ovah listened to Elijah's prayer; and the life of the child came
back to him, and he sat up. Then Elijah took the child and brought him
down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and
said, "See, your son lives!" The woman said to him, "Now I know that you
are a man of God and that the message of Jehovah that you speak is
true."

THE PROPHET OF FIRE

In the third year of the famine this command came from Jehovah to
Elijah: "Go, show yourself to Ahab; and I will send rain upon the
earth." So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab.

The famine was so severe in Samaria that Ahab had called Obadiah, the
overseer of the palace. Obadiah was very loyal to Jehovah; for when
Jezebel tried to kill the prophets of Jehovah, he took a hundred and hid
them in a cave and kept them supplied with bread and water. Ahab said to
Obadiah, "Come, let us go through the land to all the springs and to all
the brooks, in the hope that we may find grass, so that we can save the
horses and mules and not lose all of them." So they divided the land
between them, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another.

While Obadiah was on the way, Elijah suddenly met him. As soon as
Obadiah knew him, he fell on his face and said, "Is it you, my lord
Elijah?" He answered, "It is; go, tell your master: 'Elijah is here.'"
But Obadiah said, "What sin have I done, that you would give your
servant over to Ahab to kill me? As surely as Jehovah your God lives,
there is no nation nor kingdom where my lord has not sent to find you;
and when they said, 'He is not here,' he made each of the kingdoms and
nations take an oath, that no one had found you. Now you say, 'Go, tell
your lord, Elijah is here!' As soon as I have left you the spirit of
Jehovah will carry you to a place unknown to me, so that when I come and
tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will put me to death, although I,
your servant, have been loyal to Jehovah from my youth! Have you not
been told what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of Jehovah, how I
hid a hundred by fifties in a cave and fed them continually with bread
and water?" Elijah answered, "As surely as Jehovah of hosts lives,
before whom I stand, I will show myself to Ahab to-day."

So Obadiah went to Ahab and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah. As
soon as Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is it you, you who have
brought trouble to Israel?" He answered, "I have not brought trouble on
Israel, but you and