16:30. And Achab, the son of Amri, did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.
16:31. Nor was it enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat: but he also took to wife Jezabel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. And he went, and served Baal, and adored him.
16:32. And he set up an altar for Baal, in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria;
16:33. And he planted a grove: and Achab did more to provoke the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel, than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
16:34. In his days Hiel, of Bethel, built Jericho: in Abiram, his firstborn, he laid its foundations: and in his youngest son, Segub, he set up the gates thereof: according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Josue, the son of Nun.
3 Kings Chapter 17
Elias shutteth up the heaven from raining. He is fed by ravens, and afterwards by a widow of Sarephta. He raiseth the window"s son to life.
17:1. And Elias the Thesbite, of the inhabitants of Galaad, said to Achab: As the Lord liveth, the G.o.d of Israel, in whose sight I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to the words of my mouth.
17:2. And the word of the Lord came to him, saying:
17:3. Get thee hence, and go towards the east, and hide thyself by the torrent of Carith, which is over against the Jordan;
17:4. And there thou shalt drink of the torrent: and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
17:5. So he went, and did according to the word of the Lord: and going, he dwelt by the torrent Carith, which is over against the Jordan.
17:6. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the torrent.
17:7. But after some time the torrent was dried up: for it had not rained upon the earth.
17:8. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying:
17:9. Arise, and go to Sarephta of the Sidonians, and dwell there: for I have commanded a widow woman there to feed thee.
Sarephta of the Sidonians... That is, a city of the Sidonians.
17:10. He arose, and went to Sarephta. And when he was come to the gate of the city, he saw the widow woman gathering sticks, and he called her, and said to her: Give me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
17:11. And when she was going to fetch it, he called after her, saying: Bring me also, I beseech thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand.
17:12. And she answered: As the Lord thy G.o.d liveth, I have no bread, but only a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruise: behold I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it, for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.
17:13. And Elias said to her: Fear not; but go, and do as thou hast said but first make for me of the same meal a little hearth cake, and bring it to me, and after make for thyself and thy son.
17:14. For thus saith the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel: The pot of meal shall not waste, nor the cruise of oil be diminished, until the day wherein the Lord will give rain upon the face of the earth.
17:15. She went, and did according to the word of Elias: and he ate, and she, and her house: and from that day
17:16. The pot of meal wasted not, and the cruise of oil was not diminished according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Elias.
17:17. And it came to pa.s.s after this, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick, and the sickness was very grievous, so that there was no breath left in him.
17:18. And she said to Elias: What have I to do with thee, thou man of G.o.d? art thou come to me, that my iniquities should be remembered, and that thou shouldst kill my son?
17:11. And Elias said to her: Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
17:20. And he cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord, my G.o.d, hast thou afflicted also the widow, with whom I am after a sort maintained, so as to kill her son?
17:21. And he stretched, and measured himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord, my G.o.d, let the soul of this child, I beseech thee, return into his body.
17:22. And the Lord heard the voice of Elias: and the soul of the child returned into him, and he revived.
17:23. And Elias took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber to the house below, and delivered him to his mother, and said to her: Behold thy son liveth.
17:24. And the woman said to Elias: Now by this I know that thou art a man of G.o.d, and the word of the Lord in thy mouth is true.
3 Kings Chapter 18
Elias cometh before Achab. He convinceth the false prophets by bringing fire from heaven: he obtaineth rain by his prayer.
18:1. After many days, the word of the Lord came to Elias, in the third year, saying: Go, and shew thyself to Achab, that I may give rain upon the face of the earth.
18:2. And Elias went to shew himself to Achab, and there was a grievous famine in Samaria.
18:3. And Achab called Abdias the governor of his house: now Abdias feared the Lord very much.
18:4. For when Jezabel killed the prophets of the Lord, he took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty and fifty in caves, and fed them with bread and water.
18:5. And Achab said to Abdias: Go into the land unto all fountains of waters, and into all valleys, to see if we can find gra.s.s, and save the horses and mules, that the beasts may not utterly perish.
18:6. And they divided the countries between them, that they might go round about them: Achab went one way, and Abdias another way by himself.
18:7. And as Abdias was in the way, Elias met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said: Art thou my lord Elias?
18:8. And he answered: I am. Go, and tell thy master: Elias is here.
18:9. And he said: What have I sinned, that thou wouldst deliver me, thy servant, into the hand of Achab, that he should kill me?
18:10. As the Lord thy G.o.d liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when all answered: He is not here: he took an oath of every kingdom and nation, because thou wast not found.
18:11. And now thou sayest to me: Go and tell thy master: Elias is here.
18:12. And when I am gone from thee, the Spirit of the Lord will carry thee into a place that I know not: and I shall go in and tell Achab; and he, not finding thee, will kill me: but thy servant feareth the Lord from his infancy.
18:13. Hath it not been told thee, my lord, what I did when Jezabel killed the prophets of the Lord; how I hid a hundred men of the prophets of the Lord, by fifty and fifty in caves, and fed them with bread and water?
18:14. And now thou sayest: Go and tell thy master: Elias is here: that he may kill me.
18:15. And Elias said: As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whose face I stand, this day I will shew myself unto him.
18:16. Abdias therefore went to meet Achab, and told him: and Achab came to meet Elias.