Study Desk

So they took the bull that was given to them and prepared it. They prayed to Baal from morning until noon, shouting "Baal, answer us!" But there was no sound, and no one answered. They danced around the altar they had built.

At noon Elijah began to make fun of them. "Pray louder!" he said. "If Baal really is a god, maybe he is thinking, or busy, or traveling! Maybe he is sleeping so you will have to wake him!"

Then Elijah said to all the people, "Now come to me." So they gathered around him, and Elijah rebuilt the altar of the Lord , which had been torn down.

So the water ran off the altar and filled the ditch.

Lord , answer my prayer so these people will know that you, Lord , are God and that you will change their minds."

So King Ahab went to eat and drink. At the same time Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, where he bent down to the ground with his head between his knees.

So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "May the gods punish me terribly if by this time tomorrow I don't kill you just as you killed those prophets."

Elijah saw near his head a loaf baked over coals and a jar of water, so he ate and drank. Then he went back to sleep.

So Elijah got up and ate and drank. The food made him strong enough to walk for forty days and nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God.

So Elijah left that place and found Elisha son of Shaphat plowing a field with a team of oxen. He owned twelve teams of oxen and was plowing with the twelfth team. Elijah came up to Elisha, took off his coat, and put it on Elisha.

So Elisha went back and took his pair of oxen and killed them. He used their wooden yoke for a fire. Then he cooked the meat and gave it to the people. After they ate it, Elisha left and followed Elijah and became his helper.

So Ahab said to Ben-Hadad's messengers, "Tell my master the king: ‘I will do what you said at first, but I cannot allow this second command.'" And King Ben-Hadad's men carried the message back to him.

At the same time a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel. The prophet said, "Ahab, the Lord says to you, ‘Do you see that big army? I will hand it over to you today so you will know I am the Lord .'"

So Ahab gathered the young officers of the district governors, two hundred thirty-two of them. Then he called together the army of Israel, about seven thousand people in all.

Then the prophet went to Ahab king of Israel and said, "The king of Aram will attack you again next spring. So go home now and strengthen your army and see what you need to do."

A man of God came to the king of Israel with this message: "The Lord says, ‘The people of Aram say that I, the Lord , am a god of the mountains, not a god of the valleys. So I will allow you to defeat this huge army, and then you will know I am the Lord .'"

So they dressed in rough cloth and wore ropes on their heads and went to the king of Israel. They said, "Your servant Ben-Hadad says, ‘Please let me live.'" Ahab answered, "Is he still alive? He is my brother."

Ben-Hadad's men had wanted a sign from Ahab. So when Ahab called Ben-Hadad his brother, they quickly said, "Yes! Ben-Hadad is your brother." Ahab said, "Bring him to me." When Ben-Hadad came, Ahab asked him to join him in the chariot.

Ben-Hadad said to him, "Ahab, I will give you back the cities my father took from your father. And you may put shops in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria." Ahab said, "If you agree to this, I will allow you to go free." So the two kings made a peace agreement. Then Ahab let Ben-Hadad go free.

The prophet said, "You did not obey the Lord 's command, so a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me." When the man left, a lion found him and killed him.