列王紀上 第 18 章

And it happened after many days that the word of the Lord came to Eliou in the third year, saying: Go and show yourself to Achaab, and I will give rain upon the face of the earth.

And Eliou went to show himself to Achaab; and the famine was severe in Samaria.

And Achaab called Abdiou the steward; and Abdiou feared the Lord greatly.

And it happened, when Iezabel was striking down the prophets of the Lord, that Abdiou took a hundred men, prophets, and hid them by fifties in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.

And Achaab said to Abdiou: Come, let us pass through the land, to the springs of water and to the brooks; perhaps we may find fodder and keep horses and mules alive, and they shall not perish from among the cattle.

And they divided the way between them to pass through it: Achaab went by one way alone, and Abdiou went by another way alone.

And Abdiou was on the way alone, and Eliou came to meet him alone; and Abdiou hurried and fell on his face and said: Is it you yourself, my lord Eliou?

And Eliou said to him: It is I. Go, tell your lord: Behold, Eliou.

And Abdiou said: What sin have I committed, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Achaab, to put me to death?

As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you; and they said: He is not here. And he burned that kingdom and its territories, because he did not find you.

And now you say: Go, announce to your lord: Behold, Eliou.

And it will be, if I go away from you, that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you off to a land that I do not know; and I shall go in to report to Achaab, and he will kill me. Yet your servant has feared the Lord from his youth.

Was it not reported to you, my lord, what I did when Iezabel was killing the prophets of the Lord — that I hid a hundred men of the prophets of the Lord, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

And now you say to me: Go, tell your lord: Behold, Eliou — and he will kill me.

And Eliou said: As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, today I will show myself to him.

And Abdiou went to meet Achaab and told him; and Achaab ran out and went to meet Eliou.

And it happened, when Achaab saw Eliou, that Achaab said to Eliou: Is it you yourself, the one who perverts Israel?

And Eliou said: I do not pervert Israel, but rather you and the house of your father, in that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and you have gone after the Baalim.

And now send and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of shame, and the four hundred prophets of the groves who eat at Iezabel's table.

And Achaab sent to all Israel and gathered all the prophets to Mount Carmel.

And Eliou came near to them all, and Eliou said to them: How long will you go limping on both hams? If the Lord is God, go after him; but if Baal is, go after him. And the people answered not a word.

And Eliou said to the people: I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men, and the prophets of the grove four hundred.

Let them give us two oxen, and let them choose one for themselves, and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; and I will prepare the other ox, and I will not put fire to it.

And you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord my God; and the god who answers by fire, he is God. And all the people answered and said: The word you have spoken is good.

And Eliou said to the prophets of shame: Choose one calf for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.

And they took the calf and prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, and said: Hear us, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice and no answer; and they ran about upon the altar which they had made.

And it happened at noon that Eliou the Thesbite mocked them and said: Call with a loud voice, for he is a god; for he is deep in musing, and at the same time perhaps he is transacting business, or perhaps he is asleep and will wake up.

And they called with a loud voice and cut themselves, according to their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.

And they prophesied until the afternoon had passed; and it came to the time of the offering up of the sacrifice, and there was no voice. And Eliou the Thesbite spoke to the prophets of the abominations, saying: Stand aside from now on, and I will make my whole burnt offering. And they stood aside and went away.

And Eliou said to the people: Come near to me. And all the people came near to him.

And Eliou took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of Israel, as the Lord spoke to him, saying: Israel shall be your name.

And he built the stones in the name of the Lord, and repaired the altar that had been torn down, and made a thaala round about the altar, holding two measures of seed.

And he piled the split wood on the altar which he had made, and cut the whole burnt offering in pieces and laid it on the split wood, and piled it on the altar.

And he said: Bring me four water jars, and pour them on the whole burnt offering and on the split wood. And they did so. And he said: Do it a second time. And they did it a second time. And he said: Do it a third time. And they did it a third time.

And the water ran round about the altar, and they filled the thaala with water.

And Eliou cried out to heaven and said: Lord, God of Abraam and Isaak and Israel, hear me, Lord, hear me today by fire; and let all this people know that you are the Lord, the God of Israel, and I am your servant, and for your sake I have done these works.

Hear me, Lord, hear me by fire; and let this people know that you are the Lord God, and that you have turned the heart of this people back.

And fire fell from the Lord out of heaven and consumed the whole burnt offering and the split wood and the water that was in the thaala and the stones; and the fire licked up the dust.

And all the people fell on their faces and said: Truly the Lord is God; he is God.

And Eliou said to the people: Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they seized them; and Eliou brings them down to the brook Kison and slaughtered them there.

And Eliou said to Achaab: Go up and eat and drink, for there is the sound of the feet of the rain.

And Achaab went up to eat and to drink; and Eliou went up to Carmel and bowed down to the ground and put his own face between his own knees.

And he said to his servant boy: Go up and look toward the way of the sea. And the boy looked and said: There is nothing. And Eliou said: And you, go back seven times. And the boy went back seven times.

And it happened at the seventh time, and behold, a small cloud like a man's footprint bringing up water. And he said: Go up and say to Achaab: Yoke your chariot and go down, lest the rain overtake you.

And it happened this way and that, and the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain; and he wept, and Achaab went to Iezrael.

And the hand of the Lord was upon Eliou, and he girded up his loins and ran before Achaab as far as Iezrael.