I Kings 18 · מלכים א

And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Eliyyahu in the third year, saying, Go, appear before Aĥ᾽av; and I will send rain upon the earth.

And Eliyyahu went to appear before Aĥ᾽av. And there was a sore famine in Shomeron.

And Aĥ᾽av called ῾Ovadyahu who was the governor of his house. (Now ῾Ovadyahu feared the Lord greatly:

for so it was, when Izevel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that ῾Ovadyahu took a hundred prophets, and hid them fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

And Aĥ᾽av said to ῾Ovadyahu, Go into the land, to all the springs of water, and to all the wadis: perhaps we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.

So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Aĥ᾽av went one way by himself, and ῾Ovadyahu went another way by himself.

And as ῾Ovadyahu was on the way, behold, Eliyyahu met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou my lord Eliyyahu?

And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy master, Behold, Eliyyahu is here.

And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldst deliver thy servant into the hand of Aĥ᾽av, to slay me?

As the Lord thy God lives, there is no nation or kingdom, where my lord has not sent to seek thee, and they said, He is not there; and he made the kingdom and nation swear, that they had not found thee.

And now thou sayst, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Eliyyahu is here.

And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Aĥ᾽av, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: though I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth.

Was it not told my lord what I did when Izevel slew the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the Lord’s prophets, fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

And now thou sayst, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Eliyyahu is here: and he shall slay me.

And Eliyyahu said, As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.

So ῾Ovadyahu went to meet Aĥ᾽av, and told him: and Aĥ᾽av went to meet Eliyyahu.

And it came to pass, when Aĥ᾽av saw Eliyyahu, that Aĥ᾽av said to him, Is it thou, thou troubler of Yisra᾽el?

And he answered, I have not troubled Yisra᾽el; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed the Be῾alim.

Now therefore send, and gather to me all Yisra᾽el to mount Karmel, and the prophets of Ba῾al four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the Ashera four hundred, who eat at Izevel’s table.

So Aĥ᾽av sent to all the children of Yisra᾽el, and gathered the prophets together to mount Karmel.

And Eliyyahu drew near to all the people, and said, How long will you go limping between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Ba῾al, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

Then said Eliyyahu to the people, I, only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but the Ba῾al’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

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 pile, and put no fire underneath: and I will prepare the other bullock, and lay it on the wood pile, and put no fire underneath:

and call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answers by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

And Eliyyahu said to the prophets of the Ba῾al, Choose one bullock for yourselves, and prepare it first; for you are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire underneath.

And they took the bullock which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of the Ba῾al from morning even until noon, saying, O Ba῾al, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they capered round the altar which was made.

And it came to pass at noon, that Eliyyahu mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is musing, or he is easing himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.

And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances, till the blood gushed out upon them.

And it came to pass, when midday was past, that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, and there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.

And Eliyyahu said to all the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down.

And Eliyyahu took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Ya῾aqov, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Yisra᾽el shall be thy name:

and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord: and he made a ditch about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.

And he put the wood pile in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it on the wood,

and said, Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, 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.

And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the ditch also with water.

And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Eliyyahu the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Avraham, Yiżĥaq, and of Yisra᾽el, let it be known this day that Thou art God in Yisra᾽el, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word.

Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that Thou art the Lord God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back again.

Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood pile, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.

And Eliyyahu said to them, Take the prophets of the Ba῾al; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Eliyyahu brought them down to the wadi Qishon, and slew them there.

And Eliyyahu said to Aĥ᾽av, go up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of the rumbling of the rainstorm.

So Aĥ᾽av went up to eat and to drink. And Eliyyahu went up to the top of the Karmel; and he crouched down on the earth, and put his face between his knees,

and said to his servant, Go up now, look towards the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, a little cloud is ascending from the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say to Aĥ᾽av, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.

And it came to pass in the mean while, that the sky became darkened with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Aĥ᾽av rode, and went to Yizre῾el.

And the hand of the Lord was on Eliyyahu; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Aĥ᾽av as far as the entrance to Yizre῾el.