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CHAPTER XXIV.

Elijah, the Tishbite, B.C. 910. Then Elijah, the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, went to Ahab, in the midst of his idolatry, and said, “As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." And so it came to pass.

The Famine. - The three years' drought caused vegetation to fail, and great affliction came upon the people. Ahab sent in all directions to find Elijah, but the Lord had sent him to hide himself by the brook Cherith, and there he was fed by ravens, who brought him bread and meat every morning and evening.

Soon the brook Cherith was dried up by the continued drought, and Elijah was sent to Zarephath, between Zidon and Tyre.

The widow of Zarephath, or Sarepta.-And Elijah found a widow there gathering sticks, and he went to lodge in her house, and by a miracle the barrel of meal and the cruise of oil which the widow had, did not lessen nor waste while the famine lasted.

Then the son of the widow fell sick, and died; and Elijah carried him up into the loft where he slept, and stretched himself upon the child, and prayed unto the Lord that his soul might return unto him again; and so it came to pass.

Obadiah.-Now the wicked queen Jezebel had tried to destroy all the prophets of the Lord, and all of the people Israel, who would not bow the knee to Baal. But Obadiah, the steward of Ahab's house, being one of those who feared God, had saved one hundred of the prophets of the Lord, and hidden them in caves, where he fed them.

Elijah sought.-Now when the famine was sore in the land, Ahab called Obadiah, and said: "Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks," and seek grass for the horses and mules, that we lose not all the beasts.

And Obadiah met Elijah, who said: "Go and tell thy Lord, behold Elijah is here. As the Lord of hosts liveth, I will surely shew myself unto him this day."

And when Ahab met Elijah, he said: "Art thou he that troubleth Israel ?"

But Elijah said: "I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the Lord, and have followed Baalim."

The prophets of Baal.-Then Elijah desired Ahab to gather together the people of Israel and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal unto him to Mount Carmel.

And Elijah said unto the people, "How long halt ye between two opinions, if the Lord be God follow him, but if Baal, then follow him."

Then he said to the prophets of Baal, "Let them give us each one bullock, and let us each build an altar, and put wood and the bullock upon it, but put no fire under, and call ye upon your god, and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God." And the people said "It is well spoken."

The sacrifice. Then the prophets of Baal built their altar, and dressed the sacrifice, and laid it on the wood, and cried out until mid-day, "O! Baal, hear us, Baal, Baal, hear us!" and they cut themselves with knives.

Then Elijah said to the people: "Come near unto me." And he rebuilt the altar of the Lord, and made a trench around it, and laid the wood in order and the bullock on the wood, and caused them to pour twelve

vessels of water over it all, that it might be thoroughly wet, that the people might be sure there was no deceit or fraud on his part.

Then he called upon the Lord about the time of the evening sacrifice, and said: "Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done these things according to thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me." Then the fire fell and consumed the sacrifice, and even the stones and water, and the people fell on their faces, and said: "The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God." And Elijah commanded that they should take the false prophets down to the brook Kishon, and they slew them there.

The rain comes.-Then Elijah said to Ahab: "Get thee up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of abundance of rain." And Elijah went to the top of Mount Carmel, and cast himself upon the earth, and told his servant to go and look over the sea seven times, for the sign of rain, until the servant saw a little cloud arise like a man's hand out of the sea.

Then Elijah told Ahab to hasten home, lest the rain should stop him, and he girded up his loins and ran before the chariot of Ahab unto the entrance of Jezreel.

Jezebel threatens Elijah.-And when Ahab told Jezebel what Elijah had done, she sent to the prophet, saying that she would kill him the next day.

So Elijah fled, and leaving his servant at Beersheba, went on southward toward Arabia. And as he sat, worn with fatigue, under a juniper tree, he requested for himself that he might die. But he fell asleep, and an angel touched him, and showed him a cake and some water. And he took the food and laid down again and slept. And the angel awoke him a

second time. And when he had eaten again, he went forty days unto Horeb, the mount of God.

The Lord appears to Elijah.-Now the Lord came unto Elijah in Mount Horeb, and said: "What doest thou here, Elijah ?" And he said that he had been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, but that the idolaters had destroyed all the godly in the land, and he only was left, and they sought his life.

But the Lord told Elijah that there were yet seven thousand men in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal.

Moreover, he commanded Elijah to go back toward Palestine, and on his way to anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, Jehu king of Israel, and Elisha, the son of Shaphat, to be prophet in his stead.

And he found Elisha plowing, and Elisha sacrificed the oxen with which he was ploughing, rejoicing that the Lord had called him to be a prophet. And he followed Elijah.

The Syrians invade Israel, B.C. 901.-Now Benhadad, king of Syria, gathered his hosts, and thirtytwo kings with him, and invaded Israel. And he besieged Samaria, and sent unto Ahab, demanding his silver and gold, and all his precious things; and when Ahab denied him not, he said he would send his servants unto Ahab's palace, to choose whatever pleased them best; but to this Ahab would not consent.

And God sent a prophet to Ahab, to say that He would deliver the Syrians into his hands by the two hundred and thirty-two young men of the princes of the provinces. And the next day at noon, they marched out of Samaria and fell upon the Syrians, and utterly defeated them.

Then the prophet warned Ahab, that Benhadad would return in the next spring, that so he might be prepared. And so it was.

Now the Syrians had said: "The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not the God of the valleys." Therefore the Lord said He would deliver the Syrians into the band of Israel. So the Syrians were utterly defeated, and Benhadad taken prisoner. And Ahab made a treaty with him and sent him away, but the prophet told Ahab that he should have put that wicked king to death, and not have let him go.

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Naboth and Jezebel.-Now Naboth, of Jezreel, had a vineyard which was close by the palace that Ahab had built. And Ahab said: Give me thy vineyard for a herb or kitchen garden, and I will give thee a better piece of land." But Naboth would not do so, and Ahab went home displeased, and would not eat his dinner that day.

And Jezebel heard what had vexed him, and she said she would give him the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite.

Then she sent messengers to the elders in Jezreel, and commanded them to bring Naboth to trial for "blaspheming God and the king," and they did so, and found wicked men who bare false witness against him, and he was stoned to death.

Then the elders sent word to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead; then she said to Ahab : "Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth which he refused to sell thee, for he is dead."

Elijah meets Ahab.-Then Ahab went down to take the vineyard of Naboth. And the Lord sent Elijah the prophet to meet him.

And Elijah said to the king: "Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine."

And of Jezebel, he said: "The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel." For Ahab had done very

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