1 Kings 18:21

Myles Coverdale Bible

Then stepte Elias vnto all the people, & sayde: How longe halte ye on both ye sydes? Yf the LORDE be God, the walke after him: but yf Baal be he, the folowe him. And the people gaue him no answere.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him.” But the people didn’t answer him a word.

Hebrew Names Version
Eliyah came near to all the people, and said, How long go you limping between the two sides? if the LORD is God, follow him; but if Ba`al, then follow him. The people answered him not a word.

King James Version
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

English Standard Version
And Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." And the people did not answer him a word.

New Century Version
Elijah approached the people and said, "How long will you not decide between two choices? If the Lord is the true God, follow him, but if Baal is the true God, follow him!" But the people said nothing.

New English Translation
Elijah approached all the people and said, "How long are you going to be paralyzed by indecision? If the Lord is the true God, then follow him, but if Baal is, follow him!" But the people did not say a word.

Amplified Bible
Elijah approached all the people and said, "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people [of Israel] did not answer him [so much as] a word.

New American Standard Bible
Then Elijah approached all the people and said, "How long are you going to struggle with the two choices? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people did not answer him so much as a word.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Eliiah came vnto all the people, and said, How long halt ye betweene two opinions? If the Lord be God, followe him: but if Baal be he, then goe after him. And the people answered him not a worde.

Legacy Standard Bible
And Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you be limping between two opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people did not answer him a word.

Contemporary English Version
Elijah stood in front of them and said, "How much longer will you try to have things both ways? If the Lord is God, worship him! But if Baal is God, worship him!" The people did not say a word.

Complete Jewish Bible
Eliyahu stepped forward before all the people and said, "How long are you going to jump back and forth between two positions? If Adonai is God, follow him; but if it's Ba‘al, follow him!" The people answered him not a word.

Darby Translation
Then Elijah drew near to all the people, and said, How long do ye halt between two opinions? if Jehovah be God, follow him; and if Baal, follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

Easy-to-Read Version
Elijah came to all the people and said, "You must decide what you are going to do. How long will you keep jumping from one side to the other? If the Lord is the true God, follow him. But if Baal is the true God, then follow him!" The people said nothing.

George Lamsa Translation
Then Elijah came near to all the people, and said, How long will you halt between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him, but if Baal is god, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

Good News Translation
Elijah went up to the people and said, "How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the Lord is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!" But the people didn't say a word.

Lexham English Bible
Elijah approached to all the people and said, "How long will you go limping over two opinions? If Yahweh is God, go after him; but if Baal, go after him." But the people did not answer him a word.

Literal Translation
And Elijah came near all the people and said, Until when are you limping over two opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow Him; and if Baal, follow him. But the people did not answer him a word.

American Standard Version
And Elijah came near unto all the people, and said, How long go ye limping between the two sides? if Jehovah be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

Bible in Basic English
And Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you go on balancing between two opinions? if the Lord is God, then give worship to him; but if Baal, give worship to him. And the people said not a word in answer.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Elias came vnto all the people, and said: how long halt ye betweene two opinions? If the Lorde be God, folowe him: but if Baal be he, then go after him. And the people aunswered him not one worde.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Elijah came near unto all the people, and said: 'How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.' And the people answered him not a word.

King James Version (1611)
And Eliiah came vnto all the people, and said, how long halt yee betweene two opinions? If the Lord bee God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him: and the people answered him not a word.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Eliu drew near to them all: and Eliu said to them, How long wilt ye halt on both feet? if the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, follow him. And the people answered not a word.

English Revised Version
And Elijah came near unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

Berean Standard Bible
Then Elijah approached all the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him." But the people did not answer a word.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe Elie neiyede to al the puple of Israel, and seide, Hou long halten ye in to twey partis? If the Lord is God, sue ye hym; forsothe if Baal is God, sue ye hym. And the puple answeride not o word to hym.

Young's Literal Translation
and Elijah cometh nigh unto all the people, and saith, `Till when are ye leaping on the two branches? -- if Jehovah [is] God, go after Him; and if Baal, go after him;' and the people have not answered him a word.

Update Bible Version
And Elijah came near to all the people, and said, How long do you go limping between the two sides? if Yahweh is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Elijah came to all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD [is] God, follow him: but if Baal, [then] follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

World English Bible
Elijah came near to all the people, and said, How long go you limping between the two sides? if Yahweh is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. The people answered him not a word.

New King James Version
And Elijah came to all the people, and said, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people answered him not a word.

New Living Translation
Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, "How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!" But the people were completely silent.

New Life Bible
Elijah came near all the people and said, "How long will you be divided between two ways of thinking? If the Lord is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, then follow him." But the people did not answer him a word.

New Revised Standard
Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, "How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." The people did not answer him a word.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Elijah drew near unto all the people, and said - How long are ye limping on the two divided opinions? If, Yahweh, be GOD, follow, him, but, if, Baal, follow, him. But the people answered him, not a word.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And 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.

Revised Standard Version
And Eli'jah came near to all the people, and said, "How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Ba'al, then follow him." And the people did not answer him a word.

THE MESSAGE
Elijah challenged the people: "How long are you going to sit on the fence? If God is the real God, follow him; if it's Baal, follow him. Make up your minds!" Nobody said a word; nobody made a move.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people did not answer him a word.

Contextual Overview

²¹ Then stepte Elias vnto all the people, & sayde: How longe halte ye on both ye sydes? Yf the LORDE be God, the walke after him: but yf Baal be he, the folowe him. And the people gaue him no answere. ²² The sayde Elias vnto the people: I onely am lefte a prophet of ye LORDE: but Baals prophetes are foure C. and fiftie me. ²³ Geue vs now two bullockes, & let them chose one bullocke, & hewe him in peces, & laye him vpo the wod, & put no fyre theron: so wil I take ye other bullock, & laye him vpo the wod, & put no fyre theron also: ²⁴ call ye then vpo the name of yor god, & I wil call vpo the name of the LORDE: loke which God now answereth with fyre, let the same be God. And all the people answered & sayde: That is righte. ²⁵ And Elias sayde vnto Baals prophetes: Chose ye one bullock, and do ye it first (for ye are many) and call ye vpon the name of youre god, & laye no fyre theron. ²⁶ And they toke the bullock which he gaue them, & prepared it, & called vpon the name of Baal from the mornynge vntyll the noone daye, and sayde: O Baal heare vs. But there was nether voyce ner answere. And they hopped aboute the altare, as their vse was to do. ²⁷ Now whan it was noone daye, Elias mocked them, and sayde: Crye loude. For he is a god, peradueture he is musynge, or hath somwhat to do, or is gone some iourneye, or happlye he slepeth, so that he wolde be waked vp. ²⁸ And they cried loude, and prouoked the selues with knyues & botkens, (as their maner was) tyll ye bloude folowed. ²⁹ But whan ye noone daye was past, they prophecied vntyll the tyme that the meatofferynge shulde be offered, & there was nether voyce ner answere, ner one to regarde them. ³⁰ Then sayde Elias vnto all the people: Come hither all ye people vnto me. And whan all ye people came to him, he repayred ye altare of the LORDE yt was broken,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

How long: Deuteronomy 4:35, 2 Kings 17:41, Zephaniah 1:5, Matthew 6:24, Luke 6:13, Romans 6:16-22, 1 Corinthians 10:21, 1 Corinthians 10:22, 2 Corinthians 6:14-16, Revelation 3:15, Revelation 3:16

opinions: or, thoughts

if the Lord: 1 Kings 18:39, Exodus 5:1, Exodus 5:2, Joshua 24:15, Joshua 24:23, Joshua 24:24, 1 Samuel 7:3, 1 Chronicles 17:26, 2 Chronicles 33:13, Psalms 100:3

answered: Genesis 24:50, Genesis 44:16, Job 40:4, Job 40:5, Matthew 22:12, Matthew 22:34, Matthew 22:36, Romans 3:19, Romans 6:21

Reciprocal: Exodus 10:3 - How long Numbers 16:6 - General Deuteronomy 6:4 - the Lord Judges 6:25 - even 1 Kings 18:36 - Lord God 1 Kings 22:28 - Hearken 2 Kings 17:33 - They feared 2 Kings 21:3 - he reared Psalms 50:1 - even Psalms 82:2 - How Psalms 118:27 - God Proverbs 28:4 - but Isaiah 43:9 - that they may Jeremiah 7:9 - and burn Hosea 7:8 - a cake Hosea 10:2 - Their heart is divided Hosea 12:10 - have also Matthew 27:17 - Whom Mark 7:14 - when John 10:24 - How John 10:27 - and they 2 Corinthians 6:15 - what concord 2 Corinthians 6:16 - what James 1:8 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 11:5
Then came ye LORDE downe, to se ye cite & tower, yt ye childre of me had buylded.

Genesis 11:7
Come on, let vs go downe, & cofounde their tonge eue there, yt one vnderstonde not what another saieth.

Genesis 18:1
Annd the LORDE apeared vnto him in the Okegroue of Mamre, as he sat in his tent dore in the heate of ye daie.

Genesis 18:24
Peradueture there maye be fiftie righteous within ye cite: wilt thou destroye those, and not spare the place, for fiftie righteous sake that are therin?

Exodus 3:8
and am come downe to delyuer them from the power of the Egipcians, and to carye them out of that lode, in to a good and wyde londe, euen in to a londe that floweth with mylke and hony: namely, vnto the place of the Cananites, Hethites, Amorites, Pheresites, Heuytes & Iebusites.

Exodus 33:5
And ye LORDE sayde vnto Moses: Speake vnto the children of Israel: Ye are a styfnecked people, I must once come sodenly vpon the, and make an ende of the. And now put of thy goodly araye from the, yt I maie knowe what to do vnto the.

Deuteronomy 8:2
and thynke vpon all ye waie thorow the which the LORDE thy God hath led the this fortye yeares in the wyldernesse, that he mighte chasten the, and proue the, to wete whath were in thyne herte, whether thou woldest kepe his comaundemetes or no.

Deuteronomy 13:3
Thou shalt not herken vnto the wordes of soch a prophet or dreamer. For ye LORDE youre God proueth you, to wete whether ye loue him with all youre hert, & with all youre soule.

Joshua 22:22
The mightie God ye LORDE, the mightie God the LORDE knoweth, and Israel knoweth also, yf this be a trangressynge or trespacynge agaynst the LORDE, then let it not helpe vs this daye:

Job 34:22
There is no darcknes ner thicke shadowe, yt can hyde the wicked doers from him.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Elijah came unto all the people,.... Assembled at Mount Carmel:

and said, how long halt ye between two opinions? sometimes inclining to the one, and sometimes to the other: as a lame man in walking, his body moves sometimes to one side, and sometimes to another; or "leap ye upon two branches" r, like a bird that leaps or hops from one branch to another, and never settles long; or rather it denotes the confusion of their thoughts, being like branches of trees twisted and implicated; thus upbraiding them with their inconstancy and fickleness; what their two opinions were, may be learnt from the next clause:

if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him; for there is but one God, one infinite, immense, and incomprehensible being; one that is omnipotent, all sufficient, good, and perfect; there cannot be more, and therefore but one to be followed, served, and worshipped:

and the people answered him not a word: through conviction and confusion, his reasoning being unanswerable; or not knowing which to choose at present; or fearing they should be drawn into a snare, should they name any; either incur the displeasure of the king, who was for Baal, or of the prophet, who was for the Lord, at whose word rain was withheld, and might be given, which they were desirous of.

r פסחים על שתי הסעפים "transilietis super duos ramoe, Malvenda; vos transilientes super ambos ramos", Piscator.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The people were mute. They could not but feel the logical force of Elijah’s argument; but they were not prepared at once to act upon it. They wished to unite the worship of Yahweh with that of Baal - to avoid breaking with the past and completely rejecting the old national worship, yet at the same time to have the enjoyment of the new rites, which were certainly sensuous, and probably impure.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 18:21. How long halt ye between two opinions? — Literally, "How long hop ye about upon two boughs?" This is a metaphor taken from birds hopping about from bough to bough, not knowing on which to settle. Perhaps the idea of limping through lameness should not be overlooked. They were halt, they could not walk uprightly; they dreaded Jehovah, and therefore could not totally abandon him; they feared the king and queen, and therefore thought they must embrace the religion of the state. Their conscience forbade them to do the former; their fear of man persuaded them to do the latter, but in neither were they heartily engaged; and at this juncture their minds seemed in equipoise, and they were waiting for a favourable opportunity to make their decision. Such an opportunity now, through the mercy of God, presented itself.