26. So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us! ” But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.
27. At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up! ”
28. They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them.
29. All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention.
30. 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:
31. Elijah took 12 stones — according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel will be your name” —
32. and he built an altar with the stones in the name of Yahweh. Then he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold about four gallons.
33. Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. He said, “Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood.”
34. Then he said, “A second time! ” and they did it a second time. And then he said, “A third time! ” and they did it a third time.
35. So the water ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water.
36. At the time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that at Your word I have done all these things.
37. Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that You, Yahweh, are God and that You have turned their hearts back.”
38. Then Yahweh’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.