A   After processe of many dayes þe; worde of the Lord came to Elia in the thyrde yeare, sayinge: go shewe thy selfe vnto Ahab, and ^note I wyll sende rayne vpon the erth. And Elia went to shewe hym selfe vnto Ahab, ∧ ther was a great famyshement in Schomron. And Ahab called Obadia, whych was the gouerner of hys house: ∧ Obadia feared God greatlye: For when Iezabell destroyed the prophetes of þe; Lord, he toke an h&ubar;dred prophetes and hyd th&ebar;, fiftie m&ebar; in one caue ∧ fyftie in another, ∧ prouyded bred ∧ water for th&ebar;. And Ahab sayde vnto Obadia: Go into the l&abar;de, vnto all fountaynes of water, ∧ vnto all brokes, yf happlye we maye fynde grasse, to saue the horses &abar;d the mules, ∧ that we destroye not some of the beastes. And so they deuyded the l&abar;de betwene th&ebar;, to walke thorow it. Ahab went one waye by hym selfe, and Obadia went another waye by hym selfe.

B   And it chaunced that as Obadia was in the waye, Elia mett h&ibar;. And Obadia knewe hym, ∧ fell on hys face, ∧ sayde: art not þu; my Lord Elia? And he answered hym: I am he. Go and tell thy Lorde: beholde, Elia is here. He sayde: what haue I synned, that þu; woldest delyuer thy serua&ubar;t into þe; h&abar;d of Ahab, to sley me? As trulie as the Lord thy God lyueth, there is no nacyon or kyngdome, whether my Lorde hath not sent, to seke the. And when they sayde: he is not there, he tooke an othe of the kyngdome ∧ nacy&obar;, whan he founde the not. And nowe thowe sayest: goo ∧ tell thy Lorde, that Elia is here. And as sone as I am gone from the, the sprete of the Lord shall carie the into some place that I do not knowe. and so when I come and tell Ahab, ∧ he canne not finde the, he shall sley me. C   But I thy serua&ubar;t feare the Lorde from my youth vp. Was it not tolde my Lorde, what I dyd, when Iezabell slue the prophetes of þe; Lorde howe I hydde an hundred men of the Lordes prophetes, fyftie m&ebar; in one caue and fyftie in another, and prouyded th&ebar; of breed and water? And nowe thou sayest, goo thou nowe and shewe thy Lorde. Beholde, Elia is here, that he maye sley me?

And Elia sayde: as truly as the Lorde of Hostes lyueth, before wh&obar; I stande, I wyll shew my selfe vnto him this daye. So Obadia went to mete Ahab, and tolde hym. And Ahab went to mete Elia. And it fortuned þt; whan Ahab sawe Elia, he sayde vnto him: art thou he that troubleth Israel? He answered: it is not I that haue troubled Israel, but thou, and thy fathers house, in that ye haue forsaken the commaundementes of the Lorde, and thou hast folowed Baal. Nowe therfore sende and geather to me all Israel vnto mount Carmel, and the prophetes of Baal ^note foure hundred and fyftie, and the prophetes of the Idols groues foure h&ubar;dred, which eate of Iezabels table. D   So Ahab sent vnto all the chyldren of Israel, ∧ gathered þe; prophetes togeather vnto mount Carmel.

And Elia came vnto all the people, and sayde: howe l&obar;ge halte ye betwene two opynions?

Elia and Baals prophetes If the Lord be God, folowe hym: but yf Baal be he, then go after hym. And the people answered hym not one worde. Then sayde Elia vnto the people agayne. I onely remayne a prophete of þe; Lorde: but Baals prophetes are foure hundred and fyftie. Let them therfore geue vs two oxen, ∧ let them chose the one, ∧ cut hym in peces, ∧ laye hym on wodd, and put no fyre vnder: and I will dresse the other oxe, ∧ laye him on wodd, and will put no fyre vnder. And call ye on the name of youre God, ∧ I wyll call on the name of the Lorde: and then the God that answereth by fyre, let him be God.

E    ^noteAnd all the people answered ∧ sayde. yt is well spoken. And Elia sayd vnto the prophetes of Baal: chose you an oxe, and dresse hym fyrst (for ye are many) and call on the name of your goddes, but put no fyre vnder. And they toke the one oxe that he dyd geue them, ∧ they dressed it ^note ∧ called on the name of Baal from mornynge to noone: say&ebar;g: O Baal heare vs. But there was no voyce nor one to answere. And they lepte vp&obar; the aulter that they had made. And at none it fortuned, that Elia mocked them, and sayde: crye lowde, for &rhand; he is a God: peraduenture he is talkinge or occupyed (in folowinge vpon his enemyes) or is in his iourneye, or happely he slepeth, ∧ must be awaked withe youre crye. And they cryed lowde, and cut th&ebar; selues, as their maner was, &wt; knyues ∧ la&ubar;cers, tyll the bloude folowed on them. And it chaunsed, þt; when myddaye was passed &club; &rhand; they prophesyed vntill þe; tyme of þe; euenyng sacrifyce. F   But there was nether voyce ner one to answere, ner any þt; regarded th&ebar;.

And Elia sayde vnto all the folke: come to me. And all þe; people came to hym. ^noteAnd he repayred the aulter of the Lord, that was broken. ^noteAnd Elia toke .xij. stones accord&ibar;g to the nombre of the .xij. trybes of the sonnes of Iacob (vnto wh&obar; the worde of the Lorde came, sayeng. ^noteIsrael shalbe thy name. And with the stones he made an aultare in the name of the Lorde. And he made a dyche ro&ubar;de about þe; aulter, &rhand; as brode as two forowes of the corne felde. And he put the wodd in order, ∧ hewed the oxe in peces, ∧ layed hym on the wodd, and sayde: fyll foure barels &wt; water, and powre it on the burntsacrifyce ∧ on the wodd. And he sayd: do so agayne. And they dyd so the seconde tyme. And he sayde agayne: do it the thyrde tyme. And they dyd it the thyrde tyme. And the water ranne rounde about the aulter, and he fylled the pitte wyth water also.

And it fortuned wh&ebar; þe; tyme came (wherin þe; burntsacrifyce of þe; eueninge vsed to be offred) Elia the prophete came ∧ sayd: Lord God of Abrah&abar;, Isahac ∧ of Israel, it shalbe know&ebar; this daye, that thou art the God in Elia and Baals prophetes Israel, ∧ that I am thy seruaunt, ∧ þt; I haue done all these thynges at thy c&obar;ma&ubar;dem&ebar;t. Heare me (O Lorde) heare me, þt; this people maye knowe, that thou art þe; Lorde God, ∧ þu; hast turned theyr herte agayne now at the last. ^noteAnd the fyre of the Lord fell, ∧ consumed the burntsacrifyce ∧ þe; wodd, the stones ∧ the dust, ∧ lycked vp the water þt; was in þe; pitte. G   And wh&ebar; all þe; people sawe it, they fell on their faces, ∧ sayd. The Lord, he is God, þe; Lord, he is God. And Elia sayde vnto th&ebar;. Take the prophetes of Baal, ∧ let not one of them escape. And they toke them, and Elia brought th&ebar; vnto þe; brooke Kison, ∧ slue th&ebar; there. And Elia sayd vnto Ahab: gett þe; vp, eate and drinck, for ther is a so&ubar;de of moche rayne. And so Ahab went vp to eate and to drinck, ∧ Elia w&ebar;t vp to þe; toppe of Carmel. And he layed &rhand; h&ibar; selfe flatt vp&obar; the erth, ∧ put his face betwene his knees, ∧ sayd to his serua&ubar;t: go vp (I praye þe;) ∧ looke towarde the waye of the see. And he w&ebar;t vp ∧ loked, ∧ sayde: there is nothyng. And he sayde: go agayne .vij. tymes. And it fortuned, þt; at þe; seu&ebar;th tyme he sayd: behold, there ariseth a little clowde of the see, lyke a m&abar;nes hande. He sayde: go, ∧ saye vnto Ahab, Make fast thy charet, ∧ gett the downe, þt; the rayne stoppe the not. And it came to passe, þt; in the meane while, þe; heu&ebar; was blacke &wt; clowdes ∧ w&ibar;de, ∧ there was a great rayne. And Ahab gatt vp ∧ came to Iezreel. And the h&abar;d of þe; Lord was on Elia, ∧ he gyrded vp hys loynes, ∧ ranne before Ahab, tyll he came to Iezreel.

Previous section

Next section