At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command.
Parallel translations
- WEB At the time of the evening offering, Elijah the prophet came near, and said, “Yahweh, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.
- KJV And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.
- BSB At 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.
- NKJV And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word.
- NASB Then at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached and said, “Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
At the evening offering Elijah prays, asking God to reveal Himself and confirm Elijah as His servant acting at His word. His prayer is simple and God-centered.
Overview
Elijah appeals to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, grounding his request in covenant history. Unlike the frenzied cries of Baal's prophets, his calm, brief prayer seeks God's glory and the vindication of His word. He asks not for personal fame but that God be known as God in Israel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 34
- 1 Kgs 18:29When midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the evening offering; but there was no voice, no answer, and nobody paid attention.
- Exod 3:6Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God.
- 2 Kgs 19:19Now therefore, Yahweh our God, save us, I beg you, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Yahweh, are God alone.”
- 1 Kgs 8:43hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.
- Matt 22:32‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
- Ps 83:18that they may know that you alone, whose name is Yahweh, are the Most High over all the earth.
- Acts 3:1Peter and John were going up into the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
- Ezek 36:23I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them; and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, says the Lord Yahweh, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
- Num 16:28–30Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works; for they are not from my own mind.
- Eph 3:14For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
- Dan 9:21yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening offering.
- Dan 12:11From the time that the continual burnt offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred ninety days.
- Exod 3:15–16God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations.
- Eph 1:17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;
- John 11:42I know that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude that stands around I said this, that they may believe that you sent me.”
- Dan 8:13Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who spoke, How long shall be the vision about the continual burnt offering, and the disobedience that makes desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the army to be trodden under foot?
- Gen 31:53The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” Then Jacob swore by the fear of his father, Isaac.
- 2 Chr 20:6–7and he said, “Yahweh, the God of our fathers, aren’t you God in heaven? Aren’t you ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in your hand, so that no one is able to withstand you.
- Ps 67:1–2For the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song. May God be merciful to us, bless us, and cause his face to shine on us. Selah.
- 1 Chr 29:18Yahweh, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this desire forever in the thoughts of the heart of your people, and prepare their heart for you;
- Gen 26:24Yahweh appeared to him the same night, and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.”
- Ezra 9:4–5Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel were assembled to me, because of their trespass of the captivity; and I sat confounded until the evening offering.
- 2 Kgs 1:6They said to him, “A man came up to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you, and tell him, “Yahweh says, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you send to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you will surely die.’”’”
- 2 Kgs 1:3But Yahweh’s angel said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and tell them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you go to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron?
- 1 Kgs 22:28Micaiah said, “If you return at all in peace, Yahweh has not spoken by me.” He said, “Listen, all you people!”
- Ps 141:2Let my prayer be set before you like incense; the lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice.
- Exod 29:39–41The one lamb you shall offer in the morning; and the other lamb you shall offer at evening:
- 1 Kgs 18:21Elijah came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you waver between the two sides? If Yahweh is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The people didn’t say a word.
- Gen 32:9Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Yahweh, who said to me, ‘Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,’
- Ezek 39:7My holy name will I make known among my people Israel; neither will I allow my holy name to be profaned any more: and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, the Holy One in Israel.
- 2 Kgs 5:15He returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him; and he said, “See now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel. Now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.”
- Acts 10:30Cornelius said, “Four days ago, I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour, I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,
- Gen 46:3He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation.
- 1 Sam 17:46–47Today, Yahweh will deliver you into my hand. I will strike you, and take your head from off you. I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines today to the birds of the sky, and to the wild animals of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
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Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
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