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1. KönigeKapitel 18

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A long time passed, and in the third year the word of the LORD came to Elijah: "Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land."
So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria.
Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. Now Obadiah revered the LORD deeply.
When Jezebel was killing off the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and supplied them with bread and water.
Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the springs and all the streams. Perhaps we will find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so we will not have to destroy any of the livestock."
They divided the land between them to search it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
As Obadiah was on his way, Elijah suddenly met him. Obadiah recognized him, fell facedown, and said, "Is it really you, my lord Elijah?"
"It is I," he answered. "Go and tell your master, 'Elijah is here.'"
But Obadiah said, "What wrong have I done, that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death?
As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever they said, 'He is not here,' he made that kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you.
And now you say, 'Go and tell your master, "Elijah is here."'
The moment I leave you, the Spirit of the LORD will carry you off to who knows where. Then I will come and tell Ahab, and when he cannot find you, he will kill me—though I, your servant, have revered the LORD from my youth.
Has my lord not been told what I did when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the LORD—how I hid a hundred of the LORD's prophets, fifty to a cave, and supplied them with bread and water?
And now you say, 'Go and tell your master, "Elijah is here"'—he will kill me!"
Elijah said, "As surely as the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, today I will present myself to him."
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, "So it's you—the troubler of Israel!"
"I have not troubled Israel," Elijah replied, "but you and your father's house have, by abandoning the LORD's commandments and following the Baals.
Now send word and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table."
So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel.
Elijah came before all the people and said, "How long will you keep limping between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." The people said nothing.
Then Elijah said to the people, "I am the only prophet of the LORD left, while Baal has four hundred fifty prophets.
Let two bulls be given to us. Let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, and I will put no fire to it either.
Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers with fire—he is God." And all the people answered, "That is a good plan."
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it."
So they took the bull that was given them and prepared it, and they called on the name of Baal from morning until noon: "Baal, answer us!" But there was no sound and no answer. And they danced around the altar they had made.
At noon Elijah began to mock them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god. Perhaps he is lost in thought, or has stepped aside, or is away on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened."
So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until the blood flowed over them.
Midday passed, and they went on with their frenzied prophesying until the time for the evening offering. But there was no sound, no answer, no response.
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They all came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which had been torn down.
Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Israel shall be your name."
With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and around it he dug a trench large enough to hold two measures of seed.
He arranged the wood, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood.
Then he said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the offering and on 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.
The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
At the time of the evening offering, Elijah the prophet stepped forward and prayed: "LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, 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.
Answer me, LORD, answer me, so that this people may know that you, LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back again."
Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water in the trench.
When all the people saw it, they fell facedown and cried, "The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!"
Elijah ordered them, "Seize the prophets of Baal! Don't let a single one escape." They seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered them there.
Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain."
So Ahab went up to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, bent down to the ground, and put his face between his knees.
"Go up and look toward the sea," he told his servant. The servant went up and looked. "There is nothing," he said. Elijah told him, "Go back seven times."
The seventh time he reported, "Look, a cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Harness your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.'"
Before long the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, and a heavy rain came on. Ahab mounted his chariot and rode to Jezreel.
The hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
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