1 Kings 18:5-21

⁵Ahab told Obadiah, “Go throughout the country and check all the springs and valleys. Perhaps we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not lose any of the animals.”

⁶So they divided the land between them. Ahab went in one direction, and Obadiah the other.

⁷As Obadiah went on his way, Elijah came to meet him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?”

⁸“It's me,” Elijah replied. “Go and tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”

⁹“How have I sinned that you are handing me, your servant, over to Ahab to be killed?

¹⁰As the Lord your God lives, there's no nation or kingdom where my master hasn't sent someone to search for you. When a nation or kingdom said you weren't there, he made them swear that they couldn't find you.

¹¹And now you're telling me to go to my master and announce, ‘Elijah is here!’

¹²I have no idea where the Spirit of the Lord will take you after I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and then he can't find you, he's going to kill me, even though I, your servant, have worshiped the Lord since I was young.

¹³Didn't you hear, my lord, what I did when Jezebel was busy killing the Lord's prophets? I hid a hundred of the Lord's prophets, fifty in each of two caves, and provided them with food and water.

¹⁴And now you're telling me to go to my master and announce, ‘Elijah is here.’ He's going to kill me!”

¹⁵Elijah replied, “As the Lord Almighty lives, the one I serve, I will definitely appear before Ahab today.”

¹⁶So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

¹⁷When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you—you who are causing trouble for Israel?”

¹⁸“I'm not causing trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “It's you and your father's family! You have rejected the Lord's commands and are worshiping the Baals.

¹⁹Now call together all of Israel and meet me on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who are supported by Jezebel.”

²⁰So Ahab summoned all of Israel and also gathered the prophets on Mount Carmel.

²¹Elijah approached the people and asked them, “How long will you hobble along, hesitating between two opposite beliefs? If the Lord is God, then follow him. But if Baal is God, then follow him.” But the people gave o answer.