Study Desk

So Omri slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried in Samaria. Ahab his son became king in his place.

So he erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria.

So he went and did in accordance with the word of the LORD; he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.

So he set out and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks [for firewood]. He called out to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a jar, so that I may drink."

But she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar. See, I am gathering a few sticks so that I may go in and bake it for me and my son, that we may eat it [as our last meal] and die."

It happened after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.

So she said to Elijah, "What [problem] is there between you and me, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to mind and to put my son to death?"

So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria.

So they divided the land between them to survey it. Ahab went one way by himself and Obadiah went another way by himself.

"And as soon as I leave you, the Spirit of the LORD will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I come to tell Ahab and he does not find you, he will kill me. Yet your servant has [reverently] feared the LORD from my youth.

So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

So Ahab sent word to all the Israelites and assembled the [pagan] prophets together at Mount Carmel.

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.

So they took the bull that was given to them and prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, "O Baal, hear and answer us." But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they had made.

So they cried out with a loud voice [to get Baal's attention] and cut themselves with swords and lances in accordance with their custom, until the blood flowed out on them.

Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people approached him. And he repaired and rebuilt the [old] altar of the LORD that had been torn down [by Jezebel].

So with the stones Elijah built an altar in the name of the LORD. He made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two measures of seed.

"Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back [to You]."

So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he crouched down to the earth and put his face between his knees,

and he said to his servant, "Go up, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked and said, "There is nothing." Elijah said, "Go back" seven times.