¹⁷ When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler^(A) of Israel?”

¹⁸ “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you^(B) and your father’s family have. You have abandoned^(C) the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. ¹⁹ Now summon^(D) the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel.^(E) And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”^(F)

²⁰ So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.^{(G) 21} Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver^(H) between two opinions? If the Lord^(I) is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

But the people said nothing.

²² Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left,^(J) but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.^{(K) 23} Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. ²⁴ Then you call^(L) on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord.^(M) The god who answers by fire^(N)—he is God.”

Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”

²⁵ Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” ²⁶ So they took the bull given them and prepared it.

Then they called^(O) on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response;^(P) no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

²⁷ At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”^{(Q) 28} So they shouted louder and slashed^(R) themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. ²⁹ Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice.^(S) But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.^(T)

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar^(U) of the Lord, which had been torn down. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.”^{(V) 32} With the stones he built an altar in the name^(W) of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs^[a] of seed. ³³ He arranged^(X) the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”

³⁴ “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.

“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. ³⁵ The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

³⁶ At the time^(Y) of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham,^(Z) Isaac and Israel, let it be known^(AA) today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.^{(AB) 37} Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know^(AC) that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

Elijah Flees to Horeb

19 Now Ahab told Jezebel^(A) everything Elijah had done and how he had killed^(B) all the prophets with the sword. ² So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely,^(C) if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”^(D)

³ Elijah was afraid^[a] and ran^(E) for his life.^(F) When he came to Beersheba^(G) in Judah, he left his servant there, ⁴ while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush,^(H) sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life;^(I) I am no better than my ancestors.” ⁵ Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.^(J)

All at once an angel^(K) touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” ⁶ He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

⁷ The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” ⁸ So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty^(L) days and forty nights until he reached Horeb,^(M) the mountain of God. ⁹ There he went into a cave^(N) and spent the night.

The Lord Appears to Elijah

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”^(O)

¹⁰ He replied, “I have been very zealous^(P) for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant,^(Q) torn down your altars,^(R) and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left,^(S) and now they are trying to kill me too.”

¹¹ The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain^(T) in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”^(U)

Then a great and powerful wind^(V) tore the mountains apart and shattered^(W) the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire,^(X) but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.^{(Y) 13} When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face^(Z) and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹¹ Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah^(A) said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,^(B) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

¹² But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?^(C)”

¹³ Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew,^(D) “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!^{(E) 14} This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive^(F) you. He cannot deliver you! ¹⁵ Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver^(G) us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’^(H)

¹⁶ “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree^(I) and drink water from your own cistern,^{(J) 17} until I come and take you to a land like your own^(K)—a land of grain and new wine,^(L) a land of bread and vineyards.

¹⁸ “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? ¹⁹ Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?^(M) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim?^(N) Have they rescued Samaria^(O) from my hand? ²⁰ Who of all the gods^(P) of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”^(Q)

²¹ But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”^(R)

²² Then Eliakim^(S) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder^(T) went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn,^(U) and told him what the field commander had said.