Study Desk

Elijah said to her, "Have no fear. Go and do as you have said. But make me a little loaf of bread from it first, and bring it out to me. Then you may make one for yourself and for your son.

For the Lord God of Israel says, ‘The jar of flour will not be used up. And the jar of oil will not be empty, until the day the Lord sends rain upon the earth.'"

So she went and did what Elijah said. And she and he and those of her house ate for many days.

For when Jezebel destroyed the men who spoke for the Lord, Obadiah took 100 of these men and hid them by fifties in a cave. And he fed them with bread and water.)

As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation where the king has not sent men to look for you. And when they said, ‘He is not here,' he made the nation prove that they could not find you.

Have you not been told what I did when Jezebel killed the men who spoke for the Lord? I hid 100 men of the Lord by fifties in a cave. And I gave them bread and water.

So now call together all Israel to me at Mount Carmel. And gather together 450 men who speak for Baal and 400 men who speak for the false goddess Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."

So Ahab sent news among all the people of Israel. And he brought the men who speak for the false gods together at Mount Carmel.

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.

Bring two bulls to us. Let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it up and put it on the wood. But put no fire under it. I will make the other bull ready and lay it on the wood. And I will put no fire under it.

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."

At noon Elijah made fun of them. He said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god. It might be that he is in deep thought or has turned away. He could be away traveling. Or it may be that he is asleep and needs to have someone wake him."

When noon passed, they cried out until the time for giving the evening gift. But there was no voice. No one answered. No one listened.

Then the time came for giving the evening gift. Elijah the man who spoke for God came near and said, "O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that You are God in Israel. Let it be known that I am Your servant, and have done all these things at Your word.

Then Elijah said to them, "Take hold of the men who speak for Baal. Do not let one of them get away." So they took hold of them. And Elijah brought them down to the river Kishon, and killed them there.

Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink. For there is the sound of much rain."

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done. He told her how Elijah had killed with the sword all the men who spoke for Baal.

Elijah was afraid. He got up and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba of Judah, he left his servant there.

But he himself traveled for a day into the desert. He came and sat down under a juniper tree. There he asked that he might die, saying, "It is enough now, O Lord. Take my life. For I am not better than my fathers."

The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him, and said, "Get up and eat. Because this traveling is too hard for you."