The Divided Kingdom

and now, thou art saying, Go, say to thy lord, Lo, Elijah;

and it hath been, I go from thee, and the Spirit of Jehovah doth lift thee up, whither I know not, and I have come to declare to Ahab, and he doth not find thee, and he hath slain me; and thy servant is fearing Jehovah from my youth.

`Hath it not been declared to my lord that which I have done in Jezebel's slaying the prophets of Jehovah, that I hide of the prophets of Jehovah a hundred men, fifty by fifty in a cave, and sustained them with bread and water?

and now thou art saying, Go, say to my lord, Lo, Elijah--and he hath slain me!'

And Elijah saith, `Jehovah of Hosts liveth, before whom I have stood, surely to-day I appear unto him.'

And Obadiah goeth to meet Ahab, and declareth it to him, and Ahab goeth to meet Elijah,

and it cometh to pass at Ahab's seeing Elijah, that Ahab saith unto him, `Art thou he--the troubler of Israel?'

And he saith, `I have not troubled Israel, but thou and the house of thy father, in your forsaking the commands of Jehovah, and thou goest after the Baalim;

and now, send, gather unto me all Israel, unto the mount of Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the shrine, four hundred--eating at the table of Jezebel.'

And Ahab sendeth among all the sons of Israel, and gathereth the prophets unto the mount of Carmel;

and Elijah cometh nigh unto all the people, and saith, `Till when are ye leaping on the two branches? --if Jehovah is God, go after Him; and if Baal, go after him;' and the people have not answered him a word.

And Elijah saith unto the people, `I--I have been left a prophet of Jehovah--by myself; and the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men;

and let them give to us two bullocks, and they choose for themselves the one bullock, and cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood, and place no fire; and I--I prepare the other bullock, and have put it on the wood, and fire I do not place; --

and ye have called in the name of your god, and I--I call in the name of Jehovah, and it hath been, the god who answereth by fire--He is the God.' And all the people answer and say, `Good is the word.'

And Elijah saith to the prophets of Baal, `Choose for you the one bullock, and prepare first, for ye are the multitude, and call ye in the name of your god, and place no fire.'

And they take the bullock that one gave to them, and prepare, and call in the name of Baal from the morning even till the noon, saying, `O Baal, answer us!' and there is no voice, and there is none answering; and they leap on the altar that one had made.

And it cometh to pass, at noon, that Elijah playeth on them, and saith, `Call with a loud voice, for he is a god, for he is meditating, or pursuing, or on a journey; it may be he is asleep, an doth awake.'

And they call with a loud voice, and cut themselves, according to their ordinance, with swords and with spears, till a flowing of blood is on them;

and it cometh to pass, at the passing by of the noon, that they feign themselves prophets till the going up of the present, and there is no voice, and there is none answering, and there is none attending.

And Elijah saith to all the people, `Come nigh unto me;' and all the people come nigh unto him, and he repaireth the altar of Jehovah that is broken down;

and Elijah taketh twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of Jehovah was, saying, `Israel is thy name;'

and he buildeth with the stones an altar, in the name of Jehovah, and maketh a trench, as about the space of two measures of seed, round about the altar.

And he arrangeth the wood, and cutteth in pieces the bullock, and placeth it on the wood, and saith, `Fill ye four pitchers of water, and pour on the burnt-offering, and on the wood;

and he saith, `Do it a second time;' and they do it a second time; and he saith, `Do it a third time;' and they do it a third time;

and the water goeth round about the altar, and also, the trench he hath filled with water.