Elijah’s Message to Ahab

1After many dayes, the worde of the Lorde came to Eliiah, in the third yeere, saying, Goe, shewe thy selfe vnto Ahab, and I will sende rayne vpon the earth. 2And Eliiah went to shew himselfe vnto Ahab, and there was a great famine in Samaria. 3And Ahab called Obadiah the gouernour of his house: (and Obadiah feared God greatly: 4For when Iezebel destroyed the Prophets of the Lorde, Obadiah tooke an hundreth Prophets, and hid them, by fiftie in a caue, and he fed them with bread and water.) 5And Ahab saide vnto Obadiah, Goe into the land, vnto all the fountaines of water, and vnto all the riuers, if so be that we may finde grasse to saue the horses and the mules aliue, lest we depriue the lande of the beastes. 6And so they deuided the lande betweene them to walke thorowe it. Ahab went one way by him selfe, and Obadiah went another way by him selfe.

7And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Eliiah met him: & he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art not thou my lord Eliiah? 8And he answered him, Yea, goe tell thy lord, Behold, Eliiah is here. 9And he said, What haue I sinned, that thou wouldest deliuer thy seruant into the hande of Ahab, to slay me? 10As the Lorde thy God liueth, there is no nation or kingdome, whither my lorde hath not sent to seeke thee: and when they sayd, He is not here, he tooke an othe of the kingdome and nation, if they had not found thee. 11And now thou sayest, Goe, tell thy lorde, Beholde, Eliiah is here. 12And when I am gone from thee, the Spirit of the Lorde shall cary thee into some place that I doe not know: so when I come and tell Ahab, if he cannot finde thee, then wil he kil me: But I thy seruant feare the Lord from my youth. 13Was it not tolde my lord, what I did when Iezebel slew the Prophets of the Lord, how I hid an hundreth men of the Lordes Prophets by fifties in a caue, and fed them with bread & water? 14And now thou sayest, Go, tel thy lord, Behold, Eliiah is here, that he may slay me. 15And Eliiah said, As the Lorde of hostes liueth, before whome I stand, I will surely shewe my selfe vnto him this day.

Elijah on Mount Carmel

16So Obadiah went to meete Ahab, and tolde him: And Ahab went to meete Eliiah.

17And when Ahab saw Eliiah, Ahab said vnto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? 18And he answered, I haue not troubled Israel, but thou, and thy fathers house, in that ye haue forsaken the commandements of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim. 19Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel vnto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal foure hundreth and fiftie, and the prophets of the groues foure hundreth, which eate at Iezebels table.

20So Ahab sent vnto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together vnto mount Carmel. 21And Eliiah came vnto all the people, and said, How long halt ye betweene two opinions? If the Lord be God, followe him: but if Baal be he, then goe after him; the people answered him not a worde. 22Then said Eliiah vnto the people, I onely remayne a Prophet of the Lorde: but Baals prophets are foure hundreth and fiftie men. 23Let them therefore giue vs two bullockes, and let them chuse the one, & cut him in pieces, and lay him on the wood, but put no fire vnder, and I will prepare the other bullocke, and lay him on the wood, and will put no fire vnder. 24Then call ye on the name of your god, & I will call on the name of the Lorde: and then the God that answereth by fire, let him be God; all the people answered, and sayde, It is well spoken.

25And Eliiah said vnto the prophets of Baal, Chuse you a bullocke, and prepare him first, (for ye are many) and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire vnder. 26So they tooke the one bullocke, that was giuen them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal, from morning to noone, saying, O Baal, heare vs: but there was no voyce, nor any to answere: and they leapt vpon the altar that was made. 27And at noone Eliiah mocked them, & said, Crye loude: for he is a god: either he talketh or pursueth his enemies, or is in his iourney, or it may be that he sleepeth, and must be awaked. 28And they cryed loude, and cut them selues as their maner was, with kniues and launcers, till the blood gushed out vpon them. 29And when midday was passed, & they had prophecied vntil the offring of the euening sacrifice, there was neither voyce, nor one to answere, nor any that regarded.

30And Eliiah said vnto all the people, Come to me; all the people came to him; he repayred the altar of the Lorde that was broken downe. 31And Eliiah tooke twelue stones, according to the nomber of the tribes of the sonnes of Iaakob, (vnto whome the worde of the Lord came, saying, Israel shalbe thy name) 32And with the stones he buylt an altar in the Name of the Lorde: and he made a ditch round about the altar, as great as woulde conteine two measures of seede. 33And he put the wood in order, and hewed the bullocke in pieces, & layd him on the wood, 34And said, Fill foure barrels with water, and powre it on the burnt offring and on the wood. Againe he said, Doe so againe; they did so the second time; he sayde, Doe it the third time; they did it the third time. 35And the water ran round about the altar: and he filled the ditch with water also.

Elijah’s Prayer

36And when they should offer the euening sacrifice, Eliiah the Prophet came, and sayd, Lord God of Abraham, Izhak and of Israel, let it be knowen this day, that thou art the God of Israel, and that I am thy seruant, and that I haue done all these things at thy commandement. 37Heare me, O Lorde, heare me, and let this people know that thou art the Lorde God, and that thou hast turned their heart againe at the last. 38Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt offring, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked vp the water that was in the ditche. 39And when all the people sawe it, they fell on their faces, and saide, The Lord is God, the Lord is God. 40And Elijah said vnto them, Take the prophets of Baal, let not a man of them escape; they tooke them, and Eliiah brought them to the brooke Kishon, and slewe them there.

The LORD Sends Rain

41And Eliiah sayde vnto Ahab, Get thee vp, eate and drinke, for there is a sound of much rayne. 42So Ahab went vp to eate and to drinke, and Eliiah went vp to the top of Carmel: and he crouched vnto the earth, & put his face betweene his knees, 43And sayde to his seruant, Goe vp now and looke towarde the way of the Sea; he went vp, and looked, and sayde, There is nothing. Againe he sayd, Goe againe seuen times. 44And at the seuenth time he sayd, Behold, there ariseth a litle cloude out of the sea like a mans hand. Then he sayd, Vp, and say vnto Ahab, Make readie thy charet, and get thee downe, that the raine stay thee not. 45And in the meane while the heauen was blacke with cloudes and winde, and there was a great rayne. Then Ahab went vp and came to Izreel. 46And the hand of the Lord was on Eliiah, and he girded vp his Ioynes, and ran before Ahab till he came to Izreel.