1 Kings 18:22

THE MESSAGE

Then Elijah said, "I'm the only prophet of God left in Israel; and there are 450 prophets of Baal. Let the Baal prophets bring up two oxen; let them pick one, butcher it, and lay it out on an altar on firewood—but don't ignite it. I'll take the other ox, cut it up, and lay it on the wood. But neither will I light the fire. Then you pray to your gods and I'll pray to God . The god who answers with fire will prove to be, in fact, God." All the people agreed: "A good plan—do it!"

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men.

Hebrew Names Version
Then said Eliyah to the people, I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD; but Ba`al's prophets are four hundred fifty men.

King James Version
Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord ; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

English Standard Version
Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord , but Baal's prophets are 450 men.

New Century Version
Elijah said, "I am the only prophet of the Lord here, but there are four hundred fifty prophets of Baal.

New English Translation
Elijah said to them: "I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal.

Amplified Bible
Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone remain a prophet of the LORD, while Baal's prophets are 450 men.

New American Standard Bible
Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left as a prophet of the LORD, while Baal's prophets are 450 men.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then said Eliiah vnto the people, I onely remayne a Prophet of the Lorde: but Baals prophets are foure hundreth and fiftie men.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of Yahweh, but Baal's prophets are 450 men.

Contemporary English Version
Then Elijah continued: I am the Lord 's only prophet, but Baal has four hundred fifty prophets.

Complete Jewish Bible
Then Eliyahu said to the people, "I, I alone, am the only prophet of Adonai who is left, while Ba‘al's prophets number 450.

Darby Translation
And Elijah said to the people, I, only I, remain a prophet of Jehovah; and Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

Easy-to-Read Version
So Elijah said, "I am the only prophet of the Lord here, but there are 450 prophets of Baal.

George Lamsa Translation
Then Elijah said, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baals prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

Good News Translation
Then Elijah said, "I am the only prophet of the Lord still left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal.

Lexham English Bible
Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of Yahweh, but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men.

Literal Translation
Then Elijah said to the people, I, I alone, remain a prophet of Jehovah; but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The sayde Elias vnto the people: I onely am lefte a prophet of ye LORDE: but Baals prophetes are foure C. and fiftie me.

American Standard Version
Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, am left a prophet of Jehovah; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

Bible in Basic English
Then Elijah said to the people, I, even I, am the only living prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then saide Elias vnto the people [againe] I onely remayne a prophete of the Lorde: but Baals prophets are foure hundred and fiftie.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then said Elijah unto the people: 'I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

King James Version (1611)
Then said Eliiah vnto the people, I, euen I onely remaine a Prophet of the Lord: but Baals prophets are foure hundred and fiftie men.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Eliu said to the people, I am left, the only one prophet of the Lord; and the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men, and the prophets of the groves four hundred.

English Revised Version
Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

Berean Standard Bible
Then Elijah said to the people, "I am the only remaining prophet of the LORD, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Elie seide eft to the puple, Y dwellide aloone a prophete of the Lord; sotheli the prophetis of Baal ben foure hundrid and fifti, and the prophetis of woodis ben foure hundrid men.

Young's Literal Translation
And Elijah saith unto the people, `I -- I have been left a prophet of Jehovah -- by myself; and the prophets of Baal [are] four hundred and fifty men;

Update Bible Version
Then Elijah said to the people, I, even I only, am left a prophet of Yahweh; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then said Elijah to the people, I [even] I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophet's [are] four hundred and fifty men.

World English Bible
Then said Elijah to the people, I, even I only, am left a prophet of Yahweh; but Baal's prophets are four hundred fifty men.

New King James Version
Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

New Living Translation
Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but Baal has 450 prophets.

New Life Bible
Then Elijah said to the people, "I am the only man left who speaks for God. But here are 450 men who speak for Baal.

New Revised Standard
Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord ; but Baal's prophets number four hundred fifty.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Elijah unto the people - I, am left, Yahweh's, only, prophet, - but, the prophets of Baal, are four hundred and fifty men.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And 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.

Revised Standard Version
Then Eli'jah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD; but Ba'al's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal's prophets are 450 men.

Contextual Overview

²¹ 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. ²²Then Elijah said, "I'm the only prophet of God left in Israel; and there are 450 prophets of Baal. Let the Baal prophets bring up two oxen; let them pick one, butcher it, and lay it out on an altar on firewood—but don't ignite it. I'll take the other ox, cut it up, and lay it on the wood. But neither will I light the fire. Then you pray to your gods and I'll pray to God . The god who answers with fire will prove to be, in fact, God." All the people agreed: "A good plan—do it!" ²⁵ Elijah told the Baal prophets, "Choose your ox and prepare it. You go first, you're the majority. Then pray to your god, but don't light the fire." ²⁶ So they took the ox he had given them, prepared it for the altar, then prayed to Baal. They prayed all morning long, "O Baal, answer us!" But nothing happened—not so much as a whisper of breeze. Desperate, they jumped and stomped on the altar they had made. ²⁷By noon, Elijah had started making fun of them, taunting, "Call a little louder—he is a god, after all. Maybe he's off meditating somewhere or other, or maybe he's gotten involved in a project, or maybe he's on vacation. You don't suppose he's overslept, do you, and needs to be waked up?" They prayed louder and louder, cutting themselves with swords and knives—a ritual common to them—until they were covered with blood. ²⁹ This went on until well past noon. They used every religious trick and strategy they knew to make something happen on the altar, but nothing happened—not so much as a whisper, not a flicker of response. ³⁰Then Elijah told the people, "Enough of that—it's my turn. Gather around." And they gathered. He then put the altar back together for by now it was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Jacob, the same Jacob to whom God had said, "From now on your name is Israel." He built the stones into the altar in honor of God . Then Elijah dug a fairly wide trench around the altar. He laid firewood on the altar, cut up the ox, put it on the wood, and said, "Fill four buckets with water and drench both the ox and the firewood." Then he said, "Do it again," and they did it. Then he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time. The altar was drenched and the trench was filled with water. ³⁶When it was time for the sacrifice to be offered, Elijah the prophet came up and prayed, "O God , God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make it known right now that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I'm doing what I'm doing under your orders. Answer me, God ; O answer me and reveal to this people that you are God , the true God, and that you are giving these people another chance at repentance." ³⁸ Immediately the fire of God fell and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones, the dirt, and even the water in the trench. ³⁹ All the people saw it happen and fell on their faces in awed worship, exclaiming, " God is the true God! God is the true God!"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I only: 1 Kings 19:10, 1 Kings 19:14, 1 Kings 20:13, 1 Kings 20:32, 1 Kings 20:35, 1 Kings 20:38, 1 Kings 22:6-8, Romans 11:3

Baal's prophets: 1 Kings 18:19, 1 Kings 18:20, Matthew 7:13-15, 2 Timothy 4:3, 2 Timothy 4:4, 2 Peter 2:1-3

Reciprocal: Judges 5:3 - even I 2 Kings 10:18 - Ahab served Baal Jeremiah 2:8 - prophets Luke 10:2 - are

Cross-References

Genesis 18:1
God appeared to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. It was the hottest part of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing. He ran from his tent to greet them and bowed before them.

Genesis 18:16
When the men got up to leave, they set off for Sodom. Abraham walked with them to say good-bye.

Genesis 19:1
The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening. Lot was sitting at the city gate. He saw them and got up to welcome them, bowing before them and said, "Please, my friends, come to my house and stay the night. Wash up. You can rise early and be on your way refreshed." They said, "No, we'll sleep in the street."

Psalms 106:23
Fed up, God decided to get rid of them— and except for Moses, his chosen, he would have. But Moses stood in the gap and deflected God's anger, prevented it from destroying them utterly. They went on to reject the Blessed Land, didn't believe a word of what God promised. They found fault with the life they had and turned a deaf ear to God 's voice. Exasperated, God swore that he'd lay them low in the desert, Scattering their children hither and yon, strewing them all over the earth.

Jeremiah 15:1
Then God said to me: "Jeremiah, even if Moses and Samuel stood here and made their case, I wouldn't feel a thing for this people. Get them out of here. Tell them to get lost! And if they ask you, ‘So where do we go?' tell them God says, "‘If you're assigned to die, go and die; if assigned to war, go and get killed; If assigned to starve, go starve; if assigned to exile, off to exile you go!'

Ezekiel 22:30
"I looked for someone to stand up for me against all this, to repair the defenses of the city, to take a stand for me and stand in the gap to protect this land so I wouldn't have to destroy it. I couldn't find anyone. Not one. So I'll empty out my wrath on them, burn them to a crisp with my hot anger, serve them with the consequences of all they've done. Decree of God , the Master."

1 Timothy 2:1
The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only remain a prophet of the Lord,.... At least as he thought, all the rest being slain, as he supposed; however there were none present but himself:

but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men; which were very great odds he had to contend with.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I, even I, only remain - He means, “I only remain in the exercise of the office of a prophet.” The others (Compare 1 Kings 18:4) had been forced to fly and hide themselves in dens and caves of the earth; their voices were silenced; they had not ventured to come to Carmel. Elijah contrasts his solitary appearance on the side of Yahweh at the great gathering with the crowd of those opposed to him.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 18:22. I only, remain a prophet of the Lord — That is, I am the only prophet of God present, and can have but the influence of an individual; while the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men! It appears that the queen's prophets, amounting to four hundred, were not at this great assembly; and these are they whom we meet with 1 Kings 22:6, and whom the king consulted relative to the battle at Ramoth-gilead.