列王纪上 18

1After many days the word of the Lord came to Elias, in the third year, saying: Go and shew thyself to Achab, that I may give rain upon the face of the earth.

2And Elias went to shew himself to Achab, and there was a grievous famine in Samaria.

3And Achab called Abdias the governor of his house: now Abdias feared the Lord very much.

4For when Jezabel killed the prophets of the Lord, he took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifty and fifty in caves, and fed them with bread and water.

5And Achab said to Abdias: Go into the land unto all fountains of waters, and into all valleys, to see if we can find grass, and save the horses and mules, that the beasts may not utterly perish.

6And they divided the countries between them, that they might go round about them: Achab went one way, and Abdias another way by himself.

7And as Abdias was in the way, Elias met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said: Art thou my lord Elias?

8And he answered: I am. Go, and tell thy master: Elias is here.

9And he said: What have I sinned, that thou wouldst deliver me thy servant into the hand of Achab, that he should kill me?

10As the Lord thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when all answered: He is not here: he took an oath of every kingdom and nation, because thou wast not found.

11And now thou sayest to me: Go, and tell thy master: Elias is here.

12And when I am gone from thee, the spirit of the Lord will carry thee into a place that I know not: and I shall go in and tell Achab, and he not finding thee, will kill me: but thy servant feareth the Lord from his infancy.

13Hath it not been told thee, my lord, what I did when Jezabel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the prophets of the Lord, by fifty and fifty in caves, and fed them with bread and water?

14And now thou sayest: Go, and tell thy master: Elias is here: that he may kill me.

15And Elias said: As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whose face I stand, this day I will shew myself unto him.

16Abdias therefore went to meet Achab, and told him: and Achab came to meet Elias.

17And when he had seen him, he said: Art thou he that troublest Israel?

18And he said: I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father’s house, who have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and have followed Baalim.

19Nevertheless send now, and gather unto me all Israel, unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, who eat at Jezabel’s table.

20Achab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered together the prophets unto mount Carmel.

21And Elias coming to all the people, said: How long do you halt between two sides? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.

22And Elias said again to the people: I only remain a prophet of the Lord: but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men.

23Let two bullocks be given us, and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces and lay it upon wood, but put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under it.

24Call ye on the names of your gods, and I will call on the name of my Lord: and the God that shall answer by fire, let him be God. And all the people answering said: A very good proposal.

25Then Elias said to the prophets of Baal: Choose you one bullock and dress it first, because you are many: and call on the names of your gods, but put no fire under.

26And they took the bullock which he gave them, and dressed it: and they called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying: O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered: and they leaped over the altar that they had made.

27And when it was now noon, Elias jested at them, saying: Cry with a louder voice: for he is a God, and perhaps he is talking, or is in an inn, or on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep, and must be awaked.

28So they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till they were all covered with blood.

29And after midday was past, and while they were prophesying, the time was come of offering sacrifice, and there was no voice heard, nor did any one answer, nor regard them as they prayed:

30Elias said to all the people: Come ye unto me. And the people coming near unto him, he repaired the altar of the Lord, that was broken down:

31And he 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 thy name.

32And he built with the stones an altar to the name of the Lord: and he made a trench for water, of the breadth of two furrows round about the altar.

33And he laid the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it upon the wood.

34And he said: Fill four buckets with water, and pour it upon the burnt offering, and upon the wood. And again he said: Do the same the second time. And when they had done it the second time, he said: Do the same also the third time. And they did so the third time.

35And the water run round about the altar, and the trench was filled with water.

36And when it was now time to offer the holocaust, Elias the prophet came near and said: O Lord God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel, shew this day that thou art the God of Israel, and I thy servant, and that according to thy commandment I have done all these things.

37Hear me, O Lord, hear me: that this people may learn, that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart again.

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

39And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces, and they said: The Lord he is God, the Lord he is God.

40And Elias said to them: Take the prophets of Baal, and let not one of them escape. And when they had taken them, Elias brought them down to the torrent Cison, and killed them there.

41And Elias said to Achab: Go up, eat, and drink: for there is a sound of abundance of rain.

42Achab went up to eat and drink: and Elias went up to the top of Carmel, and casting himself down upon the earth put his face between his knees,

43And he said to his servant: Go up, and look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said: There is nothing. And again he said to him: Return seven times.

44And at the seventh time, behold, a little cloud arose out of the sea like a man’s foot. And he said: Go up and say to Achab: Prepare thy chariot and go down, lest the rain prevent thee.

45And while he turned himself this way and that way, behold the heavens grew dark, with clouds, and wind, and there fell a great rain. And Achab getting up went away to Jezrahel:

46And the hand of the Lord was upon Elias, and he girded up his loins and ran before Achab, till he came to Jezrahel.

1Post dies multos factum est verbum Domini ad Eliam, in anno tertio, dicens: Vade, et ostende te Achab, ut dem pluviam super faciem terræ.

2Ivit ergo Elias, ut ostenderet se Achab: erat autem fames vehemens in Samaria.

3Vocavitque Achab Abdiam dispensatorem domus suæ: Abdias autem timebat Dominum valde.

4Nam cum interficeret Jezabel prophetas Domini, tulit ille centum prophetas, et abscondit eos quinquagenos et quinquagenos in speluncis, et pavit eos pane et aqua.

5Dixit ergo Achab ad Abdiam: Vade in terram ad universos fontes aquarum, et in cunctas valles, si forte possimus invenire herbam, et salvare equos et mulos, et non penitus jumenta intereant.

6Diviseruntque sibi regiones ut circuirent eas: Achab ibat per viam unam, et Abdias per viam alteram seorsum.

7Cumque esset Abdias in via, Elias occurrit ei: qui cum cognovisset eum, cecidit super faciem suam, et ait: Num tu es, domine mi, Elias?

8Cui ille respondit: Ego. Vade, et dic domino tuo: Adest Elias.

9Et ille: Quid peccavi, inquit, quoniam tradis me servum tuum in manu Achab, ut interficiat me?

10Vivit Dominus Deus tuus, quia non est gens aut regnum quo non miserit dominus meus te requirens: et respondentibus cunctis: Non est hic: adjuravit regna singula et gentes, eo quod minime reperireris.

11Et nunc tu dicis mihi: Vade, et dic domino tuo: Adest Elias.

12Cumque recessero a te, spiritus Domini asportabit te in locum quem ego ignoro: et ingressus nuntiabo Achab, et non inveniens te, interficiet me: servus autem tuus timet Dominum ab infantia sua.

13Numquid non indicatum est tibi domino meo quid fecerim cum interficeret Jezabel prophetas Domini, quod absconderim de prophetis Domini centum viros, quinquagenos et quinquagenos, in speluncis, et paverim eos pane et aqua?

14et nunc tu dicis: Vade, et dic domino tuo: Adest Elias: ut interficiat me?

15Et dixit Elias: Vivit Dominus exercituum, ante cujus vultum sto, quia hodie apparebo ei.

16Abiit ergo Abdias in occursum Achab, et indicavit ei: venitque Achab in occursum Eliæ.

17Et cum vidisset eum, ait: Tune es ille, qui conturbas Israël?

18Et ille ait: Non ego turbavi Israël, sed tu, et domus patris tui, qui dereliquistis mandata Domini, et secuti estis Baalim.

19Verumtamen nunc mitte, et congrega ad me universum Israël in monte Carmeli, et prophetas Baal quadringentos quinquaginta, prophetasque lucorum quadringentos, qui comedunt de mensa Jezabel.

20Misit Achab ad omnes filios Israël, et congregavit prophetas in monte Carmeli.

21Accedens autem Elias ad omnem populum, ait: Usquequo claudicatis in duas partes? si Dominus est Deus, sequimini eum: si autem Baal, sequimini illum. Et non respondit ei populus verbum.

22Et ait rursus Elias ad populum: Ego remansi propheta Domini solus: prophetæ autem Baal quadringenti et quinquaginta viri sunt.

23Dentur nobis duo boves, et illi eligant sibi bovem unum, et in frusta cædentes ponant super ligna, ignem autem non supponant: et ego faciam bovem alterum, et imponam super ligna, ignem autem non supponam.

24Invocate nomina deorum vestrorum, et ego invocabo nomen Domini mei: et Deus qui exaudierit per ignem, ipse sit Deus. Respondens omnis populus ait: Optima propositio.

25Dixit ergo Elias prophetis Baal: Eligite vobis bovem unum, et facite primi, quia vos plures estis: et invocate nomina deorum vestrorum, ignemque non supponatis.

26Qui cum tulissent bovem quem dederat eis, fecerunt: et invocabant nomen Baal de mane usque ad meridiem, dicentes: Baal, exaudi nos. Et non erat vox, nec qui responderet: transiliebantque altare quod fecerant.

27Cumque esset jam meridies, illudebat illis Elias, dicens: Clamate voce majore: deus enim est, et forsitan loquitur, aut in diversorio est, aut in itinere, aut certe dormit, ut excitetur.

28Clamabant ergo voce magna, et incidebant se juxta ritum suum cultris et lanceolis, donec perfunderentur sanguine.

29Postquam autem transiit meridies, et illis prophetantibus venerat tempus quo sacrificium offerri solet, nec audiebatur vox, nec aliquis respondebat, nec attendebat orantes,

30dixit Elias omni populo: Venite ad me. Et accedente ad se populo, curavit altare Domini quod destructum fuerat.

31Et tulit duodecim lapides juxta numerum tribuum filiorum Jacob, ad quem factus est sermo Domini, dicens: Israël erit nomen tuum.

32Et ædificavit de lapidibus altare in nomine Domini: fecitque aquæductum, quasi per duas aratiunculas in circuitu altaris,

33et composuit ligna: divisitque per membra bovem, et posuit super ligna,

34et ait: Implete quatuor hydrias aqua, et fundite super holocaustum et super ligna. Rursumque dixit: Etiam secundo hoc facite. Qui cum fecissent secundo, ait: Etiam tertio idipsum facite. Feceruntque tertio,

35et currebant aquæ circum altare, et fossa aquæductus repleta est.

36Cumque jam tempus esset ut offerretur holocaustum, accedens Elias propheta ait: Domine Deus Abraham, et Isaac, et Israël, ostende hodie quia tu es Deus Israël, et ego servus tuus, et juxta præceptum tuum feci omnia verba hæc.

37Exaudi me, Domine, exaudi me: ut discat populus iste quia tu es Dominus Deus, et tu convertisti cor eorum iterum.

38Cecidit autem ignis Domini, et voravit holocaustum, et ligna, et lapides, pulverem quoque, et aquam quæ erat in aquæductu lambens.

39Quod cum vidisset omnis populus, cecidit in faciem suam, et ait: Dominus ipse est Deus, Dominus ipse est Deus.

40Dixitque Elias ad eos: Apprehendite prophetas Baal, et ne unus quidem effugiat ex eis. Quos cum apprehendissent, duxit eos Elias ad torrentem Cison, et interfecit eos ibi.

41Et ait Elias ad Achab: Ascende, comede, et bibe, quia sonus multæ pluviæ est.

42Ascendit Achab ut comederet et biberet: Elias autem ascendit in verticem Carmeli, et pronus in terram posuit faciem suam inter genua sua,

43et dixit ad puerum suum: Ascende, et prospice contra mare. Qui cum ascendisset, et contemplatus esset, ait: Non est quidquam. Et rursum ait illi: Revertere septem vicibus.

44In septima autem vice, ecce nubecula parva quasi vestigium hominis ascendebat de mari. Qui ait: Ascende, et dic Achab: Junge currum tuum et descende, ne occupet te pluvia.

45Cumque se verteret huc atque illuc, ecce cæli contenebrati sunt, et nubes, et ventus, et facta est pluvia grandis. Ascendens itaque Achab, abiit in Jezrahel:

46et manus Domini facta est super Eliam, accinctisque lumbis currebat ante Achab, donec veniret in Jezrahel.

1After many days, the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go and show yourself to Ahab, so that I may grant rain upon the face of the earth.”

2Therefore, Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. For there was a severe famine in Samaria.

3And Ahab called Obadiah, the manager of his household. Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly.

4For when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord, he took one hundred prophets, and concealed them, fifty and fifty, in caves. And he fed them with bread and water.

5Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go into the land, to all fountains of water, and to all the valleys, for perhaps we will be able to find plants, and save the horses and mules, so that the beasts of burden may not perish entirely.”

6And they divided the regions among themselves, so that they might travel through them. Ahab went one way alone, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

7And while Obadiah was on the way, Elijah met him. And when he had recognized him, he fell on his face, and he said, “Are you not my lord Elijah?”

8And he responded to him: “I am. Go and tell your lord that Elijah is here.”

9And he said: “How have I sinned that you would deliver me, your servant, into the hand of Ahab, so that he would put me to death?

10As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom to which my lord has not sent, seeking you. And when all responded, ‘He is not here,’ he swore each kingdom and nation to an oath, because you were not found at all.

11And now, you say to me, ‘Go and tell your lord that Elijah is here.’

12And when I will have departed from you, the Spirit of the Lord will transport you to a place that I do not know. And entering, I will report to Ahab. And he, not finding you, will put me to death. Yet your servant has feared the Lord from his infancy.

13Has it not been revealed to you, my lord, what I did when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord: how I hid one hundred men from the prophets of the Lord, fifty and fifty, in caves, and how I fed them with bread and water?

14And now you say: ‘Go and tell your lord that Elijah is here,’ so that he may kill me!”

15And Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whose face I stand, this day I will appear to him.”

16Therefore, Obadiah went away to meet Ahab, and he reported to him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah.

17And when he had seen him, he said, “Are you the one who is disturbing Israel?”

18And he said: “I have not troubled Israel. But it is you, and the house of your father, who have abandoned the commandments of the Lord, and have followed the Baals.

19Yet truly now, send and gather to me all of Israel, on Mount Carmel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of the sacred groves, who eat from the table of Jezebel.”

20Ahab sent to all the sons of Israel, and he gathered together the prophets on mount Carmel.

21Then Elijah, drawing near to all the people, said: “How long will you waver between two sides? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal is, then follow him.” And the people did not respond a word to him.

22And Elijah said again to the people: “I alone remain as a prophet of the Lord. But the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men.

23Let two oxen be given to us. And let them choose one ox for themselves, and, cutting it into pieces, let them set it on the wood. But they may not place fire under it. And I will prepare the other ox, and set it on the wood. But I will not place fire under it.

24Call upon the names of your gods. And I will call on the name of my Lord. And the God who will have heeded with fire, let him be God.” And in response, all the people said, “Excellent proposition.”

25Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal: “Choose for yourselves one ox, and prepare it first. For you are many. And call on the names of your gods, but do not place fire under it.”

26And when they had taken an ox, which he had given to them, they prepared it. And they called on the name of Baal, from morning even until midday, saying, “O Baal, heed us.” And there was no voice, nor did anyone respond. And so they leaped upon the altar that they had made.

27And when it was now midday, Elijah ridiculed them, saying: “Cry out with a louder voice. For he is a god, and perhaps he is talking, or at an inn, or on a journey, or certainly he may be asleep, and must be awakened.”

28Then they cried out with a loud voice, and they cut themselves, in accord with their ritual, with knives and lancets, until they were entirely covered in blood.

29Then, after midday had passed, and they were prophesying, the time had arrived when the sacrifice is usually offered. And there was no voice heard, neither did anyone heed or respond to the praying.

30Elijah said to all the people, “Draw near to me.” And as the people were drawing near to him, he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down.

31And he took twelve stones, in accord with the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name.”

32And he built from the stones an altar to the name of the Lord. And he made a trench for water, like two furrows of plowed land, all around the altar.

33And he arranged the wood, and he cut the ox into pieces, and he placed it on the wood.

34And he said, “Fill four containers with water, and pour it over the holocaust, and over the wood.” And again, he said, “Do this a second time.” And when they had done it a second time, he said, “Do it also a third time.” And they did so a third time.

35And the water was running down around the altar, and the pit of the trench was filled with water.

36And when it was now time for the holocaust to be offered, the prophet Elijah, drawing near, said: “O Lord, God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel, reveal this day that you are the God of Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have acted, in all these things, in accord with your precept.

37Heed me, O Lord, heed me, so that this people may learn that you are the Lord God, and that you have converted their heart again.”

38Then the fire of the Lord fell down and devoured the holocaust, and the wood, and the stones, and even the dust, and it absorbed the water that was in the trench.

39And when all the people had seen it, they fell upon their face, and they said: “The Lord himself is God! The Lord himself is God!”

40And Elijah said to them, “Apprehend the prophets of Baal, and do not let even one of them escape.” And when they had apprehended them, Elijah led them down to the torrent Kishon, and he put them to death there.

41And Elijah said to Ahab “Ascend; eat and drink. For there is the sound of an abundance of rain.”

42Ahab ascended, so that he might eat and drink. But Elijah ascended to the top of Carmel, and bending down to the ground, he placed his face between his knees.

43And he said to his servant, “Ascend, and gaze out toward the sea.” And when he had ascended, and had contemplated, he said, “There is nothing.” And again, he said to him, “Return seven times.”

44And at the seventh time, behold, a little cloud ascended from the sea like the footstep of a man. And he said: “Ascend, and say to Ahab, ‘Yoke your chariot, and descend; otherwise, the rain may prevent you.’ ”

45And as he was turning himself this way and that, behold, the heavens were darkened, and there were clouds and wind, and a great rainstorm occurred. And so Ahab, going up, went away to Jezreel.

46And the hand of the Lord was upon Elijah. And cinching his waist, he ran before Ahab, until he arrived at Jezreel.