17 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, As Jehovah the God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except by my word.

² And the word of Jehovah came to him saying,

³ Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the torrent Cherith, which is before the Jordan.

⁴ And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the torrent; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

⁵ And he went and did according to the word of Jehovah; he went and abode by the torrent Cherith, which is before the Jordan.

⁶ And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the torrent.

⁷ And it came to pass after a while that the torrent dried up, for there had been no rain in the land.

⁸ And the word of Jehovah came to him saying,

⁹ Arise, go to Zarephath, which is by Zidon, and abide there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to maintain thee.

¹⁰ And he arose and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the entrance of the city, behold, a widow woman was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

¹¹ And she went to fetch [it], and he called to her and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand.

¹² And she said, As Jehovah thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse; and behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

¹³ And Elijah said to her, Fear not; go, do as thou hast said; but make me thereof a little cake first; and bring it to me; and afterwards make for thee and for thy son.

¹⁴ For thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: The meal in the barrel shall not waste, neither shall the oil in the cruse fail, until the day that Jehovah sendeth rain upon the face of the earth!

¹⁵ And she went and did according to the word of Elijah; and she, and he, and her house, ate a whole year.

¹⁶ The meal in the barrel did not waste, neither did the oil in the cruse fail, according to the word of Jehovah which he had spoken through Elijah.

¹⁷ And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.

¹⁸ And she said to Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come to me to call mine iniquity to remembrance, and to slay my son?

¹⁹ And he said to her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

²⁰ And he cried to Jehovah and said, Jehovah, my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

²¹ And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to Jehovah and said, Jehovah, my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again!

²² And Jehovah heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he lived.

²³ And Elijah took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and delivered him to his mother; and Elijah said, See, thy son lives.

²⁴ And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of Jehovah in thy mouth is truth.

18 And it came to pass after many days, that the word of Jehovah came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself to Ahab; and I will send rain upon the face of the earth.

² And Elijah went to shew himself to Ahab. And the famine was severe in Samaria.

³ And Ahab called Obadiah, who was the steward of his house (now Obadiah feared Jehovah greatly;

⁴ and it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Jehovah, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and maintained them with bread and water);

⁵ and Ahab said to Obadiah, Go through the land, to all the fountains of water and to all the torrents, perhaps we may find grass to save the horses and the mules alive, so that we may not have to destroy some of [our] beasts.

⁶ And they divided the land between them to pass through it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

⁷ And as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him; and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Is it indeed thou, my lord Elijah?

⁸ And he said to him, I [am he]: go, say to thy lord, Behold Elijah!

⁹ And he said, What have I sinned, that thou givest thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to put me to death?

¹⁰ As Jehovah thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom whither my lord has not sent to seek thee; and when they said, He is not [here], he took an oath of the kingdom or nation that they found thee not.

¹¹ And now thou sayest, Go, say to thy lord, Behold Elijah!

¹² And it shall come to pass when I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of Jehovah shall carry thee whither I know not; and when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he will kill me; and I thy servant fear Jehovah from my youth.

¹³ Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of Jehovah, how I hid a hundred men of Jehovah's prophets by fifty in a cave, and maintained them with bread and water?

¹⁴ And now thou sayest, Go, say to thy lord, Behold Elijah! and he will kill me.

¹⁵ And Elijah said, As Jehovah of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will certainly shew myself to him to-day.

¹⁶ Then Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah.

¹⁷ And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Is it thou, the troubler of Israel?

¹⁸ And he said, I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of Jehovah, and thou hast followed the Baals.

¹⁹ And now send, gather to me all Israel to mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the Asherah four hundred, who eat at Jezebel's table.

²⁰ So Ahab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.

²¹ Then Elijah drew near to all the people, and said, How long do ye halt between two opinions? if Jehovah be God, follow him; and if Baal, follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

²² And Elijah said to the people, I, only I, remain a prophet of Jehovah; and Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

²³ Let them therefore give us two bullocks: and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood, and put no fire; and I will sacrifice the other bullock, and put it on the wood, and put no fire.

²⁴ And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of Jehovah; and the god that answers by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, The word is good.

²⁵ And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose one bullock for yourselves, and sacrifice it first; for ye are the many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire.

²⁶ And they took the bullock which had been given them, and sacrificed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, answer us! But there was no voice, and none answered. And they leaped about the altar that had been made.

²⁷ And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud; for he is a god; for he is meditating, or gone aside, or he is on a journey; perhaps he sleeps, and will awake.

²⁸ And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with swords and spears, till the blood gushed out upon them.

²⁹ And it came to pass when midday was past, that they prophesied until the [time] of the offering up of the oblation; but there was neither voice, nor any that answered, nor any attention.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, Draw near to me. And all the people drew near to him. And he repaired the altar of Jehovah which was broken down.

³¹ And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Jehovah came saying, Israel shall be thy name;

³² and with the stones he built an altar in the name of Jehovah, and made a trench round about the altar, of the capacity of two measures of seed;

³³ and he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it on the wood. And he said, Fill four pitchers with water, and pour it 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.

³⁵ And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.

³⁶ And it came to pass at [the time of] the offering up of the oblation, that Elijah the prophet drew near, and said, Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac and 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 by thy word.

³⁷ Answer me, Jehovah, answer me, that this people may know that thou Jehovah art God, and [that] *thou* hast turned their heart back again.

³⁸ And the fire of Jehovah 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.

³⁹ And all the people saw [it], and they fell on their faces and said, Jehovah, he is God! Jehovah, he is God!

⁴⁰ And Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape! And they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the torrent of Kishon, and slaughtered them there.

⁴¹ And Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.

⁴² And Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed down on the earth, and put his face between his knees.

⁴³ 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.

⁴⁴ And it came to pass at the seventh time that he said, Behold there is a cloud, small as a man's hand, arising out of the sea. And he said, Go up, say to Ahab, Harness and go down, that the pour of rain stop thee not.

⁴⁵ And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heavens became black [with] clouds and wind, and there was a great pour of rain. And Ahab got on the chariot, and went to Jizreel.

⁴⁶ And the hand of Jehovah was upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jizreel.

19 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and in detail how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.

² And Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, So do the gods [to me], and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about this time!

³ And when he saw [that], he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

⁴ And he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a certain broom-bush, and requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough: now, Jehovah, take my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

⁵ And he lay down and slept under the broom-bush. And behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, Arise, eat!

⁶ And he looked, and behold, at his head was a cake, baked on hot stones, and a cruse of water. And he ate and drank, and lay down again.

⁷ And the angel of Jehovah came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise, eat; for the journey is too great for thee.

⁸ And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

⁹ And there he went into a cave, and lodged there. And behold, the word of Jehovah [came] to him, and he said to him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

¹⁰ And he said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I am left, I alone, and they seek my life, to take it away.

¹¹ And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before Jehovah. And behold, Jehovah passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before Jehovah: Jehovah was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake: Jehovah was not in the earthquake.

¹² And after the earthquake, a fire: Jehovah was not in the fire. And after the fire, a soft gentle voice.

¹³ And it came to pass, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice [came] to him and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

¹⁴ And he said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I am left, I alone, and they seek my life, to take it away.

¹⁵ And Jehovah said to him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when thou comest, anoint Hazael king over Syria;

¹⁶ and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint prophet in thy stead.

¹⁷ And it shall come to pass, [that] him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him that escapeth the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.

¹⁸ Yet I have left [myself] seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth that hath not kissed him.

¹⁹ And he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was ploughing [with] twelve yokes before him, and he with the twelfth; and Elijah went over to him, and cast his mantle on him.

²⁰ And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and I will follow thee. And he said to him, Go back again; for what have I done to thee?

²¹ And he returned back from him, and took the yoke of oxen, and killed them, and boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave to the people, and they ate. And he arose and went after Elijah, and ministered to him.