1 Kings 17-19New King James Version (NKJV)
Elijah Proclaims a Drought
17 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants
of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel
lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except
at my word.”
2 Then the word of
the Lord came to him, saying, 3 “Get away
from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into
the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you
shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
5 So he went and did according to the
word of the Lord, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows
into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and
meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the
brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the
brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
Elijah and the Widow
8 Then the word of
the Lord came to him, saying, 9 “Arise,
go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See,
I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” 10 So
he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city,
indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to
her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may
drink.” 11 And as she was going to get it, he
called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”
12 So she said, “As
the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour
in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a
couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we
may eat it, and die.”
13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not
fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake
from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for
yourself and your son. 14 For thus says
the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor
shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on
the earth.’”
15 So she went away and did according
to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The
bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the
word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.
Elijah Revives the Widow’s Son
17 Now it happened after these
things that the son of the woman who owned the house became
sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in
him. 18 So she said to Elijah, “What have I to do
with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and
to kill my son?”
19 And he said to her, “Give me your
son.” So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he
was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20 Then
he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You
also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?” 21 And
he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to
the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s
soul come back to him.” 22 Then
the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came
back to him, and he revived.
23 And Elijah took the child and
brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his
mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives!”
24 Then the woman said to Elijah,
“Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that
the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth.”
Elijah’s Message to Ahab
18 And it came to pass after many
days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year,
saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.”
2 So Elijah went to present himself
to Ahab; and there was a severe famine in Samaria. 3 And
Ahab had called Obadiah, who was in charge of his house.
(Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly. 4 For
so it was, while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah
had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed
them with bread and water.) 5 And Ahab had said to
Obadiah, “Go into the land to all the springs of water and to all the brooks;
perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so that we will
not have to kill any livestock.” 6 So they divided
the land between them to explore it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah
went another way by himself.
7 Now as Obadiah was on his way,
suddenly Elijah met him; and he recognized him, and fell on his face, and said,
“Is that you, my lord Elijah?”
8 And he answered him, “It is I.
Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”
9 So he said, “How have I sinned,
that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the Lord your
God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone
to hunt for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’
he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you. 11 And
now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here”’! 12 And
it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the
Spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I
go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant
have feared the Lord from my youth. 13 Was
it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of
the Lord, how I hid one hundred men of the Lord’s prophets, fifty to
a cave, and fed them with bread and water? 14 And
now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here.”’ He will kill
me!”
15 Then Elijah said, “As the Lord of
hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely present myself to him today.”
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and
told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 Then it happened, when Ahab saw
Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”
18 And he answered, “I have not
troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that
you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the
Baals. 19 Now therefore, send and gather
all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal,
and the four hundred prophets of Asherah,[a] who eat at Jezebel’s
table.”
Elijah’s Mount Carmel Victory
20 So Ahab sent for all the children
of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. 21 And
Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two
opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal,
follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. 22 Then
Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but
Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23 Therefore
let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it
in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under
it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on
the wood, but put no fire under it. 24 Then
you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of
the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.”
So all the people answered and said, “It is well spoken.”
25 Now Elijah said to the prophets of
Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first,
for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no
fire under it.”
26 So they took the bull which was
given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of
Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, hear us!” But there
was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which
they had made.
27 And so it was, at noon, that
Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god;
either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps
he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 28 So they
cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances,
until the blood gushed out on them. 29 And when
midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the
offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no
voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the
people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And he repaired
the altar of the Lord that was broken down. 31 And
Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of
Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel shall
be your name.”[b] 32 Then
with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a
trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 And
he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on
the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on
the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.” 34 Then he
said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a
second time; and he said, “Do it a third time,” and they
did it a third time. 35 So the
water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.
36 And it came to pass, at the
time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that
Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel
and I am Your servant, and that I have done
all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me,
O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God,
and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”
38 Then the fire of
the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the
stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in
the trench. 39 Now when all the people saw it, they
fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God!
The Lord, He is God!”
40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize
the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!” So they seized them; and
Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.
The Drought Ends
41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up,
eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of
rain.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And
Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put
his face between his knees, 43 and said to his
servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.”
So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.”
And seven times he said, “Go again.”
44 Then it came to pass the
seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a
man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab,
‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops
you.’”
45 Now it happened in the meantime
that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So
Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. 46 Then the
hand of the Lord came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran
ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
Elijah Escapes from Jezebel
19 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had
done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then
Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and
more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow
about this time.” 3 And when he saw that, he
arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to
Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day’s journey
into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed
that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for
I am no better than my fathers!”
5 Then as he lay and slept under a
broom tree, suddenly an angel[c] touched him, and said
to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 Then he
looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a
jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 And
the angel[d] of
the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said,
“Arise and eat, because the journey is too
great for you.” 8 So he arose, and ate and drank;
and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as
Horeb, the mountain of God.
9 And there he went into a cave, and
spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to
him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 So he said, “I have been very
zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have
forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with
the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
God’s Revelation to Elijah
11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand
on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed
by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in
pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not
in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not
in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a
fire, but the Lord was not in the fire;
and after the fire a still small voice.
13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that
he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the
cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you
doing here, Elijah?”
14 And he said, “I have been very
zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel
have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets
with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
15 Then the Lord said to
him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you
arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. 16 Also
you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel.
And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet
in your place. 17 It shall be that whoever
escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of
Jehu, Elisha will kill. 18 Yet I have reserved
seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every
mouth that has not kissed him.”
Elisha Follows Elijah
19 So he departed from there, and
found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve
yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then
Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. 20 And
he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father
and my mother, and then I will follow you.”
And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to
you?”
21 So Elisha turned
back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their
flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate.
Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant.
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