make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went, and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days [or a full year]. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which He spake by Elijah. I KINGS Xvii.

ND it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick : and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come

THE PRIESTS OF BAAL.

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unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast Thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray Thee, let this child's soul come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.'-1 KINGS xvii.

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ELIJAH MOCKS THE PRIESTS OF BAAL. LIJAH, confidently relying on the Almighty Creator, boldly defied the idolatrous Ahab; and bade him summon all Israel together, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, that a sacrifice might be

offered to Baal and to Jehovah, to prove which was the true God. The priests of Baal, having prepared their oblation, called upon their god for hours for fire to consume it, but without success. Then it was that Elijah at once mocked them, and rebuked the folly of idolatry by the most cutting irony and taunts. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them. And it came to pass, when mid-day was passed, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.'-1 KINGS Xviii.

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OFFERING.

OND Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto and he repaired the altar of the Lord

him that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name; and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burntsacrifice, and on the wood. And at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let

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it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me; that this people may know that Thou art the Lord God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt-sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they said, The Lord, He is the God; the Lord, He is the God.'I KINGS Xviii.

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God by his idolatry. He was also unjust and wicked towards man. 'Naboth had a vine

yard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying,