel brings food and water.”

²⁰So Ahab summoned all his prophets and all the other Israeli people to the top of Carmel Mountain, and Elijah went up there too

²¹Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How long RHQ are you going to be undecided about who is truly God? If Yahweh is truly God, then worship/serve him. If Baal is truly God, then worship/serve him!” But the people said nothing in reply, because they were afraid of what Jezebel would do to them if they admitted that they worshiped Yahweh.

²²Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only true prophet of Yahweh who is left, but Baal has 450 prophets.

²³Bring two bulls. The prophets of Baal may choose the one that they want. They must kill it and cut it into pieces and lay the pieces on the wood that is on the altar that they havemade. But they must not light a fire under the wood. I will kill the other bull and cut it in pieces and lay the pieces on the altar that I make.

²⁴Then they must call to their god MTY, and I will call to Yahweh. The god who answers by lighting a fire to the wood that is on that altar is the true God!” Then all the people thought that Elijah's suggestion was good.

²⁵Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “You call to Baal first, because there are many of you. Choose one of the bulls and prepare it, and then call to your god. But do not light a fire under the wood!”

²⁶So they killed one of the bulls and cut it up and placed the pieces on the altar. Then they called out to Baal all morning. They shouted, “Baal, answer us!” But no one answered. There was no reply at all DOU. Then they danced wildly around the altar that they had made.

²⁷About noontime, Elijah started to make fun of them. He said, “ Surely Baal is a god, so it seems that you must shout louder! Perhaps he is thinking about something, or perhaps he has gone to the toilet. Or perhaps he is traveling somewhere, or perhaps he is asleep and you need to wake him up!”

²⁸So they shouted louder. Then, doing one of the things that they frequently did when they worshiped Baal, they slashed/cut themselves with knives and swords until a lot of blood flowed.

²⁹They continued calling out to Baal all afternoon. But there was no reply, no answer, no god who paid attention.