Historical
Elijah Confronts Ahab
18 Now it was after many days that the word of Adonai came to Elijah in the third year saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab; then I will send rain on the land. 2 So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab.
Now the famine was severe in Samaria. 3 Ahab summoned Obadiah who was the steward of the palace. Now Obadiah feared Adonai greatly— 4 for when Jezebel was cutting off the prophets of Adonai, Obadiah took 100 prophets, hid them 50 to a cave, and provided them with bread and water. 5 Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the wadis. Perhaps we may find grass and so keep the horses and mules alive and not lose all the animals.” 6 So they divided the land between them to explore it—Ahab went one way by himself while Obadiah went another way by himself.
7 As Obadiah was on the road, all of a sudden, Elijah met him. When he recognized him, he fell on his face and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?”
8 “It is I,” he answered him. Go tell your lord, ‘Look, Elijah is here!”
9 “How have I sinned,” he replied, “that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab, to put me to death? 10 As Adonai your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent to search for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made that kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you.
11 “Now you’re saying, ‘Go tell your lord, “Look, Elijah is here!”’ 12 But as soon as I leave you, the Ruach Adonai may carry you off where I wouldn’t know. Then, when I come and tell Ahab and he can’t find you, he’ll kill me! Now I, your servant, have feared Adonai since my youth. 13 Wasn’t my lord told what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the prophets of Adonai—how I hid 100 of Adonai’s prophets, 50 to a cave and provided them with bread and water? 14 So now you say, ‘Go tell your lord, “Look, Elijah is here!’” He’ll kill me!”
15 Then Elijah said, “As Adonai-Tzva’ot lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.”
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him; then, Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 Now when Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, the one who causes trouble for Israel?”
18 But he answered, “I have not troubled Israel. Rather, it is you and your father’s house—by forsaking the mitzvot of Adonai and going after the Baalim. 19 Now then, send and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
Triumph on Mount Carmel
20 So Ahab sent word to all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If Adonai is God, follow Him; but if Baal is, follow him.” But the people did not answer him, not even a word.
22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only prophet of Adonai left, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. 23 Now let them give us two young bulls. Let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it into pieces, lay it on the wood, and put no fire underneath, while I prepare the other bull, lay it on the wood, and put no fire underneath. 24 Then you will call on the name of your god, and then, I will call on the Name of Adonai. The God who answers with fire, He is God.”
All the people responded and said, “It’s a good thing.”
25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first—since you are so many. Then call on the name of your god, but put no fire underneath.”
26 So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning till noon, crying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice—no one was answering. They also danced leaping around the altar that was made.
27 Now when it was about noon, Elijah mocked them and said, “Shout louder! After all, he is a god! Maybe he’s deep in thought, or he’s relieving himself, or he’s off on a journey, or perhaps he’s asleep and must wake up!” 28 So they shouted even louder and cut themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until the blood gushed over them. 29 When midday was past, they kept prophesying ecstatically until the time of offering up the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice, no one answering, no one paying attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came closer to him. Then he repaired the damaged altar of Adonai. 31 Elijah took twelve stones—like the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Adonai had come saying, “Israel shall be your name”— 32 and with the stones he built an altar in the Name of Adonai. Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed. 33 Then he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood.
34 Then he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” Then he said, “A second time!” and they did it a second time. Then he said, “A third time!” and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran around the altar and he also filled the trench with water.
36 Now it was at the time of offering up the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Adonai, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel,[a] let it be known today that You are God in Israel, that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Answer me, Adonai, answer me, so that these people may know that You, Adonai, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.”
38 Then the fire of Adonai fell and consumed the burnt offering—and the wood, the stones and the dust—and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces, and they said, “Adonai, He is God! Adonai, He is God!”
40 Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Let not a single one of them escape.” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon and slew them there.
41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there’s the sound of rain.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, crouched on the ground and put his face between his knees. [b] 43 Then he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.”
So he went up, looked, and said, “There’s nothing.”
Then he said, “Go back”—seven times— 44 and it was the seventh time that he said, “Look! A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”
Then he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Harness your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”
45 In a little while the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. Ahab mounted and rode, and headed to Jezreel. 46 Now the hand of Adonai was on Elijah, so he girded up his loins and outran Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
Whisper at the Cave
19 Then Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, “So let the gods do to me and worse if by this time tomorrow I don’t make your life like the life of one of them.” 3 Frightened, he got up and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, he left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom bush. He prayed that he might die. “It’s too much!” he said. “Now, Adonai, take my life! For I’m no better than my fathers.”
5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom bush. Then behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, “Get up, and eat.” 6 So he looked, and to his surprise, there by his head was a cake baked on the hot stones and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 Then the angel of Adonai came again a second time, touched him and said. “Get up and eat, because the journey is too much for you.” 8 So he arose and ate and drank, and in the strength of that meal forty days and forty nights went to Horeb, the mountain of God.
9 When he arrived there at the cave, he spent the night there. Then behold, the word of Adonai came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 “I have been very zealous for Adonai-Tzva’ot,” he said, “for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and slain Your prophets with the sword—and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it!”[c]
11 Then He said, “Come out and stand on the mount before Adonai.”[d] Behold, Adonai was passing by—a great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and shattering cliffs before Adonai. But Adonai was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but Adonai was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake a fire, but Adonai was not in the fire. After the fire there was a soft whisper of a voice. 13 As soon as Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle, went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
Then all of a sudden, a voice addressed him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 “I have been very zealous for Adonai-Tzva’ot,” he said, “for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and slain Your prophets with the sword—and I alone am left, and they are seeking to take my life!”
15 Then Adonai said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram, 16 and anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. 17 It shall come to pass that whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu will slay; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will slay. 18 Yet I have preserved seven thousand in Israel whose knees have not bowed to Baal and whose mouth has not kissed him.”
Calling of Elisha
19 So he departed from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. Then Elijah crossed over to him and threw his mantle on him. 20 So he left the oxen and ran after Elijah saying, “Let me please kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.”[e]
“Come back,” he said to him. “For what have I done to you?” 21 So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the oxen’s yoke gear, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose, went after Elijah and became his attendant.
Ahab and the Prophets
20 Now King Ben-Hadad of Aram gathered all his army. With him were 32 kings, along with horses and chariots. He marched up, besieged Samaria and attacked it. 2 Then he sent messengers into the city to King Ahab of Israel, 3 and said to him, “Thus says Ben-Hadad: ‘Your silver and gold are mine! Your best wives and children are also mine.”
4 The king of Israel replied, “As you say, my lord the king: I am yours, along with all I have.”
5 Then the messengers came back and said, “Thus says Ben-Hadad: Indeed I sent word to you, ordering you to give me your silver, your gold, your wives and your children. 6 Now I will send my servants to you tomorrow at this time, and they shall search your palace and the houses of your courtiers. Whatever is valuable in your eyes, they shall seize in their hand and take it away.”
7 Then the king of Israel summoned all the elders of the land and said, “Please know and see how this man is bent on evil! For he sent someone to me for my wives, my children, my silver and my gold, and I didn’t refuse him.”
8 All the elders and all the people said to him, “Don’t listen to him or consent.”
9 So he said to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, “Tell my lord the king: All that you sent to your servant at first, I will do, but this thing I cannot do,” The messengers departed and reported to him.
10 Then Ben-Hadad sent word to him again saying, “May the gods do so to me and even more, if the dust of Samaria will suffice for handfuls for all the people at my feet.”
11 The king of Israel answered and said, “Tell him: ‘Let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.”
12 On hearing this reply—while he and the other kings were drinking in the booths—he said to his servants, “Take your positions.” So they stationed themselves against the city.
13 Then behold, a prophet approached King Ahab of Israel and said, “Thus says Adonai: Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand this day, and you will know that I am Adonai.”
14 Ahab asked, “By whom?”
He said, “Thus says Adonai: By the young men of the rulers of the provinces.”
Then he asked, “Who should begin the battle?”
“You!” he answered.
15 So he mustered the young men of the rulers of the provinces. There were 232. After them he mustered all the people of all the children of Israel, 7,000. 16 They marched out at noon, while Ben-Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the booths—he and the 32 kings allied with him. 17 The young men of the rulers of the provinces marched out first. Ben-Hadad sent out scouts, who reported to him saying, “There are men coming out from Samaria.”
18 He said, “Whether they are coming out for peace, take them alive, or whether they are coming out for battle, take them alive.”
19 Now when the young men of the rulers of the provinces marched out of the city, with the army following them, 20 each man struck down his foe. Then the Arameans fled and Israel pursued them, but King Ben-Hadad of Aram escaped on a horse with horsemen. 21 Then the king of Israel went out, struck the horses and chariots, and inflicted on the Arameans a great defeat.
22 The prophet then approached the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself. Consider carefully what you should do, for at the turn of the year the king of Aram will march up against you.”
23 Meanwhile, the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their God is a God of the mountains—that’s why they were stronger than us. But let’s fight against them in the plain. Then surely we’ll be stronger than them. 24 So this is what you should do: remove the kings, each from his post, and appoint governors in their place. 25 Then muster an army like the army that you lost—horse for horse and chariot for chariot—and let’s fight against them in the plain, and surely we’ll be stronger than them!” He listened to their advice and acted accordingly.
26 It came about at the turn of the year that Ben-Hadad mustered the Arameans and marched up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. 27 Now the children of Israel were mustered, given provisions, and marched against them. But when the children of Israel encamped before them, they looked like two little flocks of goats while the Arameans covered the land.
28 Then a man of God approached the king of Israel and spoke to him saying, “Thus says Adonai: Because the Arameans have said, ‘Adonai is a God of the mountains, but He is not a God of the valleys,’ therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am Adonai.”
29 So they encamped one over against the other seven days. On the seventh day the battle was joined, and the children of Israel struck down 100,000 of the Aramean foot soldiers in a single day. 30 The rest fled to Aphek into the city and the wall fell upon 27,000 men that were left. But Ben-Hadad fled into the city, into an inner chamber. 31 His officials said to him, “Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please let’s put sackcloth on our loins and ropes on our heads, and surrender to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life.”
32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, put ropes on their heads, came to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says: ‘Please let me live.’”
He replied, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”
33 The men took it as a good sign and were quick to catch on, so they said, “Yes, Ben-Hadad is your brother.”
“Go, bring him,” he said. So Ben-Hadad came out to him and he took him up into his chariot.
34 Then he said to him, “The cities which my father took from your father I will give back, and you may set up markets for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.”
“Then I will let you go with this covenant.” So he made a covenant with him and let him go.
35 Now a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow by the word of Adonai, “Strike me please!” But the man refused to strike him. 36 Then he said to him, “Because you did not obey the voice of Adonai, behold, as soon as you leave me, a lion shall kill you.” As soon as he left him, a lion found him and killed him.
37 Then he found another man, and said, “Strike me please!” So the man struck him and wounded him. 38 Then the prophet left and waited for the king by the road, disguising himself with a headband over his eyes. 39 As the king was passing by, he cried to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold, a man turned aside and brought another man to me and said, ‘Guard this man! If by any means he is missing, then your life will be for his life, or else you will weigh out a talent of silver.’ 40 Then as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.”
The king of Israel said to him, “So will your sentence be—you yourself have decided it.”
41 Then he quickly took the headband away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 42 Then he said to him, “Thus says Adonai: ‘Because you have released out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life will be in place of his life and your people in place of his people.’”
43 Then the king of Israel went home to Samaria sullen and resentful.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.