Elijah Confronts Ahab

1 ^dAfter many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.” 2 So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. 3 And Ahab called Obadiah, who was ^eover the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, 4 and ^fwhen Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water.) 5 And Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys. Perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the animals.” 6 So they divided the land between them to pass through it. Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself.

7 And as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him. And Obadiah recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?” 8 And he answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your lord, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’” 9 And he said, “How have I sinned, that you would give your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 ^gAs the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you. And when they would say, ‘He is not here,’ he would take an oath of the kingdom or nation, that they had not found you. 11 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here.”’ 12 And as soon as I have gone from you, ^hthe Spirit of the Lord will carry you I know not where. And so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth. 13 Has it not been told my lord what I did ⁱwhen Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the Lord’s prophets by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here”’; and he will kill me.” 15 And Elijah said, ^g“As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.” 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah.

17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, ^j“Is it you, you ^ktroubler of Israel?” 18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have ^labandoned the commandments of the Lord and ^mfollowed the Baals. 19 Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount ⁿCarmel, and the ^o450 prophets of Baal and ^pthe 400 prophets of Asherah, ^qwho eat at Jezebel’s table.”

The Prophets of Baal Defeated

20 So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long ^rwill you go limping between two different opinions? ^sIf the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, ^t“I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are ^u450 men. 23 Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. 24 And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who ^vanswers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.” 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26 And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. 27 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28 And they cried aloud and ^wcut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 29 And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of ^xthe offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been ^ythrown down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, ^z“Israel shall be your name,” 32 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 seahs¹ of seed. 33 ^aAnd he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and ^bpour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” 34 And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time. 35 And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.

36 And at the time of ^cthe offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, ^dGod of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that ^eyou are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that ^fI have done all these things at your word. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 38 ^gThen the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, ^h“The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” 40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to ⁱthe brook Kishon and ^jslaughtered them there.

The Lord Sends Rain

41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. ^kAnd he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. 43 And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. 44 And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, ^la little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’” 45 And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to ^mJezreel. 46 ⁿAnd the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, ^oand he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of ^pJezreel.

Come, Bless the Lord

A Song of ^mAscents.

Greeting

1 ^aJames, a servant¹ of God and ^bof the Lord Jesus Christ,

To ^cthe twelve tribes in ^dthe Dispersion:

Greetings.

Testing of Your Faith

2 ^eCount it all joy, my brothers,² when you meet trials ^fof various kinds, 3 for you know that ^gthe testing of your faith ^hproduces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be ⁱperfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5 ^jIf any of you lacks wisdom, ^klet him ask God, ^lwho gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But ^mlet him ask in faith, ⁿwith no doubting, for the one who doubts is like ^oa wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 ^phe is a double-minded man, ^qunstable in all his ways.

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and ^rthe rich in his humiliation, because ^slike a flower of the grass³ he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and ^twithers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

12 ^uBlessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive ^vthe crown of life, ^wwhich God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire ^xwhen it has conceived gives birth to sin, and ^ysin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 ^zEvery good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from ^athe Father of lights, ^bwith whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.⁴ 18 ^cOf his own will he ^dbrought us forth by the word of truth, ^ethat we should be a kind of ^ffirstfruits of his creatures.

Hearing and Doing the Word

19 ^gKnow this, my beloved brothers: let every person ^hbe quick to hear, ⁱslow to speak, ^jslow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore ^kput away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with ^lmeekness the implanted word, ^mwhich is able to save your souls.

22 But be ⁿdoers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, ^othe law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, ^phe will be blessed in his doing.

26 If anyone thinks he is religious ^qand does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s ^rreligion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: ^sto visit ^torphans and widows in their affliction, and ^uto keep oneself ^vunstained from the world.

The Sin of Partiality

1 My brothers,^{5 w}show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, ^xthe Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” ^ywhile you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become ^zjudges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, ^ahas not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be ^brich in faith and heirs of ^cthe kingdom, ^dwhich he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you ^ehave dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who ^fdrag you ^ginto court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable ^hname by which you were called?

8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ⁱ“You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you ^jshow partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point ^khas become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, ^l“Do not commit adultery,” also said, ^l“Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under ^mthe law of liberty. 13 For ⁿjudgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Faith Without Works Is Dead

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith ^obut does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 ^pIf a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 ^qand one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good⁶ is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith ^rapart from your works, and I will show you my faith ^sby my works. 19 ^tYou believe that God is one; you do well. Even ^uthe demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 ^vWas not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that ^wfaith was active along with his works, and faith was completed ^xby his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ^y“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a ^zfriend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also ^aRahab the prostitute justified by works ^bwhen she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.