6. They decided where each of them would go to look for water. Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself.
7. As Obadiah was walking along the road by himself, he looked up, and there was Elijah. Obadiah recognized him and bowed down to show his respect. He said, “Elijah? Is it really you, master?”
8. Elijah answered, “Yes, it is me. Now, go and tell your master, the king, that I am here.”
9. Obadiah said, “If I tell Ahab that I know where you are, he will kill me! I have done nothing wrong to you. Why do you want me to die?
10. As surely as the Lord your God lives, the king has been looking for you everywhere. He has sent people to every country to find you. He even made the rulers of those countries swear that you were not there.
11. Now you want me to go and tell him that you are here!
12. If I go tell King Ahab that you are here, the Spirit of the Lord might carry you away. Then when King Ahab comes here and cannot find you, he will kill me! I have followed the Lord since I was a boy.
13. Surely you have heard what I did when Jezebel was killing the Lord’S prophets. I hid 100 of the Lord’S prophets in caves. I put 50 prophets in one cave and 50 in another. I brought them food and water.
14. Now you want me to go and tell the king that you are here. The king will kill me!”
15. Elijah answered, “I serve the Lord All-Powerful. As surely as he lives, I promise that I will stand before the king today.”
16. So Obadiah went to King Ahab and told him where Elijah was. King Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17. When Ahab saw Elijah he said, “Is that really you, the troublemaker of Israel?”
18. Elijah answered, “I have not made trouble for Israel. You and your father’s family caused all the problems when you stopped obeying the Lord’S commands and began following the false gods.
19. Now tell all the people of Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel. Also bring the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah, who get their support from Queen Jezebel.”
20. So Ahab called all the Israelites and those prophets to Mount Carmel.