7. As Obadiah was on his way, he suddenly met Elijah. He recognized him, bowed low before him, and asked, “Is it really you, sir?”
8. “Yes, I'm Elijah,” he answered. “Go and tell your master the king that I am here.”
9. Obadiah answered, “What have I done that you want to put me in danger of being killed by King Ahab?
10. By the living Lord, your God, I swear that the king has made a search for you in every country in the world. Whenever the ruler of a country reported that you were not in his country, Ahab would require that ruler to swear that you could not be found.
11. And now you want me to go and tell him that you are here?
12. What if the Spirit of the Lord carries you off to some unknown place as soon as I leave? Then, when I tell Ahab that you are here, and he can't find you, he will put me to death. Remember that I have been a devout worshipper of the Lord ever since I was a boy.
13. Haven't you heard that when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord I hid a hundred of them in caves, in two groups of fifty, and supplied them with food and water?
14. So how can you order me to go and tell the king that you are here? He will kill me!”
15. Elijah answered, “By the living Lord, whom I serve, I promise that I will present myself to the king today.”
16. So Obadiah went to King Ahab and told him, and Ahab set off to meet Elijah.
17. When Ahab saw him, he said, “So there you are — the worst troublemaker in Israel!”
18. “I'm not the troublemaker,” Elijah answered. “You are — you and your father. You are disobeying the Lord's commands and worshipping the idols of Baal.