1 Kings 18

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 A long time went by, and the word of Yahweh came to Elijah in the third year, 'Go, present yourself toAhab, and I wil send rain on the country.'	1 After many days the word of the Lord came to Elias, in the third year, saying: Go and shew thyself to Achab, that I may give rain upon the face of the earth.
2 So Elijah set off to present himself to Ahab. As the famine was particularly severe in Samaria,	2 And Elias went to shew himself to Achab, and there was a grievous famine in Samaria.
3 Ahab summoned Obadiah, the master of the palace -- Obadiah held Yahweh in great reverence:	3 And Achab called Abdias the governor of his house: now Abdias feared the Lord very much.
4 when Jezebel was butchering the prophets of Yahweh, Obadiah took a hundred of them and hid them,fifty at a time, in a cave, and kept them provided with food and water-	4 For when Jezabel killed the prophets of the Lord, he took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifty and fifty in caves, and fed them with bread and water.
5 and Ahab said to Obadiah, 'Come along, we must scour the country, all the springs and all the ravinesin the hope of finding grass to keep horses and mules alive, or we shall have to slaughter some of our stock.'	5 And Achab said to Abdias: Go into the land unto all fountains of waters, and into all valleys, to see if we can find grass, and save the horses and mules, that the beasts may not utterly perish.
6 They divided the country for the purpose of their survey; Ahab went one way by himself and Obadiahwent another way by himself.	6 And they divided the countries between them, that they might go round about them: Achab went one way, and Abdias another way by himself.
7 While Obadiah was on his way, whom should he meet but Elijah. Recognising him he fel on his faceand said, 'So it is you, my lord Elijah!'	7 And as Abdias was in the way, Elias met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said: Art thou my lord Elias?
8 'Yes,' he replied, 'go and tel your master, "Elijah is here." '	8 And he answered: I am. Go, and tell thy master: Elias is here.
9 But Obadiah said, 'What sin I have committed, for you to put your servant into Ahab's power and causemy death?	9 And he said: What have I sinned, that thou wouldst deliver me thy servant into the hand of Achab, that he should kill me?
10 As Yahweh your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent in search ofyou; and when they said, "He is not there," he made the kingdom or nation swear an oath that they did not knowwhere you were.	10 As the Lord thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee : and when all answered: He is not here: he took an oath of every kingdom and nation, because thou wast not found.
11 And now you say to me, "Go and tel your master: Elijah is here."	11 And now thou sayest to me: Go, and tell thy master: Elias is here.
12 But as soon as I leave you, the spirit of Yahweh wil carry you away and I shal not know where; I shalgo and tel Ahab; he wil not be able to find you, and then he wil kil me. Yet from his youth your servant hasrevered Yahweh.	12 And when I am gone from thee, the spirit of the Lord will carry thee into a place that I know not: and I shall go in and tell Achab, and he not finding thee, will kill me: but thy servant feareth the Lord from his infancy.
13 Has no one told my lord what I did when Jezebel butchered the prophets of Yahweh, how I hid ahundred of them in a cave, fifty at a time, and kept them provided with food and water?	13 Hath it not been told thee, my lord, what I did when Jezabel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the prophets of the Lord, by fifty and fifty in caves, and fed them with bread and water?
14 And now you say to me, "Go and tel your master: Elijah is here." Why, he wil kill me!'	14 And now thou sayest: Go, and tell thy master: Elias is here: that he may kill me.
15 Elijah replied, 'As Yahweh Sabaoth lives, whom I serve, I shal present myself to him today!'	15 And Elias said: As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whose face I stand, this day I will shew myself unto him.
16 Obadiah went to find Ahab and tel him the news, and Ahab then went to find Elijah.	16 Abdias therefore went to meet Achab, and told him: and Achab came to meet Elias.
17 When he saw Elijah, Ahab said, 'So there you are, you scourge of Israel!'	17 And when he had seen him, he said: Art thou he that troublest Israel?
18 'Not I,' he replied, 'I am not the scourge of Israel, you and your family are; because you have desertedYahweh and fol owed Baal.	18 And he said: I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house, who have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and have followed Baalim.
19 Now give orders for all Israel to gather round me on Mount Carmel, and also the four hundredprophets of Baal who eat at Jezebel's table.'	19 Nevertheless send now, and gather unto me all Israel, unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, who eat at Jezabel's table.
20 Ahab cal ed al Israel together and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.	20 Achab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered together the prophets unto mount Carmel.
21 Elijah stepped out in front of al the people. 'How long', he said, 'do you mean to hobble first on oneleg then on the other? If Yahweh is God, follow him; if Baal, fol ow him.' But the people had nothing to say.	21 And Elias coming to all the people, said: How long do you halt between two sides? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.
22 Elijah then said to them, 'I, I alone, am left as a prophet of Yahweh, while the prophets of Baal arefour hundred and fifty.	22 And Elias said again to the people: I only remain a prophet of the Lord: but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men.
23 Let two bulls be given us; let them choose one for themselves, dismember it but not set fire to it. I inmy turn shal prepare the other bul , but not set fire to it.	23 Let two bullocks be given us, and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces and lay it upon wood, but put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under it.
24 You must cal on the name of your god, and I shal cal on the name of Yahweh; the god who answerswith fire, is God indeed.' The people al answered, 'Agreed!'	24 Call ye on the names of your gods, and I will call on the name of my Lord: and the God that shall answer by fire, let him be God. And all the people answering said: A very good proposal.
25 Elijah then said to the prophets of Baal, 'Choose one bul and begin, for there are more of you. Call onthe name of your god but light no fire.'	25 Then Elias said to the prophets of Baal: Choose you one bullock and dress it first, because you are many: and call on the names of your gods, but put no fire under.
26 They took the bul and prepared it, and from morning to midday they called on the name of Baal. 'OBaal, answer us!' they cried, but there was no voice, no answer, as they performed their hobbling dance roundthe altar which they had made.	26 And they took the bullock which he gave them, and dressed it: and they called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying: O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered: and they leaped over the altar that they had made.
27 Midday came, and Elijah mocked them. 'Cal louder,' he said, 'for he is a god: he is preoccupied or heis busy, or he has gone on a journey; perhaps he is asleep and needs to be woken up!'	27 And when it was now noon, Elias jested at them, saying: Cry with a louder voice: for he is a God, and perhaps he is talking, or is in an inn, or on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep, and must be awaked.
28 So they shouted louder and gashed themselves, as their custom was, with swords and spears untilthe blood flowed down them.	28 So they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till they were all covered with blood.
29 Midday passed, and they ranted on until the time when the offering is presented; but there was novoice, no answer, no sign of attention.	29 And after midday was past, and while they were prophesying, the time was come of offering sacrifice, and there was no voice heard, nor did any one answer, nor regard them as they prayed:
30 Then Elijah said to al the people, 'Come over to me,' and al the people came over to him. Herepaired Yahweh's altar which had been torn down.	30 Elias said to all the people: Come se unto me. And the people coming near unto him, he repaired the altar of the Lord, that was broken down:
31 Elijah took twelve stones, corresponding to the number of tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom theword of Yahweh had come, 'Israel is to be your name,'	31 And he took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying: Israel shall be thy name.
32 and built an altar in the name of Yahweh. Round the altar he dug a trench of a size to hold twomeasures of seed.	32 And he built with the stones an altar to the name of the Lord: and he made a trench for water, of the breadth of two furrows round about the altar.
33 He then arranged the wood, dismembered the bull, and laid it on the wood.	33 And he laid the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it upon the wood.
34 Then he said, 'Fil four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.' They did this.He said, 'Do it a second time;' they did it a second time. He said, 'Do it a third time;' they did it a third time.	34 And he said: Fill four buckets with water, and pour it upon the burnt offering, and upon the wood. And again he said: Do the same the second time. And when they had done it the second time, he said: Do the same also the third time. And they did so the third time.
35 The water flowed round the altar until even the trench itself was ful of water.	35 And the water run round about the altar, and the trench was filled with water.
36 At the time when the offering is presented, Elijah the prophet stepped forward. 'Yahweh, God ofAbraham, Isaac and Israel,' he said, 'let them know today that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant,that I have done all these things at your command.	36 And when it was now time to offer the holocaust, Elias the prophet came near and said: O Lord God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel, shew this day that thou art the God of Israel, and I thy servant, and that according to thy commandment I have done all these things.
37 Answer me, Yahweh, answer me, so that this people may know that you, Yahweh, are God and arewinning back their hearts.'	37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me: that this people may learn, that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart again.
38 Then Yahweh's fire fel and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and licked up the water in thetrench.	38 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the holocaust, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 When al the people saw this they fell on their faces. 'Yahweh is God,' they cried, 'Yahweh is God!'	39 And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces, and they said: The Lord he is God, the Lord he is God.
40 Elijah said, 'Seize the prophets of Baal: do not let one of them escape.' They seized them, and Elijahtook them down to the Kishon, and there he slaughtered them.	40 And Elias said to them: Take the prophets of Baal, and let not one of them escape. And when they had taken them, Elias brought them down to the torrent Cison, and killed them there.
41 Elijah said to Ahab, 'Go back now, eat and drink; for I hear the approaching sound of rain.'	41 And Elias said to Achab: Go up, eat, and drink: for there is a sound of abundance of rain.
42 While Ahab went back to eat and drink, Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel and bowed down to theground, putting his face between his knees.	42 Achab went up to eat and drink: and Elias went up to the top of Carmel, and casting himself down upon the earth put his face between his knees,
43 'Now go up', he told his servant, 'and look out to sea.' He went up and looked. 'There is nothing at al ,'he said. Seven times Elijah told him to go back.	43 And he said to his servant: Go up, and look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said: There is nothing. And again he said to him: Return seven times.
44 The seventh time, the servant said, 'Now there is a cloud, smal as a man's hand, rising from the sea.'Elijah said, 'Go and say to Ahab, "Harness the chariot and go down before the rain stops you." '	44 And at the seventh time, behold, a little cloud arose out of the sea like a man's foot. And he said: Go up and say to Achab: Prepare thy chariot and go down, lest the rain prevent thee.
45 And with that the sky grew dark with cloud and storm, and rain fel in torrents. Ahab mounted hischariot and made for Jezreel.	45 And while he turned himself this way and that way, behold the heavens grew dark, with clouds, and wind, and there fell a great rain. And Achab getting up went away to Jezrahel:
46 But the hand of Yahweh had come on Elijah and, hitching up his clothes, he ran ahead of Ahab al theway to Jezreel.	46 And the hand of the Lord was upon Elias, and he girded up his loins and ran before Achab, till he came to Jezrahel.