1Kgs 18
1
And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Eliu in the
third year, saying, Go, and appear before Achaab, and I will bring rain upon the face
of the earth.
2
And Eliu went to appear before Achaab: and the famine was severe in Samaria.
3
And Achaab called Abdiu the steward. Now Abdiu feared the Lord greatly.
4
And it came to pass when Jezabel smote the prophets of the Lord, that Abdiu took a
hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.
5
And Achaab said to Abdiu, 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.
6
And they made a division of the way between them to pass through it: Achaab went one
way, and Abdiu went by another way alone.
7
And Abdiu was alone in the way; and Eliu came alone to meet him: and Abdiu hasted,
and fell upon his face, and said, My lord Eliu, Gr. if you are, etc. are you indeed he?
8
And Eliu said to him, I am: go say to your master, Behold, Eliu is here.
9
And Abdiu said, What sin have I committed, that you give your servant into the hand
of Achaab to slay me?
10
As the Lord your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom, where my lord has not
sent to seek you; and if they said, He is not here, then has he set fire to the kingdom
and its territories, because he has not found you.
11
And now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Eliu is here.
12
And it shall come to pass when I shall have departed from you, that the Spirit of
the Lord shall carry you to a land which I know not, and I shall go in to tell the
matter to Achaab, and he will not find you and will slay me: yet your servant fears
the Lord from his youth.
13
Has it not been told to you my lord, what I did when Jezabel 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?
14
And now you say to me, Go, say to your master, Behold, Eliu is here: and he shall
slay me.
15
And Eliu said, As the Lord of Hosts before whom I stand lives, to-day I will appear
before him.
16
And Abdiu went to meet Achaab, and told him: and Achaab Gr. ran forth hasted forth, and went to meet Eliu.
17
And it came to pass when Achaab saw Eliu, that Achaab said to Eliu, Art you he who
perverts Israel?
18
And Eliu said, I do not pervert Israel; but it is you and your father’s house, in
that you forsake the Lord your God, and you have gone after Baalim.
19
And now send, gather to me all Israel to mount Carmel, and the prophets of Heb. Baal; See Jer 11:13; Ho 9:10 shame four hundred
and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, that eat
at Jezabel’s table.
20
And Achaab sent to all Israel, and gathered all the prophets to mount Carmel.
21
And Eliu drew near to them all: and Eliu said to them, How long will you halt on both
Gr. the hams, from gonu, the knee feet? if the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, follow him. And the people answered
not a word.
22
And Eliu said to the people, I am left, the Or, quite alone 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.
23
Let 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.
24
And do you 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 you have spoken is good.
25
And Eliu said to the prophets of shame, Choose to yourselves one calf, and dress it
first, for you are many; and call you on the name of your god; but apply no fire.
26
And they took the calf and drest 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 alter which they had made.
27
And it was noon, and Eliu the Thesbite mocked them, and said, Call with a loud voice,
for he is a god; for he is meditating, or else perhaps he is Or, preparing an answer engaged in business, or perhaps he is
asleep, and Gr. will awake or arise is to be awaked.
28
And they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves according to their custom with
knives and lancets until the Gr. shedding of blood upon them blood gushed out upon them.
29
And they prophesied until the evening came; and it came to pass as it was the time
of the Gr. sacrifice going up offering of the sacrifice, that Eliu the Thesbite 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.
30
And Eliu said to the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near to him.
31
And Eliu took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, as the
Lord spoke to him, saying, Israel shall be your name.
32
And he built up the stones in the name of the Lord, and Gr. healed repaired the altar that had been broken down; and he made
a Gr. sea trench that would hold two measures of seed round about the altar.
33
And he piled the cleft wood on the altar which he had made, and divided the whole-burnt-offering,
and laid it on the wood, and laid it in order on the altar, and said, Fetch me four
pitchers of water, and pour it on the whole-burnt-offering, and on the wood. And they
did so.
34
And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said,
Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.
35
And the water ran round about the altar, and they filled the trench with water.
36
And Eliu cried aloud to the heaven, and said, Lord God of Abraam, and Isaac, and Israel,
Or, hearken to me answer me, O Lord, answer me this day by fire, and let all this people know that
you are the Lord, the God of Israel, and I am your servant, and for your sake I have
wrought these works.
37
Hear me, O Lord, hear me, and let this people know that you are the Lord God, and
you have turned back the heart of this people.
38
Then fire fell from the Lord out of heaven, and devoured the whole-burnt-offerings,
and the wood and the water that was in the Gr. sea trench, and the fire licked up the stones and the earth.
39
And all the people fell upon their faces, and said, Truly the Lord is God; he is God.
40
And Eliu said to the people, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.
And they took them; and Eliu brings them down to the brook Kisson, and he slew them
there.
41
And Eliu said to Achaab, Go up, and eat and drink, for there is a sound of the Gr. feet of rain coming of rain.
42
And Achaab went up to eat and to drink; and Eliu went up to Carmel, and stooped to
the ground, and put his face between his knees,
43
and said to his servant, Go up, and look toward the sea. And the servant looked, and
said, There is nothing: and Eliu said, Do you then go again seven times.
44
And the servant went again seven times: and it came to pass at the seventh time, that,
behold, a little cloud like the sole of a man’s foot Gr. bringing brought water; and he said, Go up, and say to Achaab, make
ready your chariot, and
go down, lest the rain overtake you.
45
And it came to pass in the meanwhile, that the heaven grew black with clouds and wind,
and there was a great rain. And Achaab wept, and went to Jezrael.
46
And the hand of the Lord was upon Eliu, and he girt up his loins, and ran before Achaab
to Jezrael.