The First Book Melakhim, starting at chapter 16 {16:1} The word of the LORD came to Yehu the son of Hanani against Ba`sha, saying, {16:2} Because I exalted you out of the dust, and made you prince over my people Yisra'el, and you have walked in the way of Yarov`am, and have made my people Yisra'el to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins; {16:3} behold, I will utterly sweep away Ba`sha and his house; and I will make your house like the house of Yarov`am the son of Nevat. {16:4} Him who dies of Ba`sha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him who dies of his in the field shall the birds of the sky eat. {16:5} Now the rest of the acts of Ba`sha, and what he did, and his might, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisra'el? {16:6} Ba`sha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirtzah; and Elah his son reigned in his place. {16:7} Moreover by the prophet Yehu the son of Hanani came the word of the LORD against Ba`sha, and against his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Yarov`am, and because he struck him. {16:8} In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Yehudah began Elah the son of Ba`sha to reign over Yisra'el in Tirtzah, [and reigned] two years. {16:9} His servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now he was in Tirtzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Artza, who was over the household in Tirtzah: {16:10} and Zimri went in and struck him, and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Yehudah, and reigned in his place. {16:11} It happened, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he struck all the house of Ba`sha: he didn't leave him a single man-child, neither of his relatives, nor of his friends. {16:12} Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Ba`sha, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke against Ba`sha by Yehu the prophet, {16:13} for all the sins of Ba`sha, and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned, and with which they made Yisra'el to sin, to provoke the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, to anger with their vanities. {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 Yisra'el? {16:15} In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Yehudah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirtzah. Now the people were encamped against Gibbeton, which belonged to the Pelishtim. {16:16} The people who were encamped heard say, Zimri has conspired, and has also struck the king: therefore all Yisra'el made `Omri, the captain of the host, king over Yisra'el that day in the camp. {16:17} `Omri went up from Gibbeton, and all Yisra'el with him, and they besieged Tirtzah. {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, {16:19} for his sins which he sinned in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Yarov`am, and in his sin which he did, to make Yisra'el to sin. {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 Yisra'el? {16:21} Then were the people of Yisra'el divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tivni the son of Ginat, to make him king; and half followed `Omri. {16:22} But the people who followed `Omri prevailed against the people who followed Tivni the son of Ginat: so Tivni died, and `Omri reigned. {16:23} In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Yehudah began `Omri to reign over Yisra'el, [and reigned] twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirtzah. {16:24} He bought the hill Shomron 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, Shomron. {16:25} `Omri did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and dealt wickedly above all who were before him. {16:26} For he walked in all the way of Yarov`am the son of Nevat, and in his sins with which he made Yisra'el to sin, to provoke the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, to anger with their vanities. {16:27} Now the rest of the acts of `Omri which he did, and his might that he shown, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisra'el? {16:28} So `Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Shomron; and Ach'av his son reigned in his place. {16:29} In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Yehudah began Ach'av the son of `Omri to reign over Yisra'el: and Ach'av the son of `Omri reigned over Yisra'el in Shomron twenty-two years. {16:30} Ach'av the son of `Omri did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him. {16:31} It happened, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Yarov`am the son of Nevat, that he took as wife Izevel the daughter of Etba`al king of the Tzidonim, and went and served Ba`al, and worshiped him. {16:32} He reared up an altar for Ba`al in the house of Ba`al, which he had built in Shomron. {16:33} Ach'av made the Asherah; and Ach'av did yet more to provoke the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, to anger than all the kings of Yisra'el who were before him. {16:34} In his days did Hi'el the Beit-Eli build Yericho: he laid the foundation of it with the loss of Aviram his firstborn, and set up the gates of it with the loss of his youngest son Seguv, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Yehoshua the son of Nun. {17:1} Eliyah the Tishbi, who was of the foreigners of Gil`ad, said to Ach'av, As the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. {17:2} The word of the LORD came to him, saying, {17:3} Get you hence, and turn you eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Kerit, that is before the Yarden. {17:4} It shall be, that you shall drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there. {17:5} So he went and did according to the word of the LORD; for he went and lived by the brook Kerit, that is before the Yarden. {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. {17:7} It happened after a while, that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. {17:8} The word of the LORD came to him, saying, {17:9} Arise, get you to Tzarfat, which belongs to Tzidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain you. {17:10} So he arose and went to Tzarfat; 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. {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. {17:12} She said, As the LORD 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. {17:13} Eliyah 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. {17:14} For thus says the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, The jar of meal shall not empty, neither shall the jar of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the [1>]eretz[<1]. {17:15} She went and did according to the saying of Eliyah: and she, and he, and her house, ate [many] days. {17:16} The jar of meal didn't empty, neither did the jar of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Eliyah. {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. {17:18} She said to Eliyah, 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! {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. {17:20} He cried to the LORD, and said, LORD my God, have you also brought evil on the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son? {17:21} He stretched himself on the child three times, and cried to the LORD, and said, LORD my God, please let this child's soul come into him again. {17:22} The LORD listened to the voice of Eliyah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. {17:23} Eliyah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him to his mother; and Eliyah said, Behold, your son lives. {17:24} The woman said to Eliyah, Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth. {18:1} It happened after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Eliyah, in the third year, saying, Go, show yourself to Ach'av; and I will send rain on the [1>]eretz[<1]. {18:2} Eliyah went to show himself to Ach'av. The famine was sore in Shomron. {18:3} Ach'av called `Ovadyah, who was over the household. (Now `Ovadyah feared the LORD greatly: {18:4} for it was so, when Izevel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that `Ovadyah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) {18:5} Ach'av said to `Ovadyah, 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. {18:6} So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ach'av went one way by himself, and `Ovadyah went another way by himself. {18:7} As `Ovadyah was in the way, behold, Eliyah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Is it you, my lord Eliyah? {18:8} He answered him, It is I: go, tell your lord, Behold, Eliyah [is here]. {18:9} He said, Wherein have I sinned, that you would deliver your servant into the hand of Ach'av, to kill me? {18:10} As the LORD 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. {18:11} Now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Eliyah [is here]. {18:12} It will happen, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the LORD will carry you I don't know where; and so when I come and tell Ach'av, and he can't find you, he will kill me: but I your servant fear the LORD from my youth. {18:13} Wasn't it told my lord what I did when Izevel killed the prophets of the LORD, how I hid one hundred men of the LORD's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? {18:14} Now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Eliyah [is here]; and he will kill me. {18:15} Eliyah said, As the LORD of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today. {18:16} So `Ovadyah went to meet Ach'av, and told him; and Ach'av went to meet Eliyah. {18:17} It happened, when Ach'av saw Eliyah, that Ach'av said to him, Is it you, you troubler of Yisra'el? {18:18} He answered, I have not troubled Yisra'el; but you, and your father's house, in that you have forsaken the [2>]mitzvot[<2] of the LORD, and you have followed the Ba`alim. {18:19} Now therefore send, and gather to me all Yisra'el to Mount Karmel, and the prophets of Ba`al four hundred fifty, and the prophets of the Asherah four hundred, who eat at Izevel's table. {18:20} So Ach'av sent to all the children of Yisra'el, and gathered the prophets together to Mount Karmel. {18:21} Eliyah came near to all the people, and said, "How long will you waver between the two sides? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Ba`al, then follow him." The people answered him not a word. {18:22} Then Eliyah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD; but Ba`al's prophets are four hundred fifty men. {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. {18:24} You call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire, let him be God." All the people answered, "It is well said." {18:25} Eliyah said to the prophets of Ba`al, "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." {18:26} They took the bull which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Ba`al from morning even until noon, saying, Ba`al, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any who answered. They leaped about the altar which was made. {18:27} It happened at noon, that Eliyah 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. {18:28} They cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. {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. {18:30} Eliyah said to all the people, Come near to me; and all the people came near to him. He repaired the altar of the LORD that was thrown down. {18:31} Eliyah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Ya`akov, to whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Yisra'el shall be your name. {18:32} 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. {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. {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. {18:35} The water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. {18:36} It happened at the time of the offering of the [evening] offering, that Eliyah the prophet came near, and said, LORD, the God of Avraham, of Yitzchak, and of Yisra'el, let it be known this day that you are God in Yisra'el, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. {18:37} Hear me, LORD, hear me, that this people may know that you, LORD, are God, and [that] you have turned their heart back again. {18:38} Then the fire of the LORD 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. {18:39} When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, the LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God. {18:40} and Eliyah said to them, Take the prophets of Ba`al; don't let one of them escape. They took them; and Eliyah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and killed them there. {18:41} Eliyah said to Ach'av, Get you up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain. {18:42} So Ach'av went up to eat and to drink. Eliyah went up to the top of Karmel; and he bowed himself down on the [3>]eretz[<3], and put his face between his knees. {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. {18:44} It happened at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there arises a cloud out of the sea, as small as a man's hand. He said, Go up, tell Ach'av, Make ready [your chariot], and get you down, that the rain not stop you. {18:45} It happened in a little while, that the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. Ach'av rode, and went to Yizre`el: {18:46} and the hand of the LORD was on Eliyah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ach'av to the entrance of Yizre`el. ________________________________________________________________________ Footnotes: [1] {17:14} earth [1] {18:1} earth [2] {18:18} commandments [3] {18:42} earth ________________________________________________________________________ The Hebrew Names Version of the World English Bible is in the Public Domain. Typo reports are welcome at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please see http://eBible.org/bible/hnv for updates and editing status. ___ To unsubscribe, please go to http://ebible.org/subscribe.htm OR send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe hnv" in the message body.