1 Kings 18
1 And the days are many, and the word of Jehovah hath been unto Elijah in the third year, saying, 'Go, appear unto Ahab, and I give rain on the face of the ground;'
Sometime later, during the third year, a message from the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and appear before Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.”
2 and Elijah goeth to appear unto Ahab. And the famine is severe in Samaria,
So Elijah went to appear before Ahab. In the meantime the famine had become severe in Samaria.
3 and Ahab calleth unto Obadiah, who [is] over the house — and Obadiah hath been fearing Jehovah greatly,
Ahab summoned Obadiah, the manager of his palace (Obadiah was a very sincere believer in the Lord.
4 and it cometh to pass, in Jezebel's cutting off the prophets of Jehovah, that Obadiah taketh a hundred prophets, and hideth them, fifty men in a cave, and hath sustained them with bread and water —
While Jezebel was busy killing the Lord's prophets, Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty in each of two caves, and had provided them with food and water.)
5 and Ahab saith unto Obadiah, 'Go through the land, unto all fountains of waters, and unto all the brooks, if so be we find hay, and keep alive horse and mule, and do not cut off any of the cattle.'
Ahab 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.”
6 And they apportion to themselves the land, to pass over into it; Ahab hath gone in one way by himself, and Obadiah hath gone in another way by himself;
So they divided the land between them. Ahab went in one direction, and Obadiah the other.
7 and Obadiah [is] in the way, and lo, Elijah — to meet him; and he discerneth him, and falleth on his face, and saith, 'Art thou he — my lord Elijah?'
As 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 And he saith to him, 'I [am]; go, say to thy lord, Lo, Elijah.'
“It's me,” Elijah replied. “Go and tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”
9 And he saith, 'What have I sinned, that thou art giving thy servant into the hand of Ahab — to put me to death?
“How have I sinned that you are handing me, your servant, over to Ahab to be killed?
10 Jehovah thy God liveth, if there is a nation and kingdom whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee; and they said, He is not, then he caused the kingdom and the nation to swear, that it doth not find thee;
As 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.
11 and now, thou art saying, Go, say to thy lord, Lo, Elijah;
And now you're telling me to go to my master and announce, ‘Elijah is here!’
12 and it hath been, I go from thee, and the Spirit of Jehovah doth lift thee up, whither I know not, and I have come to declare to Ahab, and he doth not find thee, and he hath slain me; and thy servant is fearing Jehovah from my youth.
I 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.
13 'Hath it not been declared to my lord that which I have done in Jezebel's slaying the prophets of Jehovah, that I hide of the prophets of Jehovah a hundred men, fifty by fifty in a cave, and sustained them with bread and water?
Didn'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.
14 and now thou art saying, Go, say to my lord, Lo, Elijah — and he hath slain me!'
And now you're telling me to go to my master and announce, ‘Elijah is here.’ He's going to kill me!”
15 And Elijah saith, 'Jehovah of Hosts liveth, before whom I have stood, surely to-day I appear unto him.'
Elijah replied, “As the Lord Almighty lives, the one I serve, I will definitely appear before Ahab today.”
16 And Obadiah goeth to meet Ahab, and declareth [it] to him, and Ahab goeth to meet Elijah,
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 and it cometh to pass at Ahab's seeing Elijah, that Ahab saith unto him, 'Art thou he — the troubler of Israel?'
When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you—you who are causing trouble for Israel?”
18 And he saith, 'I have not troubled Israel, but thou and the house of thy father, in your forsaking the commands of Jehovah, and thou goest after the Baalim;
“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.
19 and now, send, gather unto me all Israel, unto the mount of Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the shrine, four hundred — eating at the table of Jezebel.'
Now 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.”
20 And Ahab sendeth among all the sons of Israel, and gathereth the prophets unto the mount of Carmel;
So Ahab summoned all of Israel and also gathered the prophets on Mount Carmel.
21 and Elijah cometh nigh unto all the people, and saith, 'Till when are ye leaping on the two branches? — if Jehovah [is] God, go after Him; and if Baal, go after him;' and the people have not answered him a word.
Elijah 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.
22 And Elijah saith unto the people, 'I — I have been left a prophet of Jehovah — by myself; and the prophets of Baal [are] four hundred and fifty men;
Then Elijah told them, “I am the only one left of the Lord's prophets—just me alone—but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.
23 and let them give to us two bullocks, and they choose for themselves the one bullock, and cut it in pieces, and place [it] on the wood, and place no fire; and I — I prepare the other bullock, and have put [it] on the wood, and fire I do not place; —
Provide us with two bulls. Let the prophets of Baal choose for themselves the one they want, and have them cut it into pieces and place it on the firewood. But don't set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the firewood but I won't set fire to it.
24 and ye have called in the name of your god, and I — I call in the name of Jehovah, and it hath been, the god who answereth by fire — He [is] the God.' And all the people answer and say, 'Good [is] the word.'
Then you call on your god by name, and I will call on the Lord by name. The god who replies by sending fire—he is God.” Then all the people said, “We agree to what you say.”
25 And Elijah saith to the prophets of Baal, 'Choose for you the one bullock, and prepare first, for ye [are] the multitude, and call ye in the name of your god, and place no fire.'
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “You choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, because there are so many of you. Call on your god by name, but don't light the fire.”
26 And they take the bullock that [one] gave to them, and prepare, and call in the name of Baal from the morning even till the noon, saying, 'O Baal, answer us!' and there is no voice, and there is none answering; and they leap on the altar that one had made.
So they took the bull provided and prepared it. Then they called on Baal by name from morning until noon. “Baal, answer us!” they pleaded. But no voice was heard, no one answered. They hobbled in a dance around the altar they had made.
27 And it cometh to pass, at noon, that Elijah playeth on them, and saith, 'Call with a loud voice, for he [is] a god, for he is meditating, or pursuing, or on a journey; it may be he is asleep, an doth awake.'
At noon Elijah began to mock them. “Shout really loud!” he said. “Isn't he meant to be a god? Maybe he's meditating, or he's gone to the bathroom, or he's away on a trip! Maybe he's asleep and has to be woken up!”
28 And they call with a loud voice, and cut themselves, according to their ordinance, with swords and with spears, till a flowing of blood [is] on them;
They shouted even louder and cut themselves with swords and spears until they bled. This was their usual way of worshiping.
29 and it cometh to pass, at the passing by of the noon, that they feign themselves prophets till the going up of the present, and there is no voice, and there is none answering, and there is none attending.
Noon came and went, and they went on with their manic “prophesying” until the time of the evening sacrifice. But no voice was heard, no one answered, no one was listening.
30 And Elijah saith to all the people, 'Come nigh unto me;' and all the people come nigh unto him, and he repaireth the altar of Jehovah that is broken down;
Then Elijah told everyone, “Come over here to me.” They went over to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down.
31 and Elijah taketh twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of Jehovah was, saying, 'Israel is thy name;'
Elijah took twelve stones to represent the tribes of the sons of Jacob. (Jacob was the one who received the Lord's message that said, “Israel shall be your name.”)
32 and he buildeth with the stones an altar, in the name of Jehovah, and maketh a trench, as about the space of two measures of seed, round about the altar.
With the stones he built an altar in the Lord's name. He dug a ditch around it that could hold two seahs of seed.
33 And he arrangeth the wood, and cutteth in pieces the bullock, and placeth [it] on the wood, and saith, 'Fill ye four pitchers of water, and pour on the burnt-offering, and on the wood;
He put the wood in place, cut the bull into pieces, and laid it on the wood. Then he told them, “Fill up four large jars with water and pour it over the offering and the wood.”
34 and he saith, 'Do [it] a second time;' and they do [it] a second time; and he saith, 'Do [it] a third time;' and they do [it] a third time;
“Do it again,” he said. So they did. “Do it for a third time,” he said. So they did it for the third time.
35 and the water goeth round about the altar, and also, the trench he hath filled with water.
The water ran down all over the altar and even filled the ditch.
36 And it cometh to pass, at the going up of the [evening -]present, that Elijah the prophet cometh nigh and saith, 'Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to-day let it be known that Thou [art] God in Israel, and I Thy servant, that by Thy word I have done the whole of these things;
At the time of the evening sacrifice, the prophet Elijah went over to the altar and prayed: “Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, demonstrate today that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that everything I have done has been at your command.
37 answer me, O Jehovah, answer me, and this people doth know that Thou [art] Jehovah God; and Thou hast turned their heart backward.'
Answer me, Lord! Answer me, so that these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are bringing them back to you.”
38 And there falleth a fire of Jehovah, and consumeth the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and the water that [is] in the trench it hath licked up.
Then the fire of the Lord came down and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the soil—it even licked up the water in the ditch!
39 And all the people see, and fall on their faces, and say, 'Jehovah, He [is] the God, Jehovah, He [is] the God.'
When all the people saw this, they fell face down on the ground and shouted, “The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!”
40 And Elijah saith to them, 'Catch ye the prophets of Baal; let not a man escape of them;' and they catch them, and Elijah bringeth them down unto the stream Kishon, and doth slaughter them there.
Then Elijah ordered them, “Grab hold of the prophets of Baal. Don't let any escape!” They grabbed them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon Valley and killed them there.
41 And Elijah saith to Ahab, 'Go up, eat and drink, because of the sound of the noise of the shower.'
Elijah told Ahab, “Go and eat and drink, for I hear the sound of a heavy rain coming.”
42 And Ahab goeth up to eat, and to drink, and Elijah hath gone up unto the top of Carmel, and he stretcheth himself out on the earth, and he placeth his face between his knees,
So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah went to the top of Carmel. There he bent down to the ground, putting his face between his knees.
43 and saith unto his young man, 'Go up, I pray thee, look attentively the way of the sea;' and he goeth up and looketh attentively, and saith, 'There is nothing;' and he saith, 'Turn back,' seven times.
“Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. The man went and looked. “There's nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah told him, “Go and look again.”
44 And it cometh to pass, at the seventh, that he saith, 'Lo, a little thickness as the palm of a man is coming up out of the sea.' And he saith, 'Go up, say unto Ahab, 'Bind — and go down, and the shower doth not restrain thee.'
The seventh time the servant came back and said, “I saw a small cloud the size of a man's hand coming up from the sea.” So Elijah said, “Run to Ahab and tell him, ‘Get your chariot ready and go down before the rain stops you.’”
45 And it cometh to pass, in the meantime, that the heavens have become black — thick clouds and wind — and the shower is great; and Ahab rideth, and goeth to Jezreel,
Very quickly the sky grew dark with clouds, the wind blew, heavy rain started falling, and Ahab rode down to Jezreel.
46 and the hand of Jehovah hath been on Elijah, and he girdeth up his loins, and runneth before Ahab, till thine entering Jezreel.
The Lord gave his power to Elijah—he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
