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let the soul of this child come into him again: and the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the child revived.

Then Elijah brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother, and said, See, thy son liveth. And the woman said unto Elijah, Now by this I know thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.

LESSON CVI. 1 KINGS, CHAP. XVIII.

AND after many days the word of the Lord came unto Elijah (in the third year,) saying, Go and shew thyself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth: and he went to shew himself to Ahab.

Now there was a sore famine in Samaria; and Ahab called Obadiah, who was the governor of his house, (now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly ;) and said unto him, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks, perhaps we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we may not lose all the beasts.

So they divided the land between them, to pass through it; Ahab went one way, and Obadiah another way by himself. And as Obadiah was in the way, behold Elijah met him; and he knew him and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah? and he answered, I am; go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

And he said, In what have I sinned, that thou wouldst deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me? There is no nation or kingdom whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee; and now thou sayest, Go tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall kill me: but I thy servant have feared the Lord from my youth.

Was it not told my Lord what I did, when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, how I hid an hundred men of the Lord's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

And Elijah said, As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself to him this day. So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

And when he saw Elijah, he said to him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?

And Elijah answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.

Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal, four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves, four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table.

So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together, unto Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

Then said Elijah, I, even I, only remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks, and let them choose one for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock and lay it on wood, and put no fire under.

And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered, It is well spoken.

Then Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.

And they took the bullock which was given them, and dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us: But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.

And at noon, Elijah mocked them, saying, Cry aloud, for he is a god, either he is talking or is pursuing, or 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 when they had prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, and there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded:

Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me. And

the people came near, and he repaired the altar of the Lord 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 made a trench about it, 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 burnt sacrifice, and on the wood:

And he said, Do it the second time; and they did it the second time: and he said, Do it the third time; and they did it the third time: and the water ran round about the altar, and he filled the trench also with water.

And at the time of offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near, 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 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 hearts 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 fell on their faces, and said, The Lord he is the God, the Lord he is the God. And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal, let not one of them escape; and they took them, and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

After which he said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink, and Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel, and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees.

Then he said unto his servant, Go up now, look towards the sea: and he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times; and at the seventh time the servant said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand.

And Elijah said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy cha

riot and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. In the mean while, the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.

So Ahab rode and went to Jezreel, and the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab, to the entrance of Jezreel.

LESSON CVII. 1 KINGS, CHAP. XIX.

AND Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword: Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about this time.

And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness; and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is enough now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

And as he lay and slept under the juniper tree, behold then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat; and he looked, and lo there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head; and he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.

And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, saying, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. Upon which he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights, unto Horeb, the mount of God.

And he came there to a cave, and lodged there: and the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, What doest thou here, Elijah?

And he answered, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life to take it away. And it was said unto him, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.

And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and

after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake and after the earthquake a fire; and the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire a still small voice.

And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood at the entering in of the cave: and there came a voice unto him, saying, What doest thou here, Elijah ?

And he answered, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left, and they life to take it away.

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Then the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness, of Damascus and when thou art come, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria; and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat, of Abel-maholah, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.

Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

So he departed thence, and found Elisha, who was ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him ; upon which he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, saying, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee.

And he said unto him, Go back again; for what have I done to thee? So he returned back, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave to the people, and they did eat: then he arose and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.

LESSON CVIII. 1 KINGS, CHAP. XXI. XXII.

AND after these things it happened that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

And Ahab said to Naboth, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near to my house, and I will give thee for it a better vineyard, or if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. And Naboth answered, The Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.

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