1^st Reading (1Kgs 18:20-39): Ahab sent to all the children of Israel and had the prophets assemble on Mount Carmel. Elijah appealed to all the people and said, «How long will you straddle the issue? If the Lord is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him». The people, however, did not answer him. So Elijah said to the people, «I am the only surviving prophet of the Lord, and there are four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. Give us two young bulls. Let them choose one, cut it into pieces, and place it on the wood, but start no fire. I shall prepare the other and place it on the wood, but shall start no fire. You shall call on your gods, and I will call on the Lord. The God who answers with fire is God». All the people answered, «Agreed!».

Elijah then said to the prophets of Baal, «Choose one young bull and prepare it first, for there are more of you. Call upon your gods, but do not start the fire». Taking the young bull that was turned over to them, they prepared it and called on Baal from morning to noon, saying, «Answer us, Baal!». But there was no sound, and no one answering. And they hopped around the altar they had prepared. When it was noon, Elijah taunted them: «Call louder, for he is a god and may be meditating, or may have retired, or may be on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened». They called out louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until blood gushed over them. Noon passed and they remained in a prophetic state until the time for offering sacrifice. But there was not a sound; no one answered, and no one was listening.

Then Elijah said to all the people, «Come here to me». When the people had done so, he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been destroyed. He took twelve stones, for the number of tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the Lord had said, «Your name shall be Israel». He built an altar in honor of the Lord with the stones, and made a trench around the altar large enough for two measures of grain. When he had arranged the wood, he cut up the young bull and laid it on the wood. «Fill four jars with water», he said, «and pour it over the burnt offering and over the wood». «Do it again», he said, and they did it again. «Do it a third time», he said, and they did it a third time. The water flowed around the altar, and the trench was filled with the water.