1 Kings 17-19

New American Bible (Revised Edition)

IV. The Story of Elijah^[a]

Chapter 17

Elijah Proclaims a Drought.^{[b] 1} Elijah the Tishbite,^[c](A) from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab: “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, during these years there shall be no dew or rain except at my word.” ² The word of the Lord came to Elijah: ³ Leave here, go east and hide in the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. ⁴ You shall drink of the wadi, and I have commanded ravens to feed you there. ⁵ So he left and did as the Lord had commanded. He left and remained by the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. ^6 (B)Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the wadi.

⁷ After some time, however, the wadi ran dry, because no rain had fallen in the land. ^8 (C)So the word of the Lord came to him: ⁹ Arise, go to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow there to feed you. ¹⁰ He arose and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the entrance of the city, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called out to her, “Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.” ¹¹ She left to get it, and he called out after her, “Please bring along a crust of bread.” ¹² She said, “As the Lord, your God, lives, I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a few sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die.” ¹³ Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Afterwards you can prepare something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.” ¹⁵ She left and did as Elijah had said. She had enough to eat for a long time—he and she and her household. ¹⁶ The jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord spoken through Elijah.

^17 (D)Some time later the son of the woman, the owner of the house, fell sick, and his sickness grew more severe until he stopped breathing. ¹⁸ So she said to Elijah, “Why have you done this to me, man of God? Have you come to me to call attention to my guilt and to kill my son?” ¹⁹ Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” Taking him from her lap, he carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰ He called out to the Lord: “Lord, my God, will you afflict even the widow with whom I am staying by killing her son?” ²¹ Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times and he called out to the Lord: “Lord, my God, let the life breath return to the body of this child.” ²² The Lord heard the prayer of Elijah; the life breath returned to the child’s body and he lived. ²³ Taking the child, Elijah carried him down into the house from the upper room and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, “See! Your son is alive.” ²⁴ The woman said to Elijah, “Now indeed I know that you are a man of God, and it is truly the word of the Lord that you speak.”

Chapter 18

Elijah Ends the Drought.^{[d] 1} Long afterward, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: Go, present yourself to Ahab, that I may send rain upon the earth. ² So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.

Now the famine in Samaria was severe, ³ and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, master of his palace, who greatly revered the Lord. ⁴ When Jezebel was slaughtering the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets, hid them away by fifties in caves, and supplied them with food and water. ⁵ Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all sources of water and to all the wadies. We may find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, so that we shall not have to slaughter any of the beasts.” ⁶ Dividing the land to explore between them, Ahab went one way by himself, Obadiah another way by himself. ⁷ As Obadiah was on his way, Elijah met him. Recognizing him, Obadiah fell prostrate and asked, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?” ⁸ He said to him, “Yes. Go tell your lord, ‘Elijah is here!’”^{[e] 9} But Obadiah said, “What sin has your servant committed, that you are handing me over to Ahab to be killed? ¹⁰ As the Lord, your God, lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent in search of you. When they replied, ‘He is not here,’ he made each kingdom and nation swear they could not find you. ¹¹ And now you say, ‘Go tell your lord: Elijah is here!’ ¹² After I leave you, the spirit of the Lord will carry you to some place I do not know, and when I go to inform Ahab and he does not find you, he will kill me—though your servant has revered the Lord from his youth! ¹³ Have you not been told, my lord, what I did when Jezebel was murdering the prophets of the Lord—that I hid a hundred of the prophets of the Lord, fifty each in caves, and supplied them with food and water? ¹⁴ And now you say, ‘Go tell your lord: Elijah is here!’ He will kill me!” ¹⁵ Elijah answered, “As the Lord of hosts lives, whom I serve, I will present myself to him today.”

¹⁶ So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and informed him, and Ahab came to meet Elijah. ¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is it you, you disturber of Israel?” ¹⁸ He answered, “It is not I who disturb Israel, but you and your father’s house, by forsaking the commands of the Lord and you by following the Baals. ¹⁹ Now summon all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, as well as the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.” ²⁰ So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and had the prophets gather on Mount Carmel.

²¹ Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you straddle the issue? If the Lord is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him. ²² So Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, and there are four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. ²³ Give us two young bulls. Let them choose one, cut it into pieces, and place it on the wood, but start no fire. I shall prepare the other and place it on the wood, but shall start no fire. ²⁴ You shall call upon the name of your gods, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. The God who answers with fire is God.” All the people answered, “We agree!”

²⁵ Elijah then said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one young bull and prepare it first, for there are more of you. Call upon your gods, but do not start the fire.” ²⁶ Taking the young bull that was turned over to them, they prepared it and called upon Baal from morning to noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and no one answering. And they hopped around the altar they had prepared. ²⁷ When it was noon, Elijah taunted them: “Call louder, for he is a god; he may be busy doing his business, or may be on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” ²⁸ They called out louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears according to their ritual until blood gushed over them. ²⁹ Noon passed and they remained in a prophetic state until the time for offering sacrifice. But there was no sound, no one answering, no one listening.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” When they drew near to him, he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been destroyed. ³¹ He took twelve stones, for the number of tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the Lord had said: Israel shall be your name. ³² He built the stones into an altar to the name of the Lord, and made a trench around the altar large enough for two measures of grain. ³³ When he had arranged the wood, he cut up the young bull and laid it on the wood. ³⁴ He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it over the burnt offering and over the wood.” “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he said, and they did it a third time. ³⁵ The water flowed around the altar; even the trench was filled with the water. ³⁶ At the time for offering sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came forward and said, “Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. ^37 (E)Answer me, Lord! Answer me, that this people may know that you, Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back to you.” ³⁸ The Lord’s fire came down and devoured the burnt offering, wood, stones, and dust, and lapped up the water in the trench. ³⁹ Seeing this, all the people fell prostrate and said, “The Lord is God! The Lord is God!” ^40 (F)Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Let none of them escape!” They seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon and there he slaughtered them. ⁴¹ Elijah then said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” ⁴² So Ahab went up to eat and drink, while Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, crouched down to the earth, and put his head between his knees. ⁴³ He said to his servant, “Go up and look out to sea.” He went up and looked, but reported, “There is nothing.” Seven times he said, “Go look again!” ⁴⁴ And the seventh time the youth reported, “There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea.” Elijah said, “Go and say to Ahab, ‘Harness up and go down the mountain before the rain stops you.’” ⁴⁵ All at once the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain fell. Ahab mounted his chariot and headed for Jezreel. ⁴⁶ But the hand of the Lord was on Elijah. He girded up his clothing and ran before Ahab as far as the approaches to Jezreel.

Chapter 19

Flight to Horeb.^{[f] 1} Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done—that he had murdered all the prophets by the sword. ² Jezebel then sent a messenger to Elijah and said, “May the gods do thus to me and more, if by this time tomorrow I have not done with your life what was done to each of them.” ³ Elijah was afraid and fled for his life, going to Beer-sheba of Judah. He left his servant there ^4 (G)and went a day’s journey into the wilderness, until he came to a solitary broom tree and sat beneath it. He prayed for death: “Enough, Lord! Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” ⁵ He lay down and fell asleep under the solitary broom tree, but suddenly a messenger^[g] touched him and said, “Get up and eat!” ⁶ He looked and there at his head was a hearth cake and a jug of water. After he ate and drank, he lay down again, ⁷ but the angel of the Lord came back a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat or the journey will be too much for you!” ^8 (H)He got up, ate, and drank; then strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

⁹ There he came to a cave, where he took shelter. But the word of the Lord came to him: Why are you here, Elijah? ¹⁰ He answered: “I have been most zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, but the Israelites have forsaken your covenant. They have destroyed your altars and murdered your prophets by the sword. I alone remain, and they seek to take my life.” ^11 (I)Then the Lord said: Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord;^[h] the Lord will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord—but the Lord was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake—but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹² after the earthquake, fire—but the Lord was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound.^[i]

¹³ When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, Why are you here, Elijah? ^14 (J)He replied, “I have been most zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, but the Israelites have forsaken your covenant. They have destroyed your altars and murdered your prophets by the sword. I alone remain, and they seek to take my life.” ^15 [j](K)The Lord said to him: Go back! Take the desert road to Damascus. When you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king of Aram. ^16 (L)You shall also anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, as king of Israel, and Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, as prophet to succeed you. ¹⁷ Anyone who escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill. Anyone who escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. ^18 (M)But I will spare seven thousand in Israel—every knee that has not bent to Baal, every mouth that has not kissed him.

^19 [k]Elijah set out, and came upon Elisha, son of Shaphat, as he was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen; he was following the twelfth. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak on him. ^20 (N)Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please, let me kiss my father and mother good-bye, and I will follow you.” Elijah answered, “Go back! What have I done to you?” ²¹ Elisha left him and, taking the yoke of oxen, slaughtered them; he used the plowing equipment for fuel to boil their flesh, and gave it to the people to eat. Then he left and followed Elijah to serve him.