1 Kings 18:25 (GNV)

Passage

And Eliiah said vnto the prophets of Baal, Chuse you a bullocke, and prepare him first, (for ye are many) and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire vnder.

Nearby Context

1 Kings 18:23 Let them therefore giue vs two bullockes, and let them chuse the one, and cut him in pieces, and lay him on the wood, but put no fire vnder, and I will prepare the other bullocke, and lay him on the wood, and will put no fire vnder.

1 Kings 18:24 Then call ye on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and then the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered, and sayde, It is well spoken.

1 Kings 18:25 And Eliiah said vnto the prophets of Baal, Chuse you a bullocke, and prepare him first, (for ye are many) and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire vnder.

1 Kings 18:26 So they tooke the one bullocke, that was giuen them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal, from morning to noone, saying, O Baal, heare vs: but there was no voyce, nor any to answere: and they leapt vpon the altar that was made.

1 Kings 18:27 And at noone Eliiah mocked them, and said, Crye loude: for he is a god: either he talketh or pursueth his enemies, or is in his iourney, or it may be that he sleepeth, and must be awaked.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "eliiah", "said", "vnto", "prophets", "baal", "chuse", "bullocke", and "prepare". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "eliiah" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 24's "Then call ye on the name of..." into verse 26's "So they tooke the one bullocke that...", so "eliiah" and "said" 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 "eliiah" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.