Kings III 18:4-31

⁴And it came to pass when Jezebel smote the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.

⁵And Ahab said to Obadiah, Come, and let us go through the land, and to the fountains of water, and to the brooks, if by any means we may find grass, and may save the horses and mules, and so they will not perish from the tents.

⁶And they made a division of the way between them to pass through it: Ahab went one way, and Obadiah went by another way alone.

⁷And Obadiah was alone in the way; and Elijah came alone to meet him: and Obadiah hastened, and fell upon his face, and said, My lord Elijah, art thou indeed he?

⁸And Elijah said to him, I am: go, say to thy master, Behold, Elijah is here.

⁹And Obadiah said, What sin have I committed, that thou givest thy servant into the hand of Ahab to slay me?

¹⁰As the Lord thy God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom, whither my lord has not sent to seek thee; and if they said, He is not here, then has he set fire to the kingdom and its territories, because he has not found thee.

¹¹And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

¹²And it shall come to pass when I shall have departed from thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee to a land which I know not, and I shall go in to tell the matter to Ahab, and he will not find thee and will slay me: yet thy servant fears the Lord from his youth.

¹³Has it not been told to thee my lord, what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, that I hid a hundred men of the prophets of the Lord, by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

¹⁴And now thou sayest to me, Go, say to thy master, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me.

¹⁵And Elijah said, As the Lord of Hosts before whom I stand lives, today I will appear before him.

¹⁶And Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab hastened forth, and went to meet Elijah.

¹⁷And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to Elijah, Art thou he that perverts Israel?

¹⁸And Elijah said, I do not pervert Israel; but it is thou and thy father’s house, in that ye forsake the Lord your God, and thou hast gone after Baalim.

¹⁹And now send, gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and the prophets of shame four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, that eat at Jezebel’s table.

²⁰And Ahab sent to all Israel, and gathered all the prophets to Mount Carmel.

²¹And Elijah drew near to them all: and Elijah said to them, How long wilt ye halt on both feet? if the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, follow him. And the people answered not a word.

²²And Elijah said to the people, I am left, the only one prophet of the Lord; and the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men, and the prophets of the groves four hundred.

²³Let them give us two oxen, and let them choose one for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire on the wood: and I will dress the other bullock, and put on no fire.

²⁴And do ye call loudly on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord my God, and it shall come to pass that the God who shall answer by fire, he is God. And all the people answered and said, The word which thou hast spoken is good.

²⁵And Elijah said to the prophets of shame, Choose to yourselves one calf, and dress it first, for ye are many; and call ye on the name of your god; but apply no fire.

²⁶And they took the calf and dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning till noon, and said, Hear us, O Baal, hear us. And there was no voice, neither was there hearing, and they ran up and down on the altar which they had made.

²⁷And it was noon, and Elijah the Tishbite mocked them, and said, Call with a loud voice, for he is a god; for he is meditating, or else perhaps he is engaged in business, or perhaps he is asleep, and is to be awakened.

²⁸And they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves according to their custom with knives and lancets until the blood gushed out upon them.

²⁹And they prophesied until the evening came; and it came to pass as it was the time of the offering of the sacrifice, that Elijah the Tishbite spoke to the prophets of the abominations, saying, Stand by for the present, and I will offer my sacrifice. And they stood aside and departed.

³⁰And Elijah said to the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near to him.

³¹And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, as the Lord spoke to him, saying, Israel shall be thy name.