The famine was so severe in Samaria that Ahab had called Obadiah, the overseer of the palace. Obadiah was very loyal to the LORD; for when Jezebel tried to kill the prophets of the LORD, he took a hundred and hid them in a cave and kept them supplied with bread and water. Ahab said to Obadiah, "Come, let us go through the land to all the springs and to all the brooks, in the hope that we may find grass, so that we can save the horses and mules and not lose all of them." So they divided the land between them, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another.
While Obadiah was on the way, Elijah suddenly met him. As soon as Obadiah knew him, he fell on his face and said, "Is it you, my lord Elijah?" He answered, "It is; go, tell your master: 'Elijah is here.'" But Obadiah said, "What sin have I done, that you would give your servant over to Ahab to kill me? As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is no nation nor kingdom where my lord has not sent to find you; and when they said, 'He is not here,' he made each of the kingdoms and nations take an oath, that no one had found you. Now you say, 'Go, tell your lord, Elijah is here!' As soon as I have left you the spirit of the LORD will carry you to a place unknown to me, so that when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will put me to death, although I, your servant, have been loyal to the LORD from my youth! Have you not been told what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, how I hid a hundred by fifties in a cave and fed them continually with bread and water?" Elijah answered, "As surely as the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will show myself to Ahab to-day."
So Obadiah went to Ahab and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah. As soon as Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is it you, you who have brought trouble to Israel?" He answered, "I have not brought trouble on Israel, but you and your father's house have; because you have failed to follow the commands of the LORD and have run after the Phœnician gods. Now therefore call together to me at Mount Carmel all the Israelites and the four hundred and fifty prophets of the god Baal who eat at Jezebel's table."
So Ahab sent for all the Israelites and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. Then Elijah came to the people and said, "How long are you going to falter between worshipping the LORD or Baal? If the LORD is the true God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him." But the people were silent. Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left as a prophet of the LORD, but there are four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. Let us take two oxen; let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, without lighting any fire, and I will dress the other ox and lay it on wood, without lighting any fire. Then you call on your god and I will call on the LORD. The god who answers by fire is the true God." All the people answered and said, "It is a fair offer."
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the oxen for yourselves and dress it first, for you are many, and call on your god, without lighting any fire." So they took the ox which he gave them and dressed it, and called on their god from morning until noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us." But there was no voice nor answer, although they leaped about the altar which they had built.
When it was noon, Elijah mocked them, saying, "Call loudly, for he is a god; either he is thinking, or he has gone out, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened!" Then they called loudly and cut themselves, as was their custom, with swords and lances until the blood gushed out upon them. When noon was past, they cried out in frenzy until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was neither voice nor answer nor was any attention paid to their cry.
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." And all the people drew near to him, and he rebuilt the altar of the LORD which had been thrown down. Then around the altar he made a ditch that would hold about two bushels of seed. When he had placed the pieces of wood in order, he cut up the ox and laid it on the wood. Then he said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt-offering and on the pieces of wood." And he said, "Do it the second time"; and they did it the second time. He said, "Do it the third time"; and they did it the third time, so that the water ran round the altar. And he also filled the ditch with water.
When it was time to offer the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O the LORD, God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy command. Hear me, O the LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou, the LORD, art God, and that thou mayst win their hearts."
Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the burnt-offering and the wood, the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and cried, "the LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God." But Elijah commanded them, "Take the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape!" So they took them down to the Brook Kishon and there put them to death.
Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink; for there are signs of a heavy rain." So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah went up to the top of Carmel and crouched down upon the earth, with his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked and said, "There is nothing." But seven times he said, "Go again." So the servant went back seven times, but the seventh time he said, "There is a cloud as small as a man's hand rising out of the sea." Then Elijah said, "Go, say to Ahab, 'Make ready your chariot; go down, that the rain may not stop you.'" In a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. And as Ahab rode toward Jezreel, Elijah was given divine strength, so that he tightened his belt and ran before Ahab to the entrance to Jezreel.
Popular Bible Queries
Psalms 7:13
He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.
Timothy-2 1:4
Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;
Psalms 119:163
I hate and abhor lying: [but] thy law do I love.
Psalms 119:47
And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.
Psalms 8:6
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all [things] under his feet:
Colossians 3:6
For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Matthew 2:2
Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
Ephesians 2:5
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Job 20:28
The increase of his house shall depart, [and his goods] shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
Samuel-2 23:13
And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim.
Nehemiah 9:5
Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, [and] Pethahiah, said, Stand up [and] bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.
Exodus 12:29
And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that [was] in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.
Esther 1:18
[Likewise] shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus [shall there arise] too much contempt and wrath.
Titus 3:4
But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
Isaiah 51:20
Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy God.
Deuteronomy 28:30
Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.
Revelations 12:16
And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
Isaiah 5:27
None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
Matthew 10:42
And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold [water] only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
Habakkuk 1:5
Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for [I] will work a work in your days, [which] ye will not believe, though it be told [you].
Amos 4:10
I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 35:13
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD.
Genesis 42:9
And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye [are] spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
John 7:23
If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?
Luke 8:24
And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.
Romans 4:12
And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which [he had] being [yet] uncircumcised.
Daniel 11:25
And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him.
Kings-1 8:31
If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house:
Titus 3:12
When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter.
Luke 3:3
And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
Proverbs 1:22
How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
Chronicles-2 9:18
And [there were] six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, [which were] fastened to the throne, and stays on each side of the sitting place, and two lions standing by the stays:
Jeremiah 40:15
Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know [it]: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?
Acts 3:1
Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, [being] the ninth [hour].
Zecharia 14:5
And ye shall flee [to] the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, [and] all the saints with thee.
Isaiah 42:13
The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.
Isaiah 43:3
For I [am] the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt [for] thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
Isaiah 21:9
And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, [with] a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.
Hosea 9:8
The watchman of Ephraim [was] with my God: [but] the prophet [is] a snare of a fowler in all his ways, [and] hatred in the house of his God.
Judges 8:7
And Gideon said, Therefore when the LORD hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.
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