1 Kings 18:28

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them.

Hebrew Names Version
They cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.

King James Version
And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.

English Standard Version
And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.

New Century Version
The prophets prayed louder, cutting themselves with swords and spears until their blood flowed, which was the way they worshiped.

New English Translation
So they yelled louder and, in accordance with their prescribed ritual, mutilated themselves with swords and spears until their bodies were covered with blood.

Amplified Bible
So they cried out with a loud voice [to get Baal's attention] and cut themselves with swords and lances in accordance with their custom, until the blood flowed out on them.

New American Standard Bible
So they cried out with a loud voice, and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until blood gushed out on them.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And they cryed loude, and cut them selues as their maner was, with kniues and launcers, till the blood gushed out vpon them.

Legacy Standard Bible
So they cried with a loud voice and gashed themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them.

Contemporary English Version
The prophets kept shouting louder and louder, and they cut themselves with swords and knives until they were bleeding. This was the way they worshiped,

Complete Jewish Bible
So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and knives, as their custom was, until blood gushed out all over them.

Darby Translation
And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with swords and spears, till the blood gushed out upon them.

Easy-to-Read Version
So the prophets prayed louder. They cut themselves with swords and spears. (This was the way they worshiped.) They cut themselves until they were bleeding all over.

George Lamsa Translation
And they cried with a loud voice and they cut themselves after their custom with daggers and lances, until their blood gushed out upon them.

Good News Translation
So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed.

Lexham English Bible
So they called out with a loud voice, and they cut themselves with swords and with spears as was their custom, until the blood poured out over them.

Literal Translation
And they called with a loud voice, and cut themselves, according to their way, with swords and with spears until blood gushed out on them.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And they cried loude, and prouoked the selues with knyues & botkens, (as their maner was) tyll ye bloude folowed.

American Standard Version
And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances, till the blood gushed out upon them.

Bible in Basic English
So they gave loud cries, cutting themselves with knives and swords, as was their way, till the blood came streaming out all over them.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And they cried lowde, and cut them selues as their maner was with kniues & launcers, till the blood folowed on the.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with swords and lances, till the blood gushed out upon them.

King James Version (1611)
And they cried loud, and cut themselues after their maner, with kniues, and lancers, till the blood gushed out vpon them.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves according to their custom with knives and lancets until the blood gushed out upon them.

English Revised Version
And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances, till the blood gushed out upon them.

Berean Standard Bible
So they shouted louder and cut themselves with knives and lances, as was their custom, until the blood gushed out upon them.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor thei crieden with greet vois, and thei kerueden hem silf with knyues and launcetis, bi her custom, til thei weren bisched with blood.

Young's Literal Translation
And they call with a loud voice, and cut themselves, according to their ordinance, with swords and with spears, till a flowing of blood [is] on them;

Update Bible Version
And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.

Webster's Bible Translation
And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.

World English Bible
They cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.

New King James Version
So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.

New Living Translation
So they shouted louder, and following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out.

New Life Bible
So they cried with a loud voice. They cut themselves as they had done in the past, with swords and spears until blood poured out on them.

New Revised Standard
Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And they cried, with a loud voice, and cut themselves, after their custom, with swords, and with lances, - until the blood gushed out upon them.

Douay-Rheims Bible
So they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till they were all covered with blood.

Revised Standard Version
And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them.

Contextual Overview

²¹ Elijah challenged the people: "How long are you going to sit on the fence? If God is the real God, follow him; if it's Baal, follow him. Make up your minds!" Nobody said a word; nobody made a move. ²²Then Elijah said, "I'm the only prophet of God left in Israel; and there are 450 prophets of Baal. Let the Baal prophets bring up two oxen; let them pick one, butcher it, and lay it out on an altar on firewood—but don't ignite it. I'll take the other ox, cut it up, and lay it on the wood. But neither will I light the fire. Then you pray to your gods and I'll pray to God . The god who answers with fire will prove to be, in fact, God." All the people agreed: "A good plan—do it!" ²⁵ Elijah told the Baal prophets, "Choose your ox and prepare it. You go first, you're the majority. Then pray to your god, but don't light the fire." ²⁶ So they took the ox he had given them, prepared it for the altar, then prayed to Baal. They prayed all morning long, "O Baal, answer us!" But nothing happened—not so much as a whisper of breeze. Desperate, they jumped and stomped on the altar they had made. ²⁷By noon, Elijah had started making fun of them, taunting, "Call a little louder—he is a god, after all. Maybe he's off meditating somewhere or other, or maybe he's gotten involved in a project, or maybe he's on vacation. You don't suppose he's overslept, do you, and needs to be waked up?" They prayed louder and louder, cutting themselves with swords and knives—a ritual common to them—until they were covered with blood. ²⁹ This went on until well past noon. They used every religious trick and strategy they knew to make something happen on the altar, but nothing happened—not so much as a whisper, not a flicker of response. ³⁰Then Elijah told the people, "Enough of that—it's my turn. Gather around." And they gathered. He then put the altar back together for by now it was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Jacob, the same Jacob to whom God had said, "From now on your name is Israel." He built the stones into the altar in honor of God . Then Elijah dug a fairly wide trench around the altar. He laid firewood on the altar, cut up the ox, put it on the wood, and said, "Fill four buckets with water and drench both the ox and the firewood." Then he said, "Do it again," and they did it. Then he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time. The altar was drenched and the trench was filled with water. ³⁶When it was time for the sacrifice to be offered, Elijah the prophet came up and prayed, "O God , God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make it known right now that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I'm doing what I'm doing under your orders. Answer me, God ; O answer me and reveal to this people that you are God , the true God, and that you are giving these people another chance at repentance." ³⁸ Immediately the fire of God fell and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones, the dirt, and even the water in the trench. ³⁹ All the people saw it happen and fell on their faces in awed worship, exclaiming, " God is the true God! God is the true God!"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

cut themselves: Leviticus 19:28, Deuteronomy 14:1, Micah 6:7, Mark 5:5, Mark 9:22

the blood gushed out upon them: Heb. they poured out blood upon them

Reciprocal: Judges 10:14 - General Psalms 145:18 - nigh unto Jeremiah 47:5 - how Jeremiah 48:37 - cuttings Zechariah 13:6 - What

Cross-References

Genesis 18:3
He said, "Master, if it please you, stop for a while with your servant. I'll get some water so you can wash your feet. Rest under this tree. I'll get some food to refresh you on your way, since your travels have brought you across my path." They said, "Certainly. Go ahead."

Genesis 18:17
Then God said, "Shall I keep back from Abraham what I'm about to do? Abraham is going to become a large and strong nation; all the nations of the world are going to find themselves blessed through him. Yes, I've settled on him as the one to train his children and future family to observe God 's way of life, live kindly and generously and fairly, so that God can complete in Abraham what he promised him."

Genesis 18:26
God said, "If I find fifty decent people in the city of Sodom, I'll spare the place just for them."

Genesis 18:29
Abraham spoke up again, "What if you only find forty?" "Neither will I destroy it if for forty."

Genesis 18:32
He wouldn't quit, "Don't get angry, Master—this is the last time. What if you only come up with ten?" "For the sake of only ten, I won't destroy the city."

Genesis 18:33
When God finished talking with Abraham, he left. And Abraham went home.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they cried aloud,.... Trying to make him hear, if possible:

and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them; so the priests of Heathen deities used to slash themselves on their shoulders, arms, and thighs, in their devotions to them, as many writers observe z, fancying their gods were delighted with human blood; particularly the priests of Bellona a, and the worshippers of the Syrian goddess b, and of the Egyptian Isis c.

z Vid. Kipping. Antiqu. Roman. l. 1. c. 10. p. 202. a Tertul Apolog. c. 9. Lactant. Institut. l. 1. c. 21. b Apulei Metamorph. l. 8. c Herodot. Euterpe, c. 61. Manetho. Apotelesm. l. 1. ver. 243, 244. Seneca de vita beata, c. 27.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Elijah’s scorn roused the Baal-priests to greater exertions. At length, when the frenzy had reached its height, knives were drawn, and the blood spirted forth from hundreds of self-inflicted wounds, while an ecstasy of enthusiasm seized many, and they poured forth incoherent phrases, or perhaps an unintelligible jargon, which was believed to come from divine inspiration, and constituted one of their modes of prophecy.

The practice of inflicting gashes on their limbs, in their religious exercises, was common among the Carians, the Syrians, and the Phrygians. We may regard it as a modification of the idea of human sacrifice. The gods were supposed to be pleased with the shedding of human blood.

Lancets - Lancets, in our modern sense of the word, can scarcely have been intended by our translators. The Hebrew word is elsewhere always translated “spears,” or “lances;” and this is probably its meaning here.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 28. They cried aloud — The poor fools acted as they were bidden.

And cut themselves after their manner — This was done according to the rites of that barbarous religion; if the blood of the bullock would not move him they thought their own blood might; and with it they smeared themselves and their sacrifice. This was not only the custom of the idolatrous Israelites, but of the Syrians, Persians, Greeks, Indians, and in short of all the heathen world.