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Sunday, August 10th, 2025
the Week of Proper 14 / Ordinary 19
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Read the Bible

English Standard Version

1 Kings 18:2

So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Elijah;   Israel;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Famine;   Rain;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Carmel;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Ahab;   Obadiah;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Gods and Goddesses, Pagan;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Hospitality;   Zeal;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Dearth;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Famine and Drought;   Kings, 1 and 2;   Samaria, Samaritans;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ahab;   Carmel;   Haggai;   Prophecy, Prophets;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Mount carmel;   Obadiah;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Elijah;   Famine;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Kingdom of Israel;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Famine;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
Hebrew Names Version
Eliyah went to show himself to Ach'av. The famine was sore in Shomron.
King James Version
And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.
New Century Version
So Elijah went to meet Ahab. By this time there was no food in Samaria.
New English Translation
So Elijah went to make an appearance before Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria.
Amplified Bible
So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria.
New American Standard Bible
So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And Eliiah went to shew himselfe vnto Ahab, and there was a great famine in Samaria.
Legacy Standard Bible
So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria.
Complete Jewish Bible
When Eliyahu went to present himself to Ach'av, the famine in Shomron had become severe.
Darby Translation
And Elijah went to shew himself to Ahab. And the famine was severe in Samaria.
Easy-to-Read Version
So Elijah went to meet with Ahab. The famine was very bad in Samaria.
George Lamsa Translation
And Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. And there was a severe famine in Samaria.
Good News Translation
So Elijah started out. The famine in Samaria was at its worst,
Lexham English Bible
So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria.
Literal Translation
And Elijah went to be seen by Ahab. And the famine in Samaria was severe.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Elias wente to shewe him selfe vnto Achab. But there was a greate derth i Samaria.
American Standard Version
And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab. And the famine was sore in Samaria.
Bible in Basic English
So Elijah went to let Ahab see him. Now there was no food to be had in Samaria.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Elias went to shewe him selfe vnto Ahab: and there was a great famishment in Samaria.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab. And the famine was sore in Samaria.
King James Version (1611)
And Eliiah went to shew himselfe vnto Ahab, and there was a sore famine in Samaria.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Eliu went to appear before Achaab: and the famine was severe in Samaria.
English Revised Version
And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And the famine was sore in Samaria.
Berean Standard Bible
So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria,
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor Elie yede to schewe hym silf to Achab; forsothe greet hungur was in Samarie.
Young's Literal Translation
and Elijah goeth to appear unto Ahab. And the famine is severe in Samaria,
Update Bible Version
And Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. And the famine was intense in Samaria.
Webster's Bible Translation
And Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. And [there was] a grievous famine in Samaria.
World English Bible
Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. The famine was sore in Samaria.
New King James Version
So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab; and there was a severe famine in Samaria.
New Living Translation
So Elijah went to appear before Ahab. Meanwhile, the famine had become very severe in Samaria.
New Life Bible
So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the time without food was very hard in Samaria.
New Revised Standard
So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Elijah went, to show himself unto Ahab. Now, the famine, was severe in Samaria.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Elias went to shew himself to Achab, and there was a grievous famine in Samaria.
Revised Standard Version
So Eli'jah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Sama'ria.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria.

Contextual Overview

1 After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, "Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth." 2 So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. 3 And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, 4 and when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord , Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water.) 5 And Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys. Perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the animals." 6 So they divided the land between them to pass through it. Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself. 7 And as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him. And Obadiah recognized him and fell on his face and said, "Is it you, my lord Elijah?" 8 And he answered him, "It is I. Go, tell your lord, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.'" 9 And he said, "How have I sinned, that you would give your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you. And when they would say, ‘He is not here,' he would take an oath of the kingdom or nation, that they had not found you.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

went to show: Psalms 27:1, Psalms 51:4, Proverbs 28:1, Isaiah 51:12, Hebrews 13:5, Hebrews 13:6

a sore: Leviticus 26:26, Deuteronomy 28:23, Deuteronomy 28:24, 2 Kings 6:25, Jeremiah 14:2-6, Jeremiah 14:18, Joel 1:15-20

Reciprocal: Ruth 1:1 - a famine 2 Samuel 21:1 - a famine 1 Kings 16:24 - the name of the city 1 Kings 18:1 - Go 2 Kings 8:1 - the Lord Amos 4:6 - and want Luke 4:25 - when the

Cross-References

Genesis 18:3
and said, "O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.
Genesis 18:6
And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, "Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes."
Genesis 18:7
And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly.
Genesis 18:11
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah.
Genesis 18:16
Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way.
Genesis 19:1
The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth
Genesis 23:7
Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land.
Genesis 32:24
And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.
Genesis 43:26
When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present that they had with them and bowed down to him to the ground.
Genesis 43:28
They said, "Your servant our father is well; he is still alive." And they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab,.... Which showed his cheerful and ready obedience to the will of God, and his great courage and magnanimity, to face a king enraged against him, and that sought his life:

and there was a sore famine in Samaria; the metropolis of the kingdom, where Ahab kept his court, and therefore must be sensible of it, and bore the greater indignation against the prophet who had foretold it.


 
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