lay them on wood, but put no fire; and I will prepare the 24 other and put no fire. And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will invoke the name of the Lord my God. And the God who shall answer by fire, let him be God. And all the people 25 answered and said, The proposal thou hast made is fair. Then Elias said to the prophets of shame, Chuse for yourselves one young bull, and prepare it first; for you are many; and call 26 on the name of your god, but put no fire to it. So they took the young bull and prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning till noon, and said, Hearken to us, O Baal! Hearken to us. But there was no voice. There was no answer; though they ran upon the altar which they had erected. 27 And when it was noon, Elias the Thesbite mocked them, and

said, Call louder; for he is a god; for he is engaged in meditatation, or perhaps he is busy, or perhaps he is asleep, and must 28 be awaked. Then they called with a loud voice, and according to their custom cut themselves with knives and lancets till there was a gush of blood upon them, and prophesied till the approach 29 of the evening. But when it was about the time when the sacrifice should ascend, Elias the Thesbite spoke to the prophets of the idols, and said, Desist now, and I will prepare my whole 30 burnt offering. So they desisted, and went away. Then Elias 31 said to the people, Draw near to me. And when all the people

came near before him, Elias took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of Israel, to whom the Lord had 32 spoken, saying, Thy name shall be Israel; and he built the stones in the name of the Lord, and repaired the altar which had been thrown down. Then he made a trench around the 33 altar sufficient to contain two measures of seed, and piled up the split wood upon the altar which he had made. He then divided the whole burnt offering in quarters, and laid it on the split wood. And when he had laid it in order upon the altar, he said, Bring me four pots of water and pour it on the whole 34 burnt offering and on the split wood. And when they had done

so, he said, Do the same again. And when they had done this a second time, he said, Do it a third time. So they did it a 35 third time, and the water ran down about the altar and filled 36 the trench with water. Then Elias raised his voice to heaven

and said, O Lord, the God of Abraham and of Isaak and of

Israel, hearken to me! O Lord, hearken to me this day by fire. And let all this people know, that thou art the Lord God of Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that by thee I have done 37 these works. Hearken to me, O Lord! Hearken to me; and let this people know, that thou art the Lord God, and that thou 38 hast turned the heart of this people back again. Thereupon fire from the Lord fell down out of heaven and consumed the whole burnt offering, with the split wood and the water in the 39 trench and the stones, and licked up even the dust. Then all

the people fell on their faces and said, Of a truth the Lord is 40 God. He is very God. Then Elias said to the people, Seize the prophets of Baal. Let none of them escape. So they seized them and brought them to Elias, down to the brook Kison and 41 slew them there. Then Elias said to Achab, Go up and eat 42 and drink, for there is a sound of coming rain. So when Achab

went up to eat and drink, Elias went up to the top of Carmel, and having bowed down on the earth, he put his face between 43 his knees and said to his servant, Go up and look towards the sea. And when the servant looked and said, There is nothing, 44 Elias said, Return thou again seven times. So the servant returned seven times, and at the seventh time he said, Behold there is a little cloud like a man's foot drawing up water. Whereupon he said, Go up and say to Achab, Prepare thy 45 chariot and go down lest the rain overtake thee. In the mean while the heaven gradually darkened with clouds and wind, and there came on a great rain. And while Achab wept and was travelling on to Jezrael the hand of the Lord was upon Elias and having girded up his loins, he ran before Achab XIX. to Jezrael. And when Achab told his wife Jezabel

all that Elias had done, and how he had slain the prophets with the sword, Jezabel sent to Elias, and said, As sure as 2 thou art Elias, and I Jezabel, God do so to me and more

also, if by this time to-morrow I do not make thy life like the 3 life of one of them. At this Elias was terrified, and arose and went where his inclination led him, and coming to Bersabee, 4 in the land of Juda, he left his servant there, and he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness; and came and sat down under a juniper tree, and intreated that he might die, and said, Let the present suffice. Take, I beseech thee, O

Lord, my life from me; for I am not better than my fathers. 5 Then he lay down and fell fast asleep there under a bush. And 6 behold one touched him and said to him, Rise and eat. And Elias looked up and behold at his head a cake of barley bread, and a pitcher of water! So he arose and ate and drank, and again laid 7 himself down to sleep. And the angel of the Lord returned the

second time and touched him and said to him, Rise and eat, for 8 the journey may be too great for thee. So he arose and ate and drank, and in the strength of that meal travelled forty days and 9 forty nights till he came to mount Choreb, and having there gone into the cave and taken up his lodging there, behold a word of the Lord came to him and said, Why art thou come 10 hither Elias? To which he replied, I have been very zealous for the Lord Almighty, because the children of Israel hath forsaken thee. They have demolished thy altars and slain thy 11 prophets with the sword. And I alone am left and they seek my life to take it. And it said, Thou shalt go out to-morrow and stand before the Lord on the mount. Behold the Lord will pass by. Accordingly behold there was a mighty strong blast of wind rending mountains and breaking rocks in pieces. before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, there was an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, there was a sound of a gentle breeze which when Elias heard, he covered 13 his face with his mantle and went out and stood beneath the cave. And behold there came a voice to him and said, 14 Why art thou come hither, Elias? To which Elias replied, I have been very zealous for the Lord Almighty, because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant. They have demolished thy altars and slain thy prophets with the sword; and 15 I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it. And the Lord said to him, Go, return on thy way; and when thou art come to the way of the wilderness of Damascus, thou shalt 16 go and anoint Azael to be king of Syria; and thou shalt anoint Jehu son of Namessi to be king over Israel; and Elisha son 17 of Saphat thou shalt anoint to be a prophet in thy stead. And it shall come to pass that him who escapeth from the sword of Azael, Jehu will slay; and him who escapeth from the sword

18 of Jehu, Elisha will slay. But thou shalt leave in Israel seven thousand men, all the knees which have not bowed to Baal, 19 and every mouth which hath not worshipped him. So when

he departed thence he found Elisha son of Saphat. He was 20 ploughing with cattle. There were twelve yoke before him, and he was with the twelve. And as he passed by him, he threw his mantle on him. Whereupon Elisha left the cattle and ran 21 after Elias and said, Let me salute my father and I will follow thee. And Elias said, Return; for I have done with thee. So he returned from following him, and he took the cattle which were yoked, and slew them, and boiled them with the implements of the cattle, and gave them to the people, and when they had eaten, he arose and went after Elias and waited on him.

XXI. Now Nabuthi the Jezraelite had a vineyard near, the 2 threshing floor of Achab king of Samaria. And Achab spoke to Nabuthi, saying, Give me this vineyard of thine, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near my house; and I will give thee another vineyard better than it; or if it seem good in thy sight, I will give thee moncy in exchange for thy vineyard, that I may have it for a kitchen garden. 3 And Nabuthi said to Achab, God forbid that I should give 4 thee the inheritance of my fathers: at which Achab's spirit was

so disturbed, that he laid himself down on his bed and cover5 ed his face and would not eat. Thereupon Jezabel his wife,

went to him and said to him, Why is thy spirit troubled so that 6 thou art not at thy meal? And he said to her, Because I spoke

to Nabuthi the Jesraclite, saying, Give me thy vineyard for moncy, or if thou please I will give thee another vineyard for it; but he said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fa7 thers. And Jezabel his wife said to him, Is it thus thou now. actest the king over Israel? Arise and cat, and be like thyself, and I will give thee the vineyard of Nabuthi the Jezra8 elite. Then she wrote a letter in Achab's name, and sealed it with his seal, and sent it to the elders and freemen, who 9 dwelt with Nabuthi. This was the purport of the letter. Proclaim a fast and set Nabuthi at the head of the people, and 10 suborn two wicked men and let them testify against him say11 ing, He renounced God and the king. Then let him be led

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out and stoned to death. And the men of the city, the elders and freemen who dwelt in his city did as Jezabel had sent to 12 them, even as it was written in the letter she sent them. So

having proclaimed a fast, they set Nabuthi at the head of the 13 people, and there came in two wicked men and sat over against him and testified against him saying, Thou hast renounced God and the king. Upon which they led him out of the city, 14 and stoned him with stones so that he died. Then they sent to 15 Jezabel saying, Nabuthi hath been stoned and is dead. When Jezabel heard she said to Achab, Arise and take possession of the vineyard of Nabuthi the Jezraelite, who would not give 16 it to thee for money, for he is not alive, for he is dead. But when Achab heard that Nabuthi the Jezraelite was dead, he rent his clothes and put on sackcloth; yet after doing this, he arose and went down to the vineyard of Nabuthi the Jezraelite, 17 to take possession of it. Whereupon the Lord spoke to Elias 18 the Thesbite, saying, Arise and go down to meet Achab king of

Israel, who is at Samaria; for he is in the vineyard of Nabuthi; 19 for he is gone down there to take possession of it. And thou shalt speak to him, and say, Thus saith the Lord, As thou hast murdered and taken possession, therefore thus saith the Lord, In every place where the swine and dogs have licked the blood of Nabuthi, there shall the dogs lick thy blood, and har20 lots shall bathe themselves in thy blood. And Achab said to Elias, Hast thou found me, O my enemy? To which he replied, I have found thee. Because thou hast sold thyself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to wrath, behold I 21 am going to bring evil upon thee, and I will kindle a flame after

thee and utterly destroy the whole race of Achab, both him 22 who is attended and him who is neglected in Israel. And I will

make thy house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nabat, and like the house of Baasa son of Achia, for the provocations with 23 which thou hast provoked me, and caused Israel to sin. And to

Jezabel the Lord hath spoken saying, The dogs shall devour 24 her on the ramparts of Jezrael. Him of Achab who dieth in the city, the dogs shall devour, and him who dieth in the fields, the birds of the air shall devour.

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But though Achab had acted foolishly in selling himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, as Jezabel his wife incited him,