Elijah and the priests of Baal 以利亞和巴力神的祭司們
A long time ago, there was a prophet named Elijah and an evil king named Ahab. Ahab did not worship God. He worshipped his own god named Baal (known as the weather God). God was not happy with Ahab, so he sent Elijah to tell him that it would not rain for three years until Elijah told it to rain.
Later, Elijah challenged King Ahab’s priests. Elijah, the king, the priests of Baal, and the people met on Mount Carmel. Elijah said to bring two bullocks. The priests of Baal went first. They prepared their bullock on an altar but didn’t start a fire. They cried unto Baal from morning until noon. They shouted, and they danced. No answer. Elijah started to mock them. He told them that they needed to shout louder. Maybe Baal was busy or sleeping. They needed to yell louder to wake him. They yelled louder, but still….no answer.
Elijah started to prepare his altar. He prepared the bullock, but he did not start a fire. Instead, he built a trench around his altar. Then, he had the people go find some water and pour it all over his bullock and altar. After all of this was done, Elijah began to pray. He asked God to accept his altar, and he asked God to bring the fire so people would believe that he was the true and living God again. When Elijah was done praying, God sent fire to come down and consume the bullock and the altar and to lick up all the water as well.
As the people watched, they were completely amazed, and they began to fall on their knees and cry out, "The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is the real God!" All of the prophets of Baal were taken away and killed. Then, Elijah prayed and asked God to make it rain, and it did. What a powerful God!
(Elijah and the priests of Baal 以利亞和巴力神的祭司們)
Vocabulary:
Challenged: to ask to compete against someone 名; 挑戰;難題;盤問
Bullocks: they are male cows—often called bulls 名;閹牛
Altar: place of worship, often a pile of rocks or a table at the front of a church 名;祭壇;聖餐台;乾船塢台階
Mock: to make fun of 動; 當傻瓜嘲笑;模仿;輕視;欺騙
Trench: an area dug out of the ground that can hold water 動; 切; 觸起. 名; 溝渠; 挖畦溝;掘;耕
Consume: to destroy completely or to eat 動; 消費;用完; 吃(飲)光;浪費
Discussion Questions:
1)Why did Elijah challenge the priests of Baal, and why didn’t Baal listen? 為何以利亞要挑戰巴力的祭司? 巴力為何沒聽到祈告?
2)Why did Elijah pour on the water and build the trench? 為何以利亞要將水淋濕祭壇和灌滿溝渠?
很久以前，有一個名叫先知以利亞和一個邪惡的國王亞哈。亞哈不崇拜上帝。他崇拜自己的神 - 巴力（稱為天氣神）。上帝不滿意亞哈，所以他派以利亞告訴他，3年內將不會下雨了，直到以利亞來祈求雨。
3年內果然沒有下雨，後來，以利亞傳話挑戰亞哈的祭司。以利亞，國王，祭司，和人民群眾到迦密山求火和雨。以利亞說我只要兩頭公牛。巴力的祭司先祈火。他們準備公牛放在一個祭壇，但沒有求著火。他們求告巴力從早晨到中午。他們高喊，他們跳舞。都沒有得到回答。以利亞開始嘲笑他們。他告訴他們，他們需要情緒再High一點。也許你們的巴力正在忙或是在睡覺。你們需要喊再大聲叫醒他。他們大聲叫喊，但仍然...沒有回答。
以利亞開始準備他的祭壇。放上兩頭公牛，但他沒有開始祈火。相反，他建立了一個壕溝圍繞他的祭壇。然後，他叫一些人去找水，倒在圍繞他的公牛和祭壇的壕溝。然後，以利亞才開始祈禱。他問上帝接受他的祭壇，並求上帝點火引燃祭壇，使人相信他是真又活的上帝了。當以利亞做禱告，上帝遂點火燒了公牛和祭壇。
在人們的注視下，他們完全驚奇，他們開始跪下哀求，“主，他是神！主，他財是真正的上帝！”亞哈王把所有敬拜巴力的先知帶走和殺害。最後，以利亞禱告，求神使雨，萬能的神馬上應許了他的祈求！
(1.遂被亞哈王關進山頂的石洞中的以利亞，幾乎斷食，靠神派遣小鳥，啣水和果實果腹。
(2.不久神遣以利亞進城去，有一女子將會幫他，但女子說已無餘糧供食，以利亞說若蒙賜食，神必賜福予妳，果然女子每次飲食後，糧食總有餘裕。
(3.那時女子的小孩恰好病倒，求醫都治不好，轉求以利亞，以利亞要她信靠神，一起祈禱，其子就被治好。
Dinner: My Home Steak . Activity: Ping-pong
(Those who came: Monica, Dennis, Eileen, Eric)
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