Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone [am] left a prophet of Yahweh, but the prophets of Baal [are] four hundred and fifty men.

Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh, and it shall be that the god who answers by fire, he [is] God." Then all the people answered and said, "The word [is] good!"

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]."

It happened at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he [is] a god! Perhaps he is meditating, or {is using the bathroom}, or [is] on a journey. Perhaps he [is] asleep and must wake up!"

Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me," so all the people came closer to him. He repaired the altar of Yahweh [that had been] destroyed.

And he arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces, and placed [it] on the wood. Then he said, "Fill four jars [with] water, and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood."

He said, "Do [it] again!" They did [it] again. He said, "Do [it] a third time!" So they did [it] a third time.

It happened at the offering of the [evening] oblation, Elijah the prophet went near, and he said, "O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; let it be known today that you [are] God in Israel and [that] I [am] your servant and [that] I have done all of these things by your words.

When all the people saw, they fell on their faces and said, "Yahweh, he [is] God! Yahweh, he [is] God!"

Then Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any man of them escape!" So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the wadi of Kishon and killed them there.

Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink, for [there is] the sound of the noise of rain."

Then he said to his servant, "Please go [and] look in the direction of [the] sea." So he went up and looked; then he said, "There is nothing." Then he said, "Go back," seven times.

It happened that at the seventh time, he said, "Look, there is a small cloud, as [the] hand of a man, coming up from the sea." Then [Elijah] said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Harness [your horses] and go down, lest the rain stop you.'"

Then he went into the wilderness one day's journey, and he went and sat under a certain broom tree. Then {he asked Yahweh that he might die}, and he said, "It is enough now, Yahweh; take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors."

He lay down and fell asleep under a certain broom tree, and suddenly this angel [was] touching him and said to him, "Get up, eat!"

The angel of Yahweh appeared a second [time] and touched him and said, "Get up, eat, for the journey is greater than you."

Then he said, "I have been very zealous for Yahweh the God of hosts, for the {Israelites} have forsaken your covenant. They have demolished your altars, and they have killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left over, and they seek to take my life.

He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before Yahweh." Suddenly Yahweh was passing by, with a great and strong wind ripping the mountains and crushing rocks before Yahweh; [but] Yahweh [was] not in the wind. After the wind, [there was] an earthquake; [but] Yahweh was not in the earthquake.

It happened at the moment Elijah heard, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood [at] the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice [came] to him and said, "{Elijah, why are you here}?"

He said, "I have been very zealous for Yahweh the God of Hosts, for the {Israelites} have forsaken your covenant, demolished your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword; I alone am left, and they seek to take my life!"

Then Yahweh said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. Go and anoint Hazael as king over Aram;

Then he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, "Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will go after you." Then he said, "Go, return, for what I have done to you?"

He said to him, "Thus says Ben-Hadad: 'Your silver and your gold are mine, and your women and your best sons are mine.'"

Then the king of Israel answered and said, "As your word, my master the king; I [am] yours, and all that is mine [is yours]."

The messengers returned and said, "Thus says Ben-Hadad, saying, 'I sent to you saying, "Your silver and gold are mine, and your women and your best sons you must give to me."

Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, "Please know and realize that this [man is] seeking trouble, for he sent to me for my women, my sons, my silver, and my gold, and I did not withhold [anything] from him."

All of the elders and all of the people said to him, "Do not listen and do not consent."

So he said to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, "Say to my lord the king, 'All that you demanded from your servant at the first, I will do, but this thing I am not able to do.'" Then the messengers went and {made a report to him}.

Then Ben-Hadad sent to him and said, "Thus may the gods do to me and thus may they add if the dust of Samaria is sufficient for the hollow of a hand for all of the people who are at my feet."

The king of Israel answered and said, "Tell [him], 'Let not him who girds on his armor boast as one who takes off his armor.'"

It happened at the moment he heard this word, he and the kings [were] drinking in the {tents}. He said to his servants, "Get ready [to attack]." So they got ready [to attack] the city.

Suddenly a certain prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and said, "Thus says Yahweh: 'Have you seen all this great crowd? Behold, I [am] giving it into your hand today, that you may know that I [am] Yahweh.'"

Ahab said, "By whom?" And he said, "Thus says Yahweh: 'By the servants of the commanders of the provinces.'" He asked, "Who will begin the battle?" And he said, "You."

Then he said, "If they have come out for peace, seize them alive; and if they have come out for war, seize them alive."

Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel, and he said to him, "Go, strengthen yourself; {consider well} what you should do, for the king of Aram is coming against you at the turn of the year."

The servants of the king of Aram said to him, "Their gods [are] gods of the mountains, therefore they were stronger than we. Let us fight with them in the plain; surely we will be stronger than they.

Then the man of God approached, and he spoke to the king of Israel, and he said, "Thus says Yahweh: 'Because Aram has said, "Yahweh [is] a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys," ' I will give all this great crowd into your hand that you may know that I [am] Yahweh."

Then his servants said to him, "Please now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are kings of mercy. Let us now put sackcloth on around our waists and ropes on our heads. Then let us go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps {he will let you live}."

So they tied sackcloth around their waists and ropes on their heads. Then they went to the king of Israel and said, "Your servant Ben-Hadad says, 'Please let me live.'" And he said, "[Is] my brother still alive?"

The men took this as a good omen and they quickly accepted [it] as true from him, and they said, "Your brother Ben-Hadad [lives]." So he said, "Go, get him." Ben-Hadad came out to him, and [Ahab] pulled him up on the chariot.

[Ben-Hadad] said to him, "The cities which my father took from your father I shall return. You may set up streets with stalls for yourself in Damascus just as my father set up in Samaria." [Then Ahab said], "{On these terms} I will let you go," So he made a covenant with him and let him go.

A certain man from the sons of the prophets said to his fellow countryman, "By the word of Yahweh, please strike me." But the man refused to strike him.

He said to him, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, look, as you now are going from me, a lion will kill you." When he went from beside him, the lion found him and killed him.

Then he found another man and said, "Strike me, please," so the man struck him sharply and wounded him.

As the king [was] passing by, he called to the king and said, "Your servant went out in the thick of the battle, and suddenly a man turned and brought a man to me and said, 'Guard this man. If by any means he should be missed, it will be your life in his place, or you shall pay a talent of silver.'

It happened that your servant {was busy here and there}, and he {disappeared}." Then the king said to him, "Your own judgment has been determined."

He said to him, "Thus says Yahweh: 'Because you have let the man I devoted for destruction go from [your] hand, your life shall be in place of his life and your people in place of his people.'"

Naboth said to Ahab, "Far be it from me from Yahweh that I should give the inheritance of my ancestors to you."

Then Ahab went to his house, sullen and angry because of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him [when] he had said, "I will not give to you the inheritance of my ancestors." So he lay on his bed, turned away his face, and would not eat [any] food.

Then Jezebel his wife came to him, and she said to him, "What is this, that your spirit is sullen and you are not eating food?"

Then he said to her, "When I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and asked him, 'Give me your vineyard for money, or it you prefer, I will give you a vineyard in place of it,' he said, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'"

Jezebel his wife said to him, "Now, you {rule} over Israel. Get up, eat food, and let your heart be {cheerful}. I myself will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."

It happened at the moment Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and died, Jezebel said to Ahab, "Get up, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite which he had refused to give to you for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead."

Then Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, my enemy?" He said, "I have found you because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh.

Moreover, concerning Jezebel, Yahweh has said, 'The dogs will eat Jezebel in the outer rampart of Jezreel.'

and the king of Israel said to his servants, "Do you know Ramoth-Gilead belongs to us, and we [are] doing nothing about taking it from the hand of the king of Aram?"

Then he said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to the battle for Ramoth-Gilead?" Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "{I am like you}; {my people are like your people}; {my horses are like your horses}."

Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, "Please inquire for the word of Yahweh today."

Then the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and he said to them, "Shall I go against Ramoth-Gilead for the battle, or should I refrain?" Then they said, "Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king."

So Jehoshaphat said, "Is there no prophet of Yahweh here that we might still inquire from him?"

Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "[There is] still one man to inquire from Yahweh, but I despise him, for he never prophesies [anything] good concerning me, but only bad: Micaiah the son of Imlah." Then Jehoshaphat said, "The king should not say so."

The king of Israel summoned a certain court official, and he said, "Quickly fetch Micaiah son of Imlah."

Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, "Thus says Yahweh: 'With these you shall gore the Arameans until finishing them.'"

Then the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Please now, the words of the prophet are {unanimously} favorable to the king. Please let your words be as one word with them, and speak favorably."

Then Micaiah said, "{As Yahweh lives}, surely only as Yahweh speaks to me, that will I speak."

When he came to the king, the king asked him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to the battle, or shall we refrain?" He said to him, "Go up and triumph, and Yahweh will give [it] into the hand of the king."

Then the king said to him, "How many times must I make you swear that you shall not tell me [anything] but truth in the name of Yahweh?"

So he said, "I saw all of Israel scattering to the mountains, like the sheep without a shepherd. Yahweh also said, 'There are no masters for these, let them return in peace, each to his house.'"

Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not say to you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but disaster?"

And he said, "Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne with all the hosts of heaven standing beside him from his right hand and from his left [hand].

And Yahweh said, 'Who will entice Ahab so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?' Then {this one was saying one thing and the other one was saying another}.

Then a spirit came out and stood before Yahweh and said, 'I will entice him,' and Yahweh said to him, 'How?'

He said, 'I will go out and I will be a false spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You shall entice and succeed, go out and do so.'

Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah came near and slapped Micaiah on the cheek and said, "When did the Spirit of Yahweh pass from me to speak with you?"

Then Micaiah said, "Behold, you [are about to] see on that day when you go {from room to room} to hide."

The king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the commander of the city and to Jehoash the son of the king;

Then Micaiah said, "If you indeed return in peace, then Yahweh has not spoken with me." Then he said, "Let all the peoples hear!"

Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "[I will] disguise myself and go into the battle, but you wear your robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself, and he went into the battle.

When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "Surely he [is] the king of Israel," and they turned to fight against him, so Jehoshaphat called out.

But another man drew his bow fully and struck the king of Israel between the armor scales and the breastplate; so he said to his chariot driver, "Turn {the chariot} and bring me out from the camp, for I am wounded."

Then Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my servants go with your servants in the ships," but Jehoshaphat was not willing.

Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice in his upper room, which [was] in Samaria, and he was injured. So he sent messengers, and he said to them, "Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury."

Then they said to him, "A man came up to meet us, and he said to us, 'Go, return to the king who sent you and speak to him, "Thus says Yahweh, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you [are] sending to inquire of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron? Therefore the bed upon which you have gone, you will not come down from it, for you will surely die.'" '"

They answered him, "A {hairy man} with a leather belt girded around his waist." And he said, "It [is] Elijah the Tishbite."

So {Ahaziah} sent to him the commander of fifty with his fifty [men], and he went up to him while he was sitting on the top of the hill. He said to him, " man of God, the king says, 'Come down.'"

Then Elijah answered and said to the commander of the fifty, "If I [am] a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty!" Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

So he {again sent} another commander of fifty and his fifty [men]. He answered and said to him, " man of God, thus says the king, 'Come down quickly!'"

Then Elijah answered and said to them, "If I [am] a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty!" Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

So he {again sent} a third [time] a commander of fifty and his fifty, and the commander of the third fifty went up and came and knelt down on his knees before Elijah and entreated him. He said to him, " man of God, please let my life and the lives of your servants, these fifty, be precious in your eyes.

and he said to him, "Thus says Yahweh, 'Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron--is it because there is no God in Israel [from whom] to inquire his word?--therefore the bed upon which you went, you shall not come down from it, for you shall surely die.'"

Elijah said to Elisha, "Please stay here, for Yahweh has sent me up to Bethel." Elisha said, "{As Yahweh lives} and {as your soul lives}, I will certainly not leave you!" So they went down [to] Bethel.

Then the sons of the prophets who [were in] Bethel came out to Elisha, and they said to him, "Do you know that Yahweh [is] going to take your master {from you} today?" He said, "I also know; be quiet!"

Elijah said to him, "Elisha, please stay here because Yahweh has sent me to Jericho." And he said, "{As Yahweh lives} and {as your soul lives}, I will certainly not leave you!" So they came to Jericho.

Then the sons of the prophets who [were] in Jericho came near to Elisha, and they said to him, "Do you know that Yahweh [is] going to take your master {from you} today?" He said, "I also know; be quiet!"

Then Elijah said to him, "Please stay here, because Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan." He said, "{As Yahweh lives} and {as your soul lives}, I will certainly not leave you!" So the two of them went on.

After they crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I may do for you before I am taken away from you." Then Elisha said, "Please let there come to me a double portion of your spirit."

He said, "What you ask is difficult. If you see me being taken from you, it will be so for you, but if not, it will not happen."

He took Elijah's cloak that had fallen from upon him and struck the water. Then he said, "Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?" So he also struck the water, and it divided {in two}, and Elisha crossed over.

Then they said to him, "Look, there are with your servants fifty able men. Please let them go and look for your master, lest the Spirit of Yahweh has lifted him up and thrown him on one of the mountains or into one of the valleys," but he said, "You must not send them."

But they urged him until embarrassing [him], so he said, "Send them." So they sent fifty men, and they looked for three days, but they could not find him.