1 Kings 18
1 And it came to pass, after many days, that, the word of Yahweh, came unto Elijah, in the third year, saying, —Go, shew thyself unto Ahab, that I may send rain upon the face of the ground.
And the days are many, and the word of YHWH has been to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, appear to Ahab, and I give rain on the face of the ground”;
2 And Elijah went, to show himself unto Ahab. Now, the famine, was severe in Samaria.
and Elijah goes to appear to Ahab. And the famine is severe in Samaria,
3 And Ahab had called for Obadiah, who was over his house. Now, Obadiah, was one who revered Yahweh, exceedingly.
and Ahab calls to Obadiah, who [is] over the house—and Obadiah has been fearing YHWH greatly,
4 And so it came to pass, when Jezebel was cutting off the prophets of Yahweh, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifties in caves, and sustained them, with bread and water.
and it comes to pass, in Jezebel’s cutting off the prophets of YHWH, that Obadiah takes one hundred prophets, and hides them, fifty men in a cave, and has sustained them with bread and water—
5 So then Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go, and let us pass throughout the land, unto all the fountains of water, and unto all the ravines, peradventure we may find grass, and save alive horse and mule, and not have more of the beasts cut off.
and Ahab says to Obadiah, “Go through the land, to all fountains of waters, and to all the brooks, perhaps we find hay, and keep alive horse and mule, and do not cut off any of the livestock.”
6 So they divided to them the land, to pass through it, —Ahab, went one way, by himself, and, Obadiah, went another way, by himself.
And they apportion the land to themselves, to pass over into it; Ahab has gone in one way by himself, and Obadiah has gone in another way by himself;
7 And so it was, as Obadiah was on the road, that lo! Elijah, met him, —and he recognised him, and fell upon his face, and said—Now art, thou, my lord Elijah?
and Obadiah [is] in the way, and behold, Elijah [is there] to meet him; and he discerns him, and falls on his face and says, “Are you he—my lord Elijah?”
8 And he said to him—I, am! Go, say to thy lord: Here, is, Elijah!
And he says to him, “I [am]; go, say to your lord, Behold, Elijah.”
9 And he said—How have I sinned, —that, thou, art delivering thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to put me to death?
And he says, “What have I sinned, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab—to put me to death?
10 By the life of Yahweh thy God, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee, and, when they have said—Nay! he hath taken an oath of the kingdom or the nation, that no one could find thee;
Your God YHWH lives, if there is a nation and kingdom to where my lord has not sent to seek [for] you; and they said, He is not, then he caused the kingdom and the nation to swear, that it does not find you;
11 and, now, thou, art saying, —Go say to thy lord, Here, is, Elijah;
and now, you are saying, Go, say to your lord, Behold, Elijah;
12 so shall it come to pass, as soon as, I, go from thee, that, the spirit of Yahweh, shall carry thee away—whither I know not, and so, when I go in to tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, then will he slay me, —and yet, thy servant, hath revered Yahweh, from my youth.
and it has been, I go from you, and the Spirit of YHWH lifts you up to where I do not know, and I have come to declare to Ahab, and he does not find you, and he has slain me; and your servant is fearing YHWH from my youth.
13 Was it not told my lord, what I did when Jezebel was slaying the prophets of Yahweh, —how I hid, of the prophets of Yahweh, a hundred men—by fifties—in caves, and sustained them with bread and water?
Has it not been declared to my lord that which I have done in Jezebel’s slaying the prophets of YHWH, that I hide one hundred men of the prophets of YHWH, fifty by fifty in a cave, and sustained them with bread and water?
14 and yet, now, thou, art saying, Go, tell thy lord—Here, is, Elijah; and so he will slay me!
And now you are saying, Go, say to my lord, Behold, Elijah—and he has slain me!”
15 Then said Elijah—By the life of Yahweh of hosts, before whom I stand, to-day, will I show myself unto him.
And Elijah says, “YHWH of Hosts lives, before whom I have stood, surely I appear to him today.”
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him, —and, Ahab, went to meet, Elijah.
Obadiah goes to meet Ahab, and declares [it] to him, and Ahab goes to meet Elijah.
17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Now, art, thou, troubling Israel?
[And it] comes to pass at Ahab’s seeing Elijah that Ahab says to him, “Are you he—the troubler of Israel?”
18 And he said—I have not troubled Israel, but, thou and the house of thy father, —in that ye have forsaken the commandments of Yahweh, and followed Baal.
And he says, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and the house of your father, in your forsaking the commands of YHWH, and you go after the Ba‘alim;
19 Now, therefore, send, gather unto me all Israel, unto Mount Carmel, —and the prophets of Baal, four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the Sacred Stem, four hundred, who do eat at the table of Jezebel.
and now, send, gather all Israel to me, to the Mount of Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Ba‘al, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who are eating at the table of Jezebel.”
20 So Ahab sent among all the sons of Israel, —and gathered the prophets unto Mount Carmel.
And Ahab sends among all the sons of Israel, and gathers the prophets to the Mount of Carmel;
21 And Elijah drew near unto all the people, and said—How long are ye limping on the two divided opinions? If, Yahweh, be GOD, follow, him, but, if, Baal, follow, him. But the people answered him, not a word.
and Elijah comes near to all the people and says, “Until when are you leaping on the two branches? If YHWH [is] God, go after Him; and if Ba‘al, go after him”; and the people have not answered him a word.
22 Then said Elijah unto the people—I, am left, Yahweh’s, only, prophet, —but, the prophets of Baal, are four hundred and fifty men.
And Elijah says to the people, “I have been left, by myself, a prophet of YHWH; and the prophets of Ba‘al [are] four hundred and fifty men;
23 Let there be given us, therefore, two bullocks, and let them choose for themselves one bullock, and cut it in pieces, and lay it upon the wood, but, fire, shall they not put, —then, I, will make ready the other bullock, and place upon the wood, but, fire, will I not put.
and let them give two bullocks to us, and they choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and place [it] on the wood, and place no fire; and I prepare the other bullock, and have put [it] on the wood, and I do not place fire—
24 Then shall ye call on the name of your god, and, I, will call on the name of Yahweh, and it shall be, the God that respondeth by fire, he, is GOD. And all the people responded—Well spoken!
and you have called in the name of your god, and I call in the Name of YHWH, and it has been, the god who answers by fire—He [is] the God.” And all the people answer and say, “The word [is] good.”
25 Then said Elijah to the prophets of Baal—Choose for yourselves one bullock, and make ye ready, first, for, ye, are many, —and call ye on the name of your god, but, fire, shall ye not put.
And Elijah says to the prophets of Ba‘al, “Choose one bullock for yourselves, and prepare [it] first, for you [are] the multitude, and call in the name of your god, and place no fire.”
26 So they took the bullock which was given them, and made ready, and called on the name of Baal—from the morning even until the noon, saying—O Baal! answer us. But them was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped about by the altar which had been made.
And they take the bullock that [one] gave to them, and prepare [it], and call in the name of Ba‘al from the morning even until the noon, saying, “O Ba‘al, answer us!” And there is no voice, and there is none answering; and they leap on the altar that one had made.
27 And it came to pass, at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said—Cry with a loud voice, for, a god, he is, either he hath, a meditation, or an occasion to retire, or he hath, a journey, —peradventure, he, sleepeth, and must be awaked.
And it comes to pass, at noon, that Elijah mocks at them and says, “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, and awakes.”
28 And they cried, with a loud voice, and cut themselves, after their custom, with swords, and with lances, —until the blood gushed out upon them.
And they call with a loud voice, and cut themselves, according to their ordinance, with swords and with spears, until a flowing of blood [is] on them;
29 And so it was, when noon was passed, that although they prophesied until the offering up of the evening gift, yet was there no voice nor any that answered, nor any that hearkened.
and it comes to pass, at the passing by of the noon, that they feign themselves prophets until the going up of the present, and there is no voice, and there is none answering, and there is none attending.
30 Then said Elijah unto all the people: Draw near unto, me. And all the people drew near unto, him. Then repaired he the broken-down altar of Yahweh; yea Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, —
And Elijah says to all the people, “Come near to me”; and all the people come near to him, and he repairs the altar of YHWH that is broken down;
31 unto whom the word of Yahweh came, saying—Israel, shall be thy name;
and Elijah takes twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of YHWH was, saying, “Israel is your name”;
32 and built, with the stones, an altar, in the name of Yahweh, —and he made a trench, as large as would contain two measures of seed, round about the altar;
and he builds an altar with the stones, in the Name of YHWH, and makes a trench, as about the space of two measures of seed, around the altar.
33 and he put in order the wood, —and cut in pieces the bullock, and laid upon the wood. Then said he—Fill four pitchers with water, and pour out upon the ascending-sacrifice, and upon the wood. And they did so.
And he arranges the wood, and cuts the bullock in pieces, and places [it] on the wood, and says, “Fill four pitchers of water, and pour [them] on the burnt-offering, and on the wood”;
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.
and he says, “Do [it] a second time”; and they do [it] a second time; and he says, “Do [it] a third time”; and they do [it] a third time;
35 And the water ran round about the altar, —moreover also, the trench, filled he with water.
and the water goes around the altar, and he has also filled the trench with water.
36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the gift, that Elijah the prophet drew near, and said, O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel! To-day, let it be known—That, thou, art God in Israel, and that, I, am thy servant, —and that, by thy word, have I done all these things.
And it comes to pass, at the going up of the [evening] present, that Elijah the prophet comes near and says, “YHWH, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that You [are] God in Israel, and that I, Your servant, have done the whole of these things by Your word;
37 Answer me, O Yahweh! answer me, That this people may know, that, thou—Yahweh, art GOD, —so shalt, thou thyself, have turned their heart back again.
answer me, O YHWH, answer me, and this people [then] knows that You [are] YHWH God; and You have turned their heart backward.”
38 Then fell fire from Yahweh, and consumed the ascending-sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, —even the water that was in the trench, it licked up.
And a fire falls [from] YHWH, and consumes the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and it has licked up the water that [is] in the trench.
39 And, when all the people saw it, they fell upon their faces, —and said, Yahweh, he, is GOD, Yahweh, he, is GOD.
And all the people see, and fall on their faces, and say, “YHWH, He [is] the God! YHWH, He [is] the God!”
40 And Elijah said unto them—Seize ye the prophets of Baal—let not, a man, of them escape. So they seized them. And Elijah took them down unto the ravine of Kishon, and slaughtered them there.
And Elijah says to them, “Catch the prophets of Ba‘al; do not let a man escape from them”; and they catch them, and Elijah brings them down to the Brook of Kishon, and slaughters them there.
41 Then said Elijah unto Ahab, Go up, eat and drink, —for there is a sound of a downpour of rain.
And Elijah says to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, because of the sound of the noise of the shower.”
42 So Ahab went up, to eat and to drink, —but, Elijah, went up to the top of Carmel, and bowed himself to the earth, and put his face between his knees.
And Ahab goes up to eat, and to drink, and Elijah has gone up to the top of Carmel, and he stretches himself out on the earth, and he places his face between his knees,
43 Then said he unto his young man—Go up, I pray thee, and look about in the direction of the sea. So he went up, and looked about, and said—There is, nothing whatever. Then said he—Go again, seven times.
and says to his young man, “Now go up, look attentively [toward] the way of the sea”; and he goes up and looks attentively, and says, “There is nothing”; and he says, “Turn back,” seven times.
44 And it came to pass, at the seventh time, that he said, Lo! a little cloud, like a man’s hand coming up from the sea. Then he said—Go up, say unto Ahab—Harness, and get thee down, lest the rain shut thee in.
And it comes to pass, at the seventh, that he says, “Behold, a little thickness as the palm of a man is coming up out of the sea.” And he says, “Go up, say to Ahab, Bind and go down, and the shower does not restrain you.”
45 And it came to pass, meanwhile, that, the heavens, had enshrouded themselves with clouds and wind, and there came a great rain, and Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel;
And it comes to pass, in the meantime, that the heavens have become black—thick clouds and wind—and the shower is great; and Ahab rides, and goes to Jezreel,
46 but, the hand of Yahweh, came upon Elijah, so he girded his loins, —and ran before Ahab, until thou enterest Jezreel.
and the hand of YHWH has been on Elijah, and he girds up his loins, and runs before Ahab, until your entering Jezreel.
