1 Kings 18:24 (DRB)

Passage

Call ye on the names of your gods, and I will call on the name of my Lord: and the God that shall answer by fire, let him be God. And all the people answering, said: A very good proposal.

Nearby Context

1 Kings 18:22 And Elias said again to the people: I only remain a prophet of the Lord: but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men.

1 Kings 18:23 Let two bullocks be given us, and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it upon wood, but put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under it.

1 Kings 18:24 Call ye on the names of your gods, and I will call on the name of my Lord: and the God that shall answer by fire, let him be God. And all the people answering, said: A very good proposal.

1 Kings 18:25 Then Elias said to the prophets of Baal: Choose you one bullock and dress it first, because you are many: and call on the names of your gods; but put no fire under.

1 Kings 18:26 And they took the bullock, which he gave them, and dressed it: and they called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying: O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered: and they leaped over the altar that they had made.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "call", "names", "gods", "lord", "shall", and "answer". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "call" and "names", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 23's "Let two bullocks be given us and..." into verse 25's "Then Elias said to the prophets of...", so "call" and "names" belong inside that flow. In 1 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "call" and "names" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.