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Then Eliyahu said to the prophets of Ba‘al, "Choose one bull for yourselves, and prepare it first; because there are many of you. Then call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it."

By now it was afternoon, and they went on ranting and raving until it was time for the evening offering. But no voice came, no one answered, no one paid any attention.

With the stones he built an altar in the name of Adonai . Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough for half a bushel of grain.

Then, when it came time for offering the evening offering, Eliyahu the prophet approached and said, " Adonai , God of Avraham, Yitz'chak and Isra'el, let it be known today that you are God in Isra'el, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.

A little later, the sky grew black with clouds and wind; and heavy rain began falling; as Ach'av, riding in his chariot, made for Yizre‘el.

On seeing that, he got up and fled for his life. When he arrived in Be'er-Sheva, in Y'hudah, he left his servant there;

but he himself went a day farther into the desert, until he came to a broom tree. He sat down under it and prayed for his own death. "Enough!" he said. "Now, Adonai , take my life. I'm no better than my ancestors."

The angel came again, a second time, touched him and said, "Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you."

He answered, "I have been very zealous for Adonai the God of armies, because the people of Isra'el have abandoned your covenant, broken down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. Now I'm the only one left, and they're coming after me to kill me too."

He answered, "I have been very zealous for Adonai the God of armies; because the people of Isra'el have abandoned your covenant, broken down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. Now I'm the only one left, and they're after me to kill me too."

The district governors' men went out first. Ben-Hadad sent for information, and they reported, "Men have come out from Shomron."

He said, "Whether they have come out for peace or for war, take them alive."

Afterwards, the prophet approached the king of Isra'el and said to him, "Go, regroup your forces, and think carefully what to do, for next year at this time the king of Aram will renew his attack."

Then recruit an army as big as the army you lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. We will attack them on level ground, and we will certainly be stronger than they." He heeded what they said and acted accordingly.

They remained in camp opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day, the battle began; and the people of Isra'el killed 100,000 soldiers of Aram in a single day.

Ben-Hadad said to him, "I will return the cities my father took from your father. Also you can set up markets for trade in Dammesek, as my father did in Shomron." "If you put this covenant in writing," said Ach'av, "I will set you free." So he made a covenant with him and set him free.

The prophet left and waited for the king by the road, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes.

As the king passed by, he called out to the king and said, "Your servant was on his way into the thick of the fighting when someone turned, brought a man to me and said, ‘Guard this man! If he is missing, you will pay for his life with yours; or else you will pay sixty-six pounds of silver.'

Then he said to the king, "Here is what Adonai says: ‘Because you have let escape the man I had given over to be destroyed, you will pay with your life for his life and with your people for his people.'"

He answered her, "Because I spoke to Navot the Yizre‘eli and said to him, "Sell me your vineyard for money; or else, if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it"; but he answered, "I won't give you my vineyard."