1 Kings 18:25 (LSB)

Passage

So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but place no fire under it.”

Nearby Context

1 Kings 18:23 Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but place no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and put it on the wood, and I will not place fire under it.

1 Kings 18:24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh, and the God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people answered and said, “That is a good word.”

1 Kings 18:25 So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but place no fire under it.”

1 Kings 18:26 Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, “O Baal, answer us.” But there was no voice and no one answered. And they limped about the altar which they had made.

1 Kings 18:27 Now it happened at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or relieving himself, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.”

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 24's "Then you call on the name of..." into verse 26's "Then they took the ox which was...", so "elijah" 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 "elijah" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.