1 Kings 18:24–39

²⁴Then you may call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The God who answers by fire, He is God.”

And all the people answered, “What you say is good.”

²⁵Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.”

²⁶And they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!”

But there was no sound, and no one answered as they leaped around the altar they had made.

²⁷At noon Elijah began to taunt them, saying, “Shout louder, for he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or occupied, or on a journey. Perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened!”

²⁸So they shouted louder and cut themselves with knives and lances, as was their custom, until the blood gushed over them.

²⁹Midday passed, and they kept on raving until the time of the evening sacrifice. But there was no response; no one answered, no one paid attention.

³⁰Then 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.

³¹And Elijah took twelve stones, one for each tribe of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come and said, “Israel shall be your name.” ³²And with the stones, Elijah built an altar in the name of the LORD. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed.^b

³³Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, placed it on the wood, ³⁴and said, “Fill four waterpots and pour the water on the offering and on the wood.”^c

“Do it a second time,” he said, and they did it a second time.

“Do it a third time,” he said, and they did it a third time.

³⁵So the water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

³⁶At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command. ³⁷Answer me, O LORD! Answer me, so that this people will know that You, the LORD, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back again.”

³⁸Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water in the trench.

³⁹When all the people saw this, they fell facedown and said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!”