1 Kings 18:30

THE MESSAGE

Then 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.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near me.” So all the people approached him. Then he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been torn down:

Hebrew Names Version
Eliyah said to all the people, Come near to me; and all the people came near to him. He repaired the altar of the LORD that was thrown down.

King James Version
And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down.

English Standard Version
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 thrown down.

New Century Version
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Now come to me." So they gathered around him, and Elijah rebuilt the altar of the Lord , which had been torn down.

New English Translation
Elijah then told all the people, "Approach me." So all the people approached him. He repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down.

Amplified Bible
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people approached him. And he repaired and rebuilt the [old] altar of the LORD that had been torn down [by Jezebel].

New American Standard Bible
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come forward to me." So all the people came forward to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD which had been torn down.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Eliiah said vnto all the people, Come to me. And all the people came to him. And he repayred the altar of the Lorde that was broken downe.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of Yahweh which had been pulled down.

Contemporary English Version
Elijah told everyone to gather around him while he repaired the Lord 's altar.

Complete Jewish Bible
Then Eliyahu said to all the people, "Come here to me." All the people came up to him, as he set about repairing the altar of Adonai that had been broken down.

Darby Translation
Then Elijah said to all the people, Draw near to me. And all the people drew near to him. And he repaired the altar of Jehovah which was broken down.

Easy-to-Read Version
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Now come here." So they gathered around Elijah. The Lord 's altar had been torn down, so Elijah repaired it.

George Lamsa Translation
And 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 was broken down.

Good News Translation
Then Elijah said to the people, "Come closer to me," and they all gathered around him. He set about repairing the altar of the Lord which had been torn down.

Lexham English Bible
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me," so all the people came closer to him. He repaired the altar of Yahweh that had been destroyed.

Literal Translation
And Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near to him; and he healed the altar of Jehovah that had been broken down.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde Elias vnto all the people: Come hither all ye people vnto me. And whan all ye people came to him, he repayred ye altare of the LORDE yt was broken,

American Standard Version
And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me; and all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of Jehovah that was thrown down.

Bible in Basic English
Then Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me; and all the people came near. And he put up again the altar of the Lord which had been broken down.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Elias said vnto all the folke: Come to me. And all the people came to him: And he repaired the aulter of the Lord that was broken.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Elijah said unto all the people: 'Come near unto me'; and all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was thrown down.

King James Version (1611)
And Eliiah said vnto all the people, Come neere vnto me. And all the people came neere vnto him. And he repaired the Altar of the Lord that was broken downe.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Eliu said to the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near to him.

English Revised Version
And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me; and all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was thrown down.

Berean Standard Bible
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people approached him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been torn down.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Elie seide to al the puple, Come ye to me. And whanne the puple cam to him, he arrayede the auter of the Lord, that was distried.

Young's Literal Translation
And Elijah saith to all the people, `Come nigh unto me;' and all the people come nigh unto him, and he repaireth the altar of Jehovah that is broken down;

Update Bible Version
And Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me; and all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of Yahweh that was thrown down.

Webster's Bible Translation
And 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 was] broken down.

World English Bible
Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me; and all the people came near to him. He repaired the altar of Yahweh that was thrown down.

New King James Version
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down.

New Living Translation
Then Elijah called to the people, "Come over here!" They all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down.

New Life Bible
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he built again the altar of the Lord which had been torn down.

New Revised Standard
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come closer to me"; and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Elijah unto all the people: Draw near unto, me. And all the people drew near unto, him. Then repaired he the broken-down altar of Yahweh; yea Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, -

Douay-Rheims Bible
Elias said to all the people: Come ye unto me. And the people coming near unto him, he repaired the altar of the Lord, that was broken down:

Revised Standard Version
Then Eli'jah 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 thrown down;

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD which had been torn down.

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

he repaired: 1 Kings 19:10, 1 Kings 19:14, 2 Chronicles 33:16, Romans 11:3

the altar of the Lord: This altar of Jehovah was probably built in the time of the judges; and it was even known among the heathen by the name of the altar of Carmel. Both Tacitus and Suetonius mention an altar on mount Carmel, which Vespasian went to consult: there was no temple nor statue, but simply an altar, venerable for its antiquity.

Reciprocal: Leviticus 17:8 - that offereth Judges 13:19 - took 1 Samuel 6:14 - offered 1 Samuel 7:9 - a sucking 1 Samuel 7:17 - he built

Cross-References

Genesis 18:9
The men said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" He said, "In the tent."

Genesis 18:11
Abraham and Sarah were old by this time, very old. Sarah was far past the age for having babies. Sarah laughed within herself, "An old woman like me? Get pregnant? With this old man of a husband?"

Genesis 18:16
When the men got up to leave, they set off for Sodom. Abraham walked with them to say good-bye.

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

Genesis 44:18
Judah came forward. He said, "Please, master; can I say just one thing to you? Don't get angry. Don't think I'm presumptuous—you're the same as Pharaoh as far as I'm concerned. You, master, asked us, ‘Do you have a father and a brother?' And we answered honestly, ‘We have a father who is old and a younger brother who was born to him in his old age. His brother is dead and he is the only son left from that mother. And his father loves him more than anything.'

Judges 6:39
Then Gideon said to God, "Don't be impatient with me, but let me say one more thing. I want to try another time with the fleece. But this time let the fleece stay dry, while the dew drenches the ground."

Psalms 10:17
The victim's faint pulse picks up; the hearts of the hopeless pump red blood as you put your ear to their lips. Orphans get parents, the homeless get homes. The reign of terror is over, the rule of the gang lords is ended.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Elijah said unto all the people, come near unto me,.... And observe what I do, and what will be done at my request:

and all the people came near unto him; left the prophets of Baal to themselves, and took no more notice of them, but attended to what the prophet should say and do:

and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down; which had been set up when high places and altars were allowed of, while the tabernacle was unsettled, and the temple not built; this is supposed to have been erected in the times of the judges; though, according to a tradition of the Jews d, it was built by Saul, see 1 Samuel 15:12 but had been thrown down by the idolatrous Israelites, who demolished such as were erected to the name of the Lord everywhere, and built new ones for their idols, 1 Kings 19:10. Benjamin of Tudela e says, that on the top of Mount Carmel is now to be seen the place of the altar Elijah repaired, which is four cubits round.

d Jarchi & Kimchi in loc. e ltinerar. p. 37.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 30. He repaired the altar of the Lord — There had been an altar of Jehovah in that place, called, even among the heathens, the altar of Carmel, probably built in the time of the judges, or, as the rabbins imagine, by Saul. Tacitus and Suetonius mention an altar on Mount Carmel, which Vespasian went to consult; there was no temple nor statue, but simply an altar that was respectable for its antiquity. "Est Judaeam inter Syriamque Carmelus; ita vocant montem Deumque: nec simulachrum Deo, aut templum situm tradidere majores: aram tantum, et reverentiam." - TACIT. Hist. lib. ii., c. 78. A priest named Basilides officiated at that altar, and assured Vespasian that all his projects would be crowned with success.

Suetonius speaks to this purpose: "Apud Judaeam Carmeli Dei oraculum consulentem ita confirmavere sortes, ut quicquid cogitaret volveretque animo quamlibet magnum, id esse proventurum pollicerentur." SUET. in Vespas. cap. 5. The mount, the absence of a temple, no image, but a simple altar, very ancient, and which was held in reverence on account of the true answers which had been given there, prove that this was originally the altar of Jehovah: though in the time of Vespasian it seems to have been occupied by a heathen priest, and devoted to lying vanities.