July
3
1
Kings 16-18
1Ki
16:1 The word of Yahweh came to Jehu the son of Hanani against
Baasha, saying,
1Ki
16:2 Because I exalted you out of the dust, and made you prince over
my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and
have made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their
sins;
1Ki
16:3 behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house; and I
will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
1Ki
16:4 Him who dies of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him
who dies of his in the field shall the birds of the sky eat.
1Ki
16:5 Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his
might, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings
of Israel?
1Ki
16:6 Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah; and
Elah his son reigned in his place.
1Ki
16:7 Moreover by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of
Yahweh against Baasha, and against his house, both because of all the
evil that he did in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger with
the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and
because he struck him.
1Ki
16:8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the
son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and
reigned two years.
1Ki
16:9 His servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired
against him. Now he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the
house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah:
1Ki
16:10 and Zimri went in and struck him, and killed him, in the
twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.
1Ki
16:11 It happened, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his
throne, that he struck all the house of Baasha: he didn't leave him a
single one who urinates on a wall, neither of his relatives, nor of
his friends.
1Ki
16:12 Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the
word of Yahweh, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet,
1Ki
16:13 for all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son,
which they sinned, and with which they made Israel to sin, to provoke
Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger with their vanities.
1Ki
16:14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, aren't
they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
1Ki
16:15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri
reign seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were encamped against
Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.
1Ki
16:16 The people who were encamped heard say, Zimri has conspired,
and has also struck the king: therefore all Israel made Omri, the
captain of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp.
1Ki
16:17 Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they
besieged Tirzah.
1Ki
16:18 It happened, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he
went into the castle of the king's house, and burnt the king's house
over him with fire, and died,
1Ki
16:19 for his sins which he sinned in doing that which was evil in
the sight of Yahweh, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his
sin which he did, to make Israel to sin.
1Ki
16:20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he
did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings
of Israel?
1Ki
16:21 Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: half of
the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; and
half followed Omri.
1Ki
16:22 But the people who followed Omri prevailed against the people
who followed Tibni the son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and Omri
reigned.
1Ki
16:23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to
reign over Israel, and reigned
twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah.
1Ki
16:24 He bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of
silver; and he built on the hill, and called the name of the city
which he built, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill,
Samaria.
1Ki
16:25 Omri did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and dealt
wickedly above all who were before him.
1Ki
16:26 For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and
in his sins with which he made Israel to sin, to provoke Yahweh, the
God of Israel, to anger with their vanities.
1Ki
16:27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might
that he showed, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of
the kings of Israel?
1Ki
16:28 So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria; and
Ahab his son reigned in his place.
1Ki
16:29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the
son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri reigned
over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.
1Ki
16:30 Ahab the son of Omri did that which was evil in the sight of
Yahweh above all that were before him.
1Ki
16:31 It happened, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk
in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife
Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and
served Baal, and worshiped him.
1Ki
16:32 He reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he
had built in Samaria.
1Ki
16:33 Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did yet more to provoke
Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who
were before him.
1Ki
16:34 In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid its
foundation with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its
gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word
of Yahweh, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.
1Ki
17:1 Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the foreigners of Gilead, said
to Ahab, As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand,
there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my
word.
1Ki
17:2 The word of Yahweh came to him, saying,
1Ki
17:3 Get away from here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the
brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan.
1Ki
17:4 It shall be, that you shall drink of the brook; and I have
commanded the ravens to feed you there.
1Ki
17:5 So he went and did according to the word of Yahweh; for he went
and lived by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan.
1Ki
17:6 The ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and
bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
1Ki
17:7 It happened after a while, that the brook dried up, because
there was no rain in the land.
1Ki
17:8 The word of Yahweh came to him, saying,
1Ki
17:9 Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell
there: behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain you.
1Ki
17:10 So he arose and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the
gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks: and he
called to her, and said, Please get me a little water in a vessel,
that I may drink.
1Ki
17:11 As she was going to get it, he called to her, and said, Please
bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.
1Ki
17:12 She said, As Yahweh your God lives, I don't have a cake, but a
handful of meal in the jar, and a little oil in the jar: and behold,
I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and bake it for me and my
son, that we may eat it, and die.
1Ki
17:13 Elijah said to her, Don't be afraid; go and do as you have
said; but make me of it a little cake first, and bring it forth to
me, and afterward make for you and for your son.
1Ki
17:14 For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, The jar of meal shall
not empty, neither shall the jar of oil fail, until the day that
Yahweh sends rain on the earth.
1Ki
17:15 She went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she,
and he, and her house, ate many
days.
1Ki
17:16 The jar of meal didn't empty, neither did the jar of oil fail,
according to the word of Yahweh, which he spoke by Elijah.
1Ki
17:17 It happened after these things, that the son of the woman, the
mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that
there was no breath left in him.
1Ki
17:18 She said to Elijah, What have I to do with you, you man of
God? You have come to me to bring my sin to memory, and to kill my
son!
1Ki
17:19 He said to her, Give me your son. He took him out of her
bosom, and carried him up into the chamber, where he abode, and laid
him on his own bed.
1Ki
17:20 He cried to Yahweh, and said, Yahweh my God, have you also
brought evil on the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?
1Ki
17:21 He stretched himself on the child three times, and cried to
Yahweh, and said, Yahweh my God, please let this child's soul come
into him again.
1Ki
17:22 Yahweh listened to the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the
child came into him again, and he revived.
1Ki
17:23 Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber
into the house, and delivered him to his mother; and Elijah said,
Behold, your son lives.
1Ki
17:24 The woman said to Elijah, Now I know that you are a man of
God, and that the word of Yahweh in your mouth is truth.
1Ki
18:1 It happened after many days, that the word of Yahweh came to
Elijah, in the third year, saying, Go, show yourself to Ahab; and I
will send rain on the earth.
1Ki
18:2 Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. The famine was sore in
Samaria.
1Ki
18:3 Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah
feared Yahweh greatly:
1Ki
18:4 for it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Yahweh,
that Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a
cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
1Ki
18:5 Ahab said to Obadiah, Go through the land, to all the springs
of water, and to all the brooks: peradventure we may find grass and
save the horses and mules alive, that we not lose all the animals.
1Ki
18:6 So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it:
Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by
himself.
1Ki
18:7 As Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew
him, and fell on his face, and said, Is it you, my lord Elijah?
1Ki
18:8 He answered him, It is I: go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah is
here.
1Ki
18:9 He said, Wherein have I sinned, that you would deliver your
servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me?
1Ki
18:10 As Yahweh your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom, where
my lord has not sent to seek you: and when they said, He is not here,
he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they didn't find you.
1Ki
18:11 Now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah is here.
1Ki
18:12 It will happen, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit
of Yahweh will carry you I don't know where; and so when I come and
tell Ahab, and he can't find you, he will kill me: but I your servant
have feared Yahweh from my youth.
1Ki
18:13 Wasn't it told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the
prophets of Yahweh, how I hid one hundred men of Yahweh's prophets by
fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?
1Ki
18:14 Now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah is
here; and he will kill me.
1Ki
18:15 Elijah said, As Yahweh of Armies lives, before whom I stand, I
will surely show myself to him today.
1Ki
18:16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to
meet Elijah.
1Ki
18:17 It happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Is
it you, you troubler of Israel?
1Ki
18:18 He answered, I have not troubled Israel; but you, and your
father's house, in that you have forsaken the commandments of Yahweh,
and you have followed the Baals.
1Ki
18:19 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel to Mount
Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred fifty, and the prophets
of the Asherah four hundred, who eat at Jezebel's table.
1Ki
18:20 So Ahab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered the
prophets together to Mount Carmel.
1Ki
18:21 Elijah came near to all the people, and said, "How long
will you waver between the two sides? If Yahweh is God, follow him;
but if Baal, then follow him." The people answered him not a
word.
1Ki
18:22 Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left
a prophet of Yahweh; but Baal's prophets are four hundred fifty men.
1Ki
18:23 Let them therefore give us two bulls; and let them choose one
bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood,
and put no fire under; and I will dress the other bull, and lay it on
the wood, and put no fire under.
1Ki
18:24 You call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name
of Yahweh; and the God who answers by fire, let him be God." All
the people answered, "It is well said."
1Ki
18:25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for
yourselves, and dress it first; for you are many; and call on the
name of your god, but put no fire under it."
1Ki
18:26 They took the bull which was given them, and they dressed it,
and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying,
Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any who answered. They
leaped about the altar which was made.
1Ki
18:27 It happened at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry
aloud; for he is a god: either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or
he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleeps and must be awakened.
1Ki
18:28 They cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with
knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.
1Ki
18:29 It was so, when midday was past, that they prophesied until
the time of the offering of the evening
offering; but there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any who
regarded.
1Ki
18:30 Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me; and all the
people came near to him. He repaired the altar of Yahweh that was
thrown down.
1Ki
18:31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the
tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Yahweh came, saying,
Israel shall be your name.
1Ki
18:32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of Yahweh; and
he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two
measures of seed.
1Ki
18:33 He put the wood in order, and cut the bull in pieces, and laid
it on the wood. He said, Fill four jars with water, and pour it on
the burnt offering, and on the wood.
1Ki
18:34 He said, Do it the second time; and they did it the second
time. He said, Do it the third time; and they did it the third time.
1Ki
18:35 The water ran around the altar; and he filled the trench also
with water.
1Ki
18:36 It happened at the time of the offering of the evening
offering, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Yahweh, the
God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day
that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I
have done all these things at your word.
1Ki
18:37 Hear me, Yahweh, hear me, that this people may know that you,
Yahweh, are God, and that
you have turned their heart back again.
1Ki
18:38 Then the fire of Yahweh fell, and consumed the burnt offering,
and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water
that was in the trench.
1Ki
18:39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they
said, Yahweh, he is God; Yahweh, he is God.
1Ki
18:40 and Elijah said to them, Take the prophets of Baal; don't let
one of them escape. They took them; and Elijah brought them down to
the brook Kishon, and killed them there.
1Ki
18:41 Elijah said to Ahab, Get up, eat and drink; for there is the
sound of abundance of rain.
1Ki
18:42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to the top
of Carmel; and he bowed himself down on the earth, and put his face
between his knees.
1Ki
18:43 He said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. He
went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. He said, Go again
seven times.
1Ki
18:44 It happened at the seventh time, that he said, "Behold, a
small cloud, like a man's hand, is rising out of the sea." He
said, Go up, tell Ahab, Get ready and go down, so that the rain
doesn't stop you.
1Ki
18:45 It happened in a little while, that the sky grew black with
clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. Ahab rode, and went to
Jezreel.
1Ki
18:46 The hand of Yahweh was on Elijah; and he tucked his cloak into
his belt and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
