The Byble in Englyshe that is to saye, the content of all the holye scrypture, bothe of the olde and newe Testament, truly translated after the veryte of the Hebrue and Greke textes, by the diligent studye of dyuers excellent lerned [men e]xperte in the fore[saide] tongues.

¶ Elia is sent to Ahab. Obadia (otherwyse called Abdia) hydeth an hundreth Prophets. Elia kylleth all Baals Prophets, and afterwarde obteyneth rayne.

CAPI. XVIII.

AFter processe of many dayes the worde [unspec A] of the Lorde came to Elia in the thyrde yeare, sayenge: go shewe thy selfe vnto Ahab, and I wyll sende rayne vpon the earth. And Elia went to shewe hym selfe vn∣to Ahab, and there was a great famyshment in Scom••on. And Ahab called Obadia, whiche was the gouerner of his house: and Obadia feared God greatly: For when Ieza∣bell destroyed the Prophetes of the Lorde / he toke an hundred prophetes and hyd them, fyftie men in one caue, and fyftie in another, and prouyded breade and water for them. And Ahab sayde vnto Obadia: Go in to the lande, vnto al fountaynes of water, and vn∣to al brokes, yf happly we may fynde grasse, to saue the horses and the mules, and that we destroye not some of the beastes. And so they deuyded the lande bytwene them, to walke thorowe it. Ahab went one way by hym selfe / and Obadia went another way by him selfe.

And it chaunced that as Obadia was in [unspec B] the waye, Elia met hym. And Obadia knewe hym, and fell on his face, and sayde: arte not thou my Lorde Elia? And he answered hym, I am he. Go and tell thy lorde: beholde, Elia is here. He sayde: what, haue I synned, that thou woldest delyuer me in to the hande of Ahab, to sley me? As truely as the Lorde thy God lyueth, there is no nacyon or kyngdom, whyther my Lorde hath not sent, to seke the. And when they sayde: he is not there, he toke an othe of the kyngdome and nacyon, when he founde the not. And nowe thou sayest: go and tell thy Lorde, that Elia is here. And as soone as I am gone from the, the spiryte of the lorde shall carye the into some place that I do not knowe: and so when I come and tel Ahab, and he can not fynde the, he shall sley me. But I thy seruaunt feare the lorde from my youth vp.

Was it not tolde my Lorde, what I dyd, [unspec C] when Iezabel slue the prophets of the lorde, howe I hyd an hundred men of the Lordes prophets, fyftye men in one caue, and fyftye in another, and prouyded them of bread, and water? And nowe thou sayest, go thou nowe and shewe thy Lorde. Beholde, Elia is here / that he may sley me? And Elia sayd: as truly as the lorde of hoostes lyueth, before whome I stande, I wyll shewe my selfe vnto hym this daye. So Obadia went to mete Ahab / and tolde hym. And Ahab went to mete Elia And it fortuned that when Ahab sawe Elia / he sayde vnto hym: arte thou he that trou∣bleth Israell? He answered: it is not I that haue troubled Israell, but thou, and thy fa∣thers house, in that ye haue forsaken the com¦maundementes of the Lorde, and thou hast folowed Baall. Nowe therfore, sende and gather to me all Israel vnto mount Carmel, and the prophetes of Baall foure hundred and fyftye, and the prophettes of the groues foure hundred, which eate of Iezabels table.

So Ahab sent vnto all the chyldren of Is∣raell, and gathered the Prophettes togyther vnto mounte Carmell.

And Elia came vnto the peple, and sayde: [unspec D] howe longe halte ye bytwene two opinyons? Yf the Lorde be God / folowe hym: but yf Baall be he, then go after hym. And the peo∣ple answered hym not one worde. Then sayd Elia vnto the people agayne, I onely re∣mayne a Prophete of the Lorde: But Baals Prophettes are foure hundred and fyftye. Let them therfore gyue vs two oxen, and let them chose the one, and cut hym in peces, and laye hym on wood / and put no fyre vnder. And I wyll dresse the one oxe, and laye hym on wood, and wyll put no fyre vnder. And call ye on the name of youre Goddes / and I wyll call on the name of the Lorde. And then the GOD that answereth by fyre, let hym be God. And all the people answered, and sayde: it is well spoken.

And Elia sayde vnto the Prophettes of [unspec E] Baall: chose you an oxe, and dresse hym fyrst (foxye are many) and call on the name of youre Goddes, but put no fyre vndre. And they toke the one oxe that he dyd gyue them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baall from mornynge to noone, sayenge: O Baall heare vs. But there was no voyce nor one to answer. And they lept vpon the aulter that they had made. And at noone it fortu∣ned, that Elia mocked them, and sayde: crye lowde, for ☞ he is a god: peraduenture he is talkynge, or occupyed (in folowynge vpon his enemyes) or is in his iourneye, or happe∣ly he slepeth, and must be awaked. And they cryed lowde, and cut them selues, as theyr maner was, with knyues and launcers, tyll the blood folowed on them. And it chaunced / that when myddaye was passed ❀ ☞ they prophesyed vntyll the tyme of the euenynge Sacrifyce.

But there was neyther voyce nor one to answere, nor any that regarded them. And Elia sayde vnto all the folke: come to me. And all the people came to hym. And he re∣payred the aulter of the lorde, that was bro∣ken. And Elia toke. xii. stoones accordynge to the nombre of the. xii. trybes of the sonnes of Iacob (vnto whom the worde of the lorde came) sayenge. Israell shall be thy name.And with the stones he made an aulter in the [unspec F] name of the lorde. And he made a pyt rounde about the aulter, ☞ after the compas of two peckes of seed. And he put the wood in order, and hewed the oxe in peces, and layd hym on the wood, and sayde: fyll foure barels with water, and powre it on the burntsacrifice and on the wood. And he sayd: do so agayne. And they dyd so the seconde tyme. And he sayde agayne: do it the thyrde tyme. And they dyd it the thyrde tyme. And the water ran rounde aboute the aulter, and he fylled the pyt with water also. And it fortuned when the tyme came (wherin the burntsacrifyce of the eue∣nynge vsed to be offered) Elia the Prophette came, and sayd: lorde god of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel, it shalbe knowen this day, that thou arte the God in Israell, and that I am thy seruaunt, and that I haue done all these thynges at thy cōmaundement. Heare me (O lorde) heare me, that this people may know / that thou arte the Lorde God, and thou hast turned theyr herte agayne nowe at the last.

And the fyre of the Lorde fell, and consu∣med the burntsacrifyce and the wood, the sto∣nes and the dust, & lycked vp the water that was in the pytte.

And when all the people sawe it, they fell [unspec G] on theyr faces, and sayde: the lorde, he is god, the lord, he is god. And Elia sayd vnto them: Take the prophett{is} of Baall, and let not one of them escape. And they toke them, and Elia brought them vnto the brooke Kison, & slue them there. And Elia sayde vnto Ahab: get the vp, eate and drynke, for there is a sounde of moche rayne. And so Ahab went vp to eate and to drynke, and Elia went vp to the top of Carmell. And he layde ☞ hym selfe flatte vpon the earth, and put his face bytwene his knees, and sayde to his seruaunt: go vp (I praye the) and loke towarde the waye of the see. And he went vp and loked, and sayde: there is nothynge. And he sayde: go agayne seuen tymes. And it fortuned, that at the se∣uent tyme he sayde: beholde, there aryseth a lyttle clowde of the see, lyke a mannes hande He sayde: go, and saye vnto Ahab. Make fast thy charet, and get the downe, that the rayne stop the not. And it came to passe, that in the meane whyle, that heuen was blacke with clowdes and wynde, and there was a greate rayne. And Ahab gat vp and came to Iez∣reel. And the hande of the lorde was on Elia and he gyrded vp his loynes, and can before Ahab, tyll he came to Iezreell.

Notes

• Deute. xi. b 〈◊〉〈◊〉. v. c
• 〈◊〉〈◊〉
• ••. 〈◊〉〈◊〉
• ••••th. vi. a
• ••. Reg. ••4. c.
• 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 4. b.
• 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 32. f.
• 〈◊〉〈◊〉. vi. d 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 4••. a Math. i. c