1 Kings 18:25

THE MESSAGE

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."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god but don’t light the fire.”

Hebrew Names Version
Eliyah said to the prophets of Ba`al, Choose you 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.

King James Version
And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.

English Standard Version
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it."

New Century Version
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "There are many of you, so you go first. Choose a bull and prepare it. Pray to your god, but don't start the fire."

New English Translation
Elijah told the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls for yourselves and go first, for you are the majority. Invoke the name of your god, but do not light a fire."

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

New American Standard Bible
So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose the one ox for yourselves and prepare it first, since there are many of you, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under the ox."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Eliiah said vnto the prophets of Baal, Chuse you a bullocke, and prepare him first, (for ye are many) and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire vnder.

Legacy Standard Bible
So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but place no fire under it."

Contemporary English Version
Elijah said to Baal's prophets, "There are more of you, so you go first. Pick out a bull and get it ready, but don't light the fire. Then pray to your god."

Complete Jewish Bible
Then Eliyahu said to the prophets of Ba‘al, "Choose one bull for yourselves, and prepare it first; because there are many of you. Then call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it."

Darby Translation
And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose one bullock for yourselves, and sacrifice it first; for ye are the many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire.

Easy-to-Read Version
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "There are many of you, so you go first. Choose a bull and prepare it, but don't start your fire."

George Lamsa Translation
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose for yourselves one bullock, and prepare it first; for you are many;

Good News Translation
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since there are so many of you, you take a bull and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but don't set fire to the wood."

Lexham English Bible
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are the majority, and call on the name of your god, but don't set fire under it."

Literal Translation
And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose the one bull for yourself, and prepare first, for you are many; and you call on the name of your god, but place no fire.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
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.

American Standard Version
And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under.

Bible in Basic English
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Take one ox for yourselves and get it ready first, for there are more of you; and make your prayers to your god, but put no fire under.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Elias saide vnto the prophets of Baal: Choose you an oxe, & dresse him first, for ye are many: & call on the name of your gods, but put no fire vnder.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal: 'Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under.'

King James Version (1611)
And Eliiah said vnto the prophets of Baal, Chuse you one bullocke for your selues, and dresse it first, for yee are many: and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire vnder.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Eliu said to the prophets of shame, Choose to yourselves one calf, and dress it first, for ye are many; and call ye on the name of your god; but apply no fire.

English Revised Version
And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under.

Berean Standard Bible
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor Elie seide to the prophetis of Baal, Chese ye oon oxe to you, and make ye first, for ye ben the mo; and clepe ye the names of youre goddis, and putte ye not fier vnder.

Young's Literal Translation
And Elijah saith to the prophets of Baal, `Choose for you the one bullock, and prepare first, for ye [are] the multitude, and call ye in the name of your god, and place no fire.'

Update Bible Version
And Elijah 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.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress [it] first; for ye [are] many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire [under].

World English Bible
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose you 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.

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

New Living Translation
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "You go first, for there are many of you. Choose one of the bulls, and prepare it and call on the name of your god. But do not set fire to the wood."

New Life Bible
So Elijah said to the men who spoke for Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves and make it ready first. For there are many of you. Then call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it."

New Revised Standard
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Elijah to the prophets of Baal - Choose for yourselves one bullock, and make ye ready, first, for, ye, are many, - and call ye on the name of your god, but, fire, shall ye not put.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Then 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.

Revised Standard Version
Then Eli'jah said to the prophets of Ba'al, "Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it."

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

Reciprocal: Exodus 8:9 - Glory over me Jeremiah 23:13 - prophesied

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 18:6
Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. He said, "Hurry. Get three cups of our best flour; knead it and make bread."

Genesis 18:7
Then Abraham ran to the cattle pen and picked out a nice plump calf and gave it to the servant who lost no time getting it ready. Then he got curds and milk, brought them with the calf that had been roasted, set the meal before the men, and stood there under the tree while they ate.

Genesis 18:10
One of them said, "I'm coming back about this time next year. When I arrive, your wife Sarah will have a son." Sarah was listening at the tent opening, just behind the man.

Genesis 18:11
Abraham and Sarah were old by this time, very old. Sarah was far past the age for having babies. Sarah laughed within herself, "An old woman like me? Get pregnant? With this old man of a husband?"

Genesis 18:13
God said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh saying, ‘Me? Have a baby? An old woman like me?' Is anything too hard for God ? I'll be back about this time next year and Sarah will have a baby."

Genesis 18:17
Then God said, "Shall I keep back from Abraham what I'm about to do? Abraham is going to become a large and strong nation; all the nations of the world are going to find themselves blessed through him. Yes, I've settled on him as the one to train his children and future family to observe God 's way of life, live kindly and generously and fairly, so that God can complete in Abraham what he promised him."

Genesis 18:22
The men set out for Sodom, but Abraham stood in God 's path, blocking his way.

Genesis 18:23
Abraham confronted him, "Are you serious? Are you planning on getting rid of the good people right along with the bad? What if there are fifty decent people left in the city; will you lump the good with the bad and get rid of the lot? Wouldn't you spare the city for the sake of those fifty innocents? I can't believe you'd do that, kill off the good and the bad alike as if there were no difference between them. Doesn't the Judge of all the Earth judge with justice?"

Genesis 18:27
Abraham came back, "Do I, a mere mortal made from a handful of dirt, dare open my mouth again to my Master? What if the fifty fall short by five—would you destroy the city because of those missing five?" He said, "I won't destroy it if there are forty-five."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal,.... Who agreed to this proposal, though not expressed; or they signified it by their silence. Ben Gersom thinks they agreed to it, because that, according to their belief, Baal was Mars, and in the sign of Aries, one of the fiery planets, and therefore fancied he could send down fire on their sacrifice; but Abarbinel is of opinion that it was the sun they worshipped, under the name of Baal, the great luminary which presides over the element of fire, and therefore had power to cause it to descend; and if not, they agreed to it, he thinks, for three reasons; one was necessity, they could not refuse, after the people had approved of it, lest they should rise upon them, and stone them; and another was, that Elijah proposed to offer without the temple, contrary to the law of his God, and therefore concluded he would not answer him by fire, and so they should be upon a par with him; and the third was, that they thought they should offer their bullocks together, so that, if fire descended, it would come upon them both, and then the dispute would be, whether his God, or their god, sent it; and so no proof could be made who was God, nor the matter in controversy decided:

choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; therefore in civility to them gave the choice of the bullock and the altar first, he being one and they many:

and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under; under the wood on which was the sacrifice cut in pieces; and when they had so done, then they were to call on their gods to cause fire to descend upon it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Elijah gives precedence in everything to the Baal-priests, to take away all ground for cavil in case of failure. It is his object to make an impression on king and people; and he feels rightly that the impression will depend greatly on the contrast between their inability and the power given to him.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 25. For ye are many — And therefore shall have the preference, and the advantage of being first in your application to the deity.