Day 155 of 730

¹It happened after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, "Go, show yourself to Ahab; and I will send rain on the earth."

²Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria.

³Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly:

⁴for it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

⁵Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go through the land, to all the springs of water, and to all the brooks. Perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, that we not lose all the animals."

⁶So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

⁷As Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, "Is it you, my lord Elijah?"

⁸He answered him, "It is I. Go, tell your lord, 'Behold, Elijah is here!'"

⁹He said, "Wherein have I sinned, that you would deliver your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me?

¹⁰As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom, where my lord has not sent to seek you. When they said, 'He is not here,' he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they did not find you.

¹¹Now you say, 'Go, tell your lord, "Behold, Elijah is here."'

¹²It will happen, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you I do not know where; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he can't find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have feared the Lord from my youth.

¹³Wasn't it told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid one hundred men of the Lord's prophets with fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

¹⁴Now you say, 'Go, tell your lord, "Behold, Elijah is here";' and he will kill me."

¹⁵Elijah said, "As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today."

¹⁶So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

¹⁷It happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"

¹⁸He answered, "I have not troubled Israel; but you, and your father's house, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and you have followed the Baals.

¹⁹Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and four hundred fifty of the prophets of Baal, and four hundred of the prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."

²⁰So Ahab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together to Mount Carmel.

²¹Elijah came near to all the people, and said, "How long will you waver between the two sides? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." The people answered him not a word.

²²Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred fifty men.

²³Let them therefore give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under; and I will dress the other bull, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under it.

²⁴You call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The God who answers by fire, let him be God." All the people answered, "It is well said."

²⁵Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves, and dress it first; for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it."

²⁶They took the bull which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any who answered. They leaped about the altar which was made.

²⁷It happened at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, "Cry aloud; for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he has gone aside, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he sleeps and must be awakened."

²⁸They cried aloud, and cut themselves in their way with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.

²⁹It was so, when midday was past, that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the offering; but there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any who regarded.

³⁰Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me"; and all the people came near to him. He repaired the altar of the Lord that was thrown down.

³¹Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, "Israel shall be your name."

³²With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. He made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed.

³³He put the wood in order, and cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, "Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering, and on the wood."

³⁴He said, "Do it a second time"; and they did it the second time. He said, "Do it a third time"; and they did it the third time.

³⁵The water ran around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.

³⁶It happened at the time of the offering of the offering, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, "Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.

³⁷Hear me, Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you, Lord, are God, and that you have turned their heart back again."

³⁸Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

³⁹When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces. They said, "The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!"

⁴⁰Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!" They seized them. Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and killed them there.

⁴¹Elijah said to Ahab, "Get up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain."

⁴²So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down on the earth, and put his face between his knees.

⁴³He said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." He went up, and looked, and said, "There is nothing." He said, "Go again" seven times.

⁴⁴It happened at the seventh time, that he said, "Behold, a small cloud, like a man's hand, is rising out of the sea." He said, "Go up, tell Ahab, 'Get ready and go down, so that the rain doesn't stop you.'"

⁴⁵It happened in a little while, that the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

⁴⁶The hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

¹Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.

²Then 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!"

³When he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

⁴But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough. Now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers."

⁵He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat!"

⁶He looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on the coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again.

⁷The angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, "Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you."

⁸He arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the Mount of God.

⁹He came there to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

¹⁰He said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of Hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

¹¹He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord." Behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

¹²After the earthquake a fire passed; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

¹³It was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. Behold, a voice came to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

¹⁴He said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of Hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

¹⁵The Lord said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.

¹⁶You shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi to be king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah to be prophet in your place.

¹⁷It shall happen, that he who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and he who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill.

¹⁸Yet will I leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him."

¹⁹So he departed there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing, with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed over to him, and cast his mantle on him.

²⁰He left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, "Let me please kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you." He said to him, "Go back again; for what have I done to you?"

²¹He returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, and killed them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave to the people, and they ate. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and served him.

¹Give ear to my words, Lord. Consider my meditation.

²Listen to the voice of my cry, my King and my God; for to you do I pray.

³Lord, in the morning you shall hear my voice. In the morning I will lay my requests before you, and will watch expectantly.

⁴For you are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness. Evil can't live with you.

⁵The arrogant shall not stand in your sight. You hate all workers of iniquity.

⁶You will destroy those who speak lies. The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

⁷But as for me, in the abundance of your loving kindness I will come into your house. I will bow toward your holy temple in reverence of you.

⁸Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies. Make your way straight before my face.

⁹For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their heart is destruction. Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongue they are deceitful.

¹⁰Hold them guilty, God. Let them fall by their own counsels; Thrust them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against you.

¹¹But let all those who take refuge in you rejoice, Let them always shout for joy, because you defend them. Let them also who love your name be joyful in you.

¹²For you will bless the righteous. Lord, you will surround him with favor as with a shield.

¹The words of king Lemuel; the oracle which his mother taught him.

²"Oh, my son! Oh, son of my womb! Oh, son of my vows!

³Do not give your strength to women, nor your ways to that which destroys kings.

⁴It is not for kings, Lemuel; it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes to say, 'Where is strong drink?'

⁵lest they drink, and forget the decree, and pervert the justice due to anyone who is afflicted.

⁶Give strong drink to him who is ready to perish; and wine to the bitter in soul:

⁷Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

⁸Open your mouth for the mute, in the cause of all who are left desolate.

⁹Open your mouth, judge righteously, and serve justice to the poor and needy."

¹⁰Who can find a worthy woman? For her price is far above rubies.

¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her. He shall have no lack of gain.

¹²She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.

¹³She seeks wool and flax, and works eagerly with her hands.

¹⁴She is like the merchant ships. She brings her bread from afar.

¹⁵She rises also while it is yet night, gives food to her household, and portions for her servant girls.

¹⁶She considers a field, and buys it. With the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard.

¹⁷She girds her waist with strength, and makes her arms strong.

¹⁸She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp doesn't go out by night.

¹⁹She lays her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle.

²⁰She opens her arms to the poor; yes, she extends her hands to the needy.

²¹She is not afraid of the snow for her household; for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

²²She makes for herself carpets of tapestry. Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

²³Her husband is respected in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land.

²⁴She makes linen garments and sells them, and delivers sashes to the merchant.

²⁵Strength and dignity are her clothing. She laughs at the time to come.

²⁶She opens her mouth with wisdom. Faithful instruction is on her tongue.

²⁷She looks well to the ways of her household, and doesn't eat the bread of idleness.

²⁸Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also praises her:

²⁹"Many women do noble things, but you excel them all."

³⁰Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

³¹Give her of the fruit of her hands! Let her works praise her in the gates!