1 Kings 18

Elijah Vs. the Baal Squad on Mount Carmel

1 After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah, saying, “Go show yourself to Ahab, and I am going to send rain on the land.”

2 So Elijah dipped to go show himself to Ahab. Now, the famine was hitting Samaria super hard.

3 Ahab called Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Obadiah was a real one, he truly feared the Lord.)

4 When Jezebel was wiping out the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them in two caves, fifty in each, and kept them fed with bread and water.

5 Ahab told Obadiah, “Listen, go check out all the springs and ravines in the land. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so we do not have to kill any of our livestock.”

6 So they split up to cover the territory. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

7 As Obadiah was on his way, Elijah showed up! Obadiah recognized him, dropped to his face, and said, “Is that really you, my lord Elijah?”

8 Elijah said, “Yeah, it is me. Go tell your boss, ‘Elijah is here!’”

9 But Obadiah said, “What did I do to you that you are giving me up to Ahab? He is going to kill me!”

10 “As the Lord your God lives, there is not a single nation or kingdom where my boss has not sent someone to look for you. And when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made that kingdom or nation swear they could not find you.”

11 “And now you are saying, ‘Go tell your boss, Elijah is here’?”

12 “Look, as soon as I leave you, the Spirit of the Lord might snatch you up to some place I do not know. Then I go tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he is going to kill me! But I, your servant, been fearing the Lord since I was a kid.”

13 “Did you not hear what I did when Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets, How I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets, fifty in each cave, and kept them fed with bread and water?”

14 “And now you are saying, ‘Go tell your boss, Elijah is here!’ He is going to kill me!”

15 Elijah said, “As the Lord of Armies lives, the One I serve, I am for sure is going to show myself to him today.”

16 So Obadiah dipped to meet Ahab and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah.

17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab told him, “Is that you, troublemaker of Israel?”

18 Elijah said, “I am not the troublemaker of Israel. You and your daddy’s family are, because you all ditched the Lord’s commands and followed the Baals.”

19 “Now, send out word and get all Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

20 So Ahab sent out word to all the Israelites and gathered the prophets on Mount Carmel.

21 Elijah stepped up to all the people and said, “How long are you all going to be flip-flopping between two sides, If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal is, then follow him!” But the people did not say a word.

22 Then Elijah told the people, “I am the only prophet of the Lord left, but Baal has got four hundred fifty prophets.”

23 “Let them give us two bulls. Let them pick one bull for themselves, cut it up, and lay it on the wood, but do not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but I am not lighting the fire.”

24 “Then you all call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire, he is the real God.” And all the people said, “That is a fair deal!”

25 Elijah told the prophets of Baal, “You pick the first bull for yourselves and prepare it first, because there is a lot of you. Then call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.”

26 So they took the bull that was given to them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning till noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they kept limping around the altar they had made.

27 At noon, Elijah started clowning them, saying, “Yell louder! Because he is a god, right, Maybe he is meditating, or he went to the bathroom, or he is on a trip. Maybe he is sleeping and needs to be woken up!”

28 So they yelled even louder and cut themselves with knives and lances, like their custom, until blood was gushing out of them.

29 Mid-afternoon passed, and they kept on prophesying until the time of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.

30 Then Elijah told all the people, “Come closer to me.” So all the people came closer to him. And he fixed up the altar of the Lord that had been torn down.

31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, the one to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name.”

32 With the stones, he built an altar in the name of the Lord. Then he dug a trench around the altar big enough to hold about eight gallons of seed.

33 He laid the wood in order, cut up the bull, and laid it on the wood. He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood."

34 Then he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. He said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time.

35 The water ran all around the altar and even filled the trench.

36 At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet stepped up and said, “Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that You are God in Israel, and that I am Your servant, and that I did all these things at Your command.”

37 “Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that You, Lord, are God, and that You are turning their hearts back to You.”

38 Then the fire of the Lord dropped down and burned up the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water in the trench.

39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”

40 Elijah told them, “Grab the prophets of Baal! Do not let a single one escape!” So they grabbed them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered them there.

The Rain Returns

41 Elijah told Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, because I hear the sound of heavy rain!”

42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. He crouched down on the ground and put his face between his knees.

43 He told his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” He went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” Elijah said, “Go back seven times.”

44 And at the seventh time, he said, “Look, a small cloud, the size of a man’s hand, is rising from the sea!” Elijah told him, “Go up, tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and get down before the rain stops you!’”

45 In no time, the sky got dark with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. Ahab got in his chariot and headed for Jezreel.

46 And the power of the Lord came on Elijah. He pulled up his robe and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.