1Kings:18
Seeker Overlay ON
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And it came to pass after many days ,
that the word of the LORD came to Elijah ,
in the third year ,
saying : '
Go ,
show thyself unto Ahab ,
and I will send rain upon the land .'
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And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab .
And the famine was sore in Samaria .
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And Ahab called Obadiah ,
who was over the household .--
Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly ;
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for it was so ,
when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD ,
that Obadiah took a hundred prophets ,
and hid them fifty in a cave ,
and fed them with bread and water .--
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And Ahab said unto Obadiah : '
Go through the land ,
unto all the springs of water ,
and unto all the brooks ;
peradventure we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive ,
that we lose not all the beasts .'
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So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it :
Ahab went one way by himself ,
and Obadiah went another way by himself .
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And as Obadiah was in the way ,
behold ,
Elijah met him ;
and he knew him ,
and fell on his face ,
and said : '
Is it thou ,
my lord Elijah ?'
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And he answered him : '
It is I ;
go ,
tell thy lord :
Behold ,
Elijah is here .'
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And he said : '
Wherein have I sinned ,
that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab ,
to slay me ?
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As the LORD thy God liveth ,
there is no nation or kingdom ,
whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee ;
and when they said :
He is not here ,
he took an oath of the kingdom and nation ,
that they found thee not .
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And now thou sayest :
Go ,
tell thy lord :
Behold ,
Elijah is here .
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And it will come to pass ,
as soon as I am gone from thee ,
that the spirit of the LORD will carry thee whither I know not ;
and so when I come and tell Ahab ,
and he cannot find thee ,
he will slay me ;
but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth .
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Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD ,
how I hid a hundred men of the LORD '
S prophets by fifty in a cave ,
and fed them with bread and water ?
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And now thou sayest :
Go ,
tell thy lord :
Behold ,
Elijah is here ;
and he will slay me .'
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And Elijah said : '
As the LORD of hosts liveth ,
before whom I stand ,
I will surely show myself unto him to-day .'
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So Obadiah went to meet Ahab ,
and told him ;
and Ahab went to meet Elijah .
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And it came to pass ,
when Ahab saw Elijah ,
that Ahab said unto him : '
Is it thou ,
thou troubler of Israel ?'
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And he answered : '
I have not troubled Israel ;
but thou ,
and thy father '
s house ,
in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD ,
and thou hast followed the Baalim .
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Now therefore send ,
and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel ,
and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty ,
and the prophets of the Asherah four hundred ,
that eat at Jezebel '
s table .'
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And Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel ,
and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel .
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And Elijah came near unto all the people ,
and said : '
How long halt ye between two opinions ?
if the LORD be God ,
follow Him ;
but if Baal ,
follow him .'
And the people answered him not a word .
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Then said Elijah unto the people : '
I ,
even I only ,
am left a prophet of the LORD ;
but Baal '
s prophets are four hundred and fifty men .
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Let them therefore give us two bullocks ;
and let them choose one bullock for themselves ,
and cut it in pieces ,
and lay it on the wood ,
and put no fire under ;
and I will dress the other bullock ,
and lay it on the wood ,
and put no fire under .
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And call ye on the name of your god ,
and I will call on the name of the LORD ;
and the God that answereth by fire ,
let him be God .'
And all the people answered and said : '
It is well spoken .'
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And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal : '
Choose you one bullock for yourselves ,
and dress it first ;
for ye are many ;
and call on the name of your god ,
but put no fire under .'
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And they took the bullock which was given them ,
and they dressed it ,
and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon ,
saying : '
O Baal ,
answer us .'
But there was no voice ,
nor any that answered .
And they danced in halting wise about the altar which was made .
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And it came to pass at noon ,
that Elijah mocked them ,
and said : '
Cry aloud ;
for he is a god ;
either he is musing ,
or he is gone aside ,
or he is in a journey ,
or peradventure he sleepeth ,
and must be awaked .'
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And they cried aloud ,
and cut themselves after their manner with swords and lances ,
till the blood gushed out upon them .
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And it was so ,
when midday was past ,
that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening offering ;
but their was neither voice ,
nor any to answer ,
nor any that regarded .
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And Elijah said unto all the people : '
Come near unto me ';
and all the people came near unto him .
And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was thrown down .
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And Elijah took twelve stones ,
according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob ,
unto whom the word of the LORD came ,
saying : '
Israel shall be thy name .'
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And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD ;
and he made a trench about the altar ,
as great as would contain two measures of seed .
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And he put the wood in order ,
and cut the bullock in pieces ,
and laid it on the wood .
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And he said : '
Fill four jars with water ,
and pour it on the burnt-offering ,
and on the wood .'
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 .
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And the water ran round about the altar ;
and he filled the trench also with water .
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And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening offering ,
that Elijah the prophet came near ,
and said : '
O LORD ,
the God of Abraham ,
of Isaac ,
and of Israel ,
let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel ,
and that I am Thy servant ,
and that I have done all these things at Thy word .
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Hear me ,
O LORD ,
hear me ,
that this people may know that Thou ,
LORD ,
art God ,
for Thou didst turn their heart backward .'
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Then the fire of the LORD fell ,
and consumed the burnt-offering ,
and the wood ,
and the stones ,
and the dust ,
and licked up the water that was in the trench .
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And when all the people saw it ,
they fell on their faces ;
and they said : '
The LORD ,
He is God ;
the LORD ,
He is God .'
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And Elijah said unto them : '
Take the prophets of Baal ;
let not one of them escape .'
And they took them ;
and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon ,
and slew them there .
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And Elijah said unto Ahab : '
Get thee up ,
eat and drink ;
for there is the sound of abundance of rain .'
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So Ahab went up to eat and to drink .
And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel ;
and he bowed himself down upon the earth ,
and put his face between his knees .
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And he said to his servant : '
Go up now ,
look toward the sea .'
And he went up ,
and looked ,
and said : '
There is nothing .'
And he said : '
Go again seven times .'
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And it came to pass at the seventh time ,
that he said : '
Behold ,
there ariseth a cloud out of the sea ,
as small as a man '
s hand .'
And he said : '
Go up ,
say unto Ahab :
Make ready thy chariot ,
and get thee down ,
that the rain stop thee not .'
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And it came to pass in a little while ,
that the heaven grew black with clouds and wind ,
and there was a great rain .
And Ahab rode ,
and went to Jezreel .
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And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah ;
and he girded up his loins ,
and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel .