1 Kings 18

And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.

After a long time, the Lord spoke to Elijah in the third year, telling him to go meet Ahab, and he would send rain to the Earth.

And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.

Elijah visited Ahab. During this time, there was a severe food shortage in Samaria.

And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly:

And Ahab asked for Obadiah, who managed his household. (Obadiah, however, really respected the Lord a lot.)

For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

When Jezebel killed the prophets of God, Obadiah saved a hundred prophets by hiding them in a cave, fifty at a time, and took care of them with food and water.

And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.

Ahab asked Obadiah, "Go check all water sources and streams. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and donkeys alive so we don't lose them all."

So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

So, they split the land in half for each of them to travel through. Ahab went one way and Obadiah went another way.

And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah?

While Obadiah was walking, he saw Elijah coming towards him. Obadiah recognized him, fell down, and asked, "Are you really my lord Elijah?"

And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

He replied, "I am here. Tell your master, Elijah is present."

And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?

He asked, "What did I do wrong for you to let Ahab take me to kill me?"

As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not.

Just like a living God, your Lord has looked everywhere for you in every country and kingdom. When people said you weren't there, your Lord made other countries and kingdoms promise that they didn't find you either.

And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

Now you say, "Go, tell your leader, Look, Elijah is here."

And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth.

If I leave you, the Lord's Spirit will take you somewhere unknown to me. When I return and tell Ahab about this, if he can't find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have always feared the Lord since my youth.

Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD’s prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

Didn't you tell me, my lord, about what I did when Jezebel killed the Lord's prophets? I hid a hundred of these prophets in a cave, fifty at a time, and gave them bread and water to eat.

And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me.

Now you say, "Go, tell your leader, 'Elijah is here,' and he will kill me."

And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day.

Elijah said, "As the Lord, who is in charge of everything, knows, the one I serve will see me today for sure."

So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

Obadiah went to find Ahab and informed him. Then, Ahab went to encounter Elijah.

And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?

When Ahab saw Elijah, he asked, "Are you the one causing trouble for Israel?"

And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.

He said, "I didn't cause trouble for Israel. You and your family did, because you stopped following God's rules and started worshipping Baal."

Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table.

Now, so gather all Israel to Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the groves who eat at Jezebel's table.

So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.

So Ahab called all Israel's kids and brought all the prophets to Mount Carmel.

And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

Elijah spoke to everyone, asking them why they were undecided between two choices. He told them to pick one - either follow the LORD or follow Baal. But the people didn't respond at all.

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.

Then Elijah told the crowd, "I am the only prophet of God left, but there are 450 prophets for Baal."

Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under:

So they should give us two large cows. They can pick one for themselves, cut it into pieces, and place it on wood without lighting a fire underneath. I'll prepare the other cow, put it on wood, and also not light a fire beneath it.

And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

Ask your gods to show themselves with fire, and I'll call upon the LORD. The god who responds with fire can be considered a true god. The people agreed, saying it was a wise statement.

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.

Elijah told the Baal prophets to choose a bull and prepare it because they were many, then call on their gods without lighting a fire.

And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.

They got the bull given to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal from morning till noon, saying "Baal, listen to us." But there was no response or answer. They jumped on the altar they built.

And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.

At midday, Elijah made fun of the people and said, "Shout loudly! He's a god. Maybe he's talking, running after someone, traveling, or sleeping and needs to be woken up."

And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.

They shouted loudly and hurt themselves with sharp objects, causing blood to flow heavily.

And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.

After midday, when the time for the evening sacrifice arrived, they prophesied. But no one answered, and there was no voice or anyone who paid attention.

And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down.

Elijah asked everyone to come closer. So they all moved closer to him. Then, he fixed the broken altar of God.

And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:

Elijah gathered twelve stones, one for each tribe of Jacob's sons, who received God's message, and were named Israel.

And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.

He used stones to create an altar for God and dug a trench around it, big enough for two measures of seeds.

And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.

He arranged the logs, cut the cow into pieces, and placed them on the wood. Then he said, "Fill four large containers with water and pour it on the burned offering and the wood."

And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.

He said, "Do it again." They did it again. Then he said, "Do it one more time." They did it one more time.

And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.

The water surrounded the altar and filled the ditch with water too.

And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.

At the evening sacrifice time, Elijah the prophet approached and said, "Lord, you are the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Make it clear today that you are the only God in Israel, and I am your servant. I have done all these actions based on your commands."

Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.

Listen, Lord, listen to me so these people can know you are the only true God, and that you have changed their hearts once more.

Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

Then, God's fire came down and burned the offering, the wood, the rocks, the dirt, and even drank the water in the ditch.

And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

When everyone saw what happened, they all fell down flat on the ground and said, "The Lord is God! The Lord is God!"

And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

Elijah told them to capture the prophets of Baal and not to let any of them escape. They captured them and Elijah killed them at the brook Kishon.

And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.

Elijah told Ahab, "Wake up, eat and drink because there's a noise that lots of rain is coming."

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

So Ahab ate and drank. Meanwhile, Elijah climbed to the top of a hill called Carmel and lay down on the ground, resting his head on his knees.

And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

He told his servant, "Go look at the sea." The servant did and reported, "There's nothing there." His master replied, "Try seven more times."

And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.

At the seventh time, a small cloud appeared from the sea, like a person's hand. He told it to go tell Ahab to prepare his chariot and hurry down so the rain doesn't stop him.

And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

Meanwhile, the sky was filled with dark clouds and strong winds, causing heavy rain. Ahab rode his horse and traveled to Jezreel.

And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

The power of God was with Elijah, so he quickly prepared himself and ran ahead of King Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.