rovided. The priests of
Baal should take one, and prepare it for sacrifice by laying
it on the wood upon the altar to their god, but they were to
put no fire tinder it. The other bullock he would prepare in
the same way.

Then the priests of Baal were to call upon their god, and he
would call upon his God, and the God, that answered by sending
fire to consume the sacrifice offered to him, was to be the
God of the people. The answer of the people, dejected with
long endurance of misery, was ready, and as one man they
shouted, "It is well spoken."

The altar to Baal was prepared, with the sacrifice arranged
upon it in proper form. Only fire was lacking. Loudly the
priests of Baal prayed. Wildly they leaped around the altar,
crying again and again, _"O Baal, hear us."_ The morning wore
away, and there was no response; no fire appeared to consume
the sacrifice.

About noon, Elijah mocked the frantic priests, saying to them,
_"Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is
pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth,
and must be awakened."_

The priests of Baal accepted this advice in earnest. They
supplicated and raved more wildly, and wounded themselves in
their frenzy, continually calling on Baal to hear them. And so
the afternoon passed.

[Image: SUMMIT OF MOUNT CARMEL TO-DAY. From a photograph.]

As the sun was sinking, Elijah came near the altar which he
had built with twelve stones--one for each of the tribes of
Israel. The sacrifice, carefully prepared, lay upon the wood.
All around the altar a trench had been dug, and it was now
filled with the water which had been poured upon the
sacrifice.

Then Elijah prayed to God, asking him to let the people know
that day that He was the God of Israel, and that it was by His
command that he had done these things. At the close of his
prayer, fire unkindled by mortal hands broke out. Unchecked by
the water, it wrapped sacrifice and altar in flames and
consumed them, even licking up the water in the trench with
its heated breath. At this sight the people prostrated
themselves as they cried out, _"The Lord, he is the God, the
Lord, he is the God."_

[Image: ELIJAH'S SACRIFICE ON MOUNT CARMEL.]

The priests of Baal, who were largely responsible for the
idolatry of the nation, stood trembling and confounded.
Quickly Elijah ordered them to be destroyed, and this was
done. Next he turned to Ahab, and told him to eat and drink in
haste, fo