And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”
Parallel translations
- WEB When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces. They said, “Yahweh, he is God! Yahweh, he is God!”
- KJV And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.
- BSB When all the people saw this, they fell facedown and said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!”
- NKJV Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”
- NASB When all the people saw this, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God!”
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
Seeing the fire, all the people fall on their faces, confessing twice that Yahweh is God. The contest produces a clear verdict and confession.
Overview
The people's repeated cry, "Yahweh, he is God," is the climactic confession the whole event aimed at. Faced with undeniable evidence, the nation acknowledges the true God. Their response shows how God's self-revelation can break through unbelief and draw a wavering people to genuine worship.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 1 Kgs 18:24You call on the name of your god, and I will call on Yahweh’s name. The God who answers by fire, let him be God.” All the people answered, “What you say is good.”
- 2 Chr 7:3All the children of Israel looked on, when the fire came down, and Yahweh’s glory was on the house. They bowed themselves with their faces to the ground on the pavement, worshiped, and gave thanks to Yahweh, saying, “For he is good; for his loving kindness endures for ever.”
- 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.
- 1 Chr 21:16David lifted up his eyes, and saw Yahweh’s angel standing between earth and the sky, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.
- Acts 4:16saying, “What shall we do to these men? Because indeed a notable miracle has been done through them, as can be plainly seen by all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we can’t deny it.
- Judg 13:20For when the flame went up toward the sky from off the altar, Yahweh’s angel ascended in the flame of the altar. Manoah and his wife watched; and they fell on their faces to the ground.
- John 5:35He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
- Acts 2:37Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
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.
How 1 Kings 18:39 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.