The. holie. Bible. conteynyng the olde Testament and the newe.

The .xviii. Chapter.

1 Elias is sent to Ahab. 13 Obadia hideth an hundred prophetes. 40 Elias killeth all Baals prophetes. 45 He obtayneth rayne.

[unspec A] 1 AFter processe of many dayes, the word of the Lord came to Elias in the third yere, saying: Go shewe thy selfe vn∣to Ahab, and I wyll sende rayne vpon the earth.

2 And Elias went to shewe him selfe vn∣to Ahab: and there was a great famish∣ment in Samaria.

3 And Ahab called Obadia, which was the gouernour of his house: (and Oba∣dia feared God greatly.

4 For when Iezabel destroyed the pro∣phets of the Lord, Obadia toke an hun∣dred prophets, and hid them by fiftie in a caue, and prouided bread and water for them.)

5 And Ahab saide vnto Obadia: Go in∣to the lande, vnto all fountaines of wa∣ter, and vnto all brookes, if happyly we may finde grasse to saue the horses and mules aliue, and that we destroy not [some of] the beastes.

6 And so they deuided the lande be∣tweene them to walke through it: A∣hab went one way by him selfe, and O∣badia went another way by him selfe.

7 And it chaunced that as Obadia was [unspec B] in the way, beholde Elias met him, and he knew him, and fell on his face, and saide: Art not thou my lorde Elias?

8 And he aunswered him, I am he: Go, and tel thy lorde, beholde, Elias is here.

6 He saide: What haue I sinned, that thou wouldest delyuer thy seruaunt in∣to the hande of Ahab, to slay me?

10 As the Lorde thy God liueth, there is no nation or kingdome, why∣ther my lord hath not sent to seeke thee: And when they saide, he is not there: he toke an oth of the kingdome and nati∣on when he found thee not.

11 And now thou sayest, Go, and tell thy lorde that Elias is here.

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12 And assoone as I am gone from thee, the spirite of the Lorde shall carrie thee into some place that I do not knowe, and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he can not finde thee, he shall slay me: But I thy seruaunt feare the Lorde from my youth vp.

[unspec C] 13 Was it not tolde my lorde what I did, when Iezabel slue the prophets of the Lorde? how I hid an hundred men of the Lordes prophets, fiftie men in one caue, and fiftie in another, and pro∣uided them of bread and water?

14 And thou sayest, Go thou now & shewe thy lorde, beholde Elias is here: that he may slay me.

15 And Elias saide: As the Lorde of hoastes liueth before whom I stand, I wyll shewe my selfe vnto him this day.

16 So Obadia went to meete Ahab, and tolde him: And Ahab went to meete E∣lias.

17 And it fortuned that when Ahab sawe Elias, he saide vnto him: Art thou he that troubleth Israel?

18 He aunswered: It is not I that haue troubled Israel, but (a) thou and thy fa∣thers house, in that ye haue forsaken the commaundements of the Lorde, & thou hast folowed Baal.

19 Now therefore send, and gather to me [unspec D] all Israel vnto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal foure hundred and fiftie, and the prophets of the [idols] groues foure hundred, which eate at Iezabels table.

20 So Ahab sent vnto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets to∣gether vnto mount Carmel.

21 And Elias came vnto all the people, and said: how long (b) halt ye betweene two opinions? If the Lorde be God, fo∣lowe him: but if Baal be he, then go af∣ter him. And the people aunswered him not one worde.

22 Then saide Elias vnto the people [a∣gaine] I onely remayne a prophete of the Lorde:(c) but Baals prophets are foure hundred and fiftie.

23 Let them therefore geue vs two oxen, and let them choose the one, & cut hym [unspec F] in peeces, and lay him on wood, and put no fire vnder: and I wyll dresse the o∣ther oxe, and laye him on wood, & wyll put no fyre vnder.

24 And call ye on the name of your gods, & I wyl call on the name of the Lorde: and then the God that aunswereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people aunswered and saide, It is wel spoken.

25 And Elias saide vnto the prophets of Baal: Choose you an oxe, & dresse him first, for ye are many: & call on the name of your gods, but put no fire vnder.

26 And they toke the one oxe that he dyd geue them, and they dressed it, and cal∣led on the name of Baal from morning to noone, saying, O Baal heare vs. But there was no voyce, nor one to aun∣swere:

And they lept vpon the aulter that they had made.

27 And at noone Elias mocked them, and sayde: Crye lowde, for he is a God, per∣aduenture he is talking, or occupied in folowing vpon his enemies, or is in his iourney, or happyly he slepeth, and must be awaked [with your crie.]

[unspec E] 28 And they cried lowde, and cut them selues as their maner was with kniues & launcers, till the blood folowed on thē.

29 And it chaunced, that when mid∣day was passed, they prophesied vntill the time of the euening sacrifice: But there was neither voyce, nor one to aun∣swere, nor any that regarded them.

30 And Elias said vnto all the folke: Come to me. And all the people came to him: And he repaired the aulter of the Lord that was broken.

31 And Elias toke twelue stones, accor∣ding to the number of the twelue tribes of the sonnes of Iacob, vnto whom the word of the Lorde came, saying: Israel shalbe thy name.

32 And with the stones he made an aulter in the name of the Lorde: And he made a ditch about the aulter, as great as would conteyne two measures of seede.

33 And he put the wood in order, and hewed the oxe in peeces, and layed him on the wood, and said: Fill foure barrels with water, and powre it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.

34 And he sayde: Do so againe. And they dyd so the seconde time. And he sayde a∣gaine: Do it the thirde time. And they dyd it the thirde time:

35 And the water ran round about the aul¦ter, & he filled the pitte with water also.

[unspec F] 36 And it fortuned, that when they should offer the euening sacrifice, Elias the pro∣phete came, and sayde: Lorde God of A∣braham, Isahac, and of Israel, it shalbe knowen this day that thou art the God in Israel, & [that] I [am] thy seruaunt, and that I haue done all these thinges at thy commaundement.

37 Heare me O Lord, heare me, that this people may knowe that thou art the Lorde God, and [that] thou hast turned their heart againe nowe at the last.

38 And the fire of the Lord fel, and consu∣med the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the duste, and licked vp the water that was in the pit.

39 And when all the people sawe it, they fell on their faces, and sayde: The Lord he is God, the Lorde he is God.

40 And Elias sayd vnto them: Take the prophetes of Baal, and let not one of them escape. And they toke them, and Elias brought them vnto the brooke Kison, (d) and slue them there.

41 And Elias sayde vnto Ahab: Get thee vp, eate and drinke: for there is a sounde of much rayne.

42 And so Ahab went vp to eate and to drinke, and Elias went vp to the top of Carmel, and he layde him selfe flat vpō the earth, and put his face betweene his knees,

43 And sayde to his seruaunt: Go vp [I pray thee] and loke towarde the way of the sea. And he went vp, and loked, and sayde: There is nothing. And againe he sayde: Go againe seuen times.

44 And it fortuned that at the seuenth [unspec G] time, he sayde: Beholde there aryseth a litle cloude of the sea lyke a mans hand. He sayde: Go, and say vnto Ahab, Make fast [thy charet] and get thee downe, that the rayne stoppe thee not.

45 And it came to passe, that in the meane whyle the heauen was blacke with cloudes and winde, & there was a great rayne: And Ahab gat vp, and came to Iezrahel.

46 And the hande of the Lorde was on Elias, and he girded vp his loynes, and ranne before Ahab, till he came to Iez∣rahel.

Notes

• Deu. xi. b.
• (a)

  The mi∣nister of gods word ought to be faithfull and bo••de in Gods cause.
• iii Reg. 22 a.
• (b)

  Religion is not an in∣different thing, but wholy to be embraced, and constantly professed.
• (c)

  Baal hath more prophetes then God,
• i Reg. ix. ••
• Math. v•• ••
• i. Re. xiiii. c
• 〈1 paragraph〉〈1 paragraph〉
• Ge. xxxii. f
• Iud. vi. d. Eccl. xlviii •• i. Macha i. ••.
• (d)

  Elias slue Baals pro∣phetes.