Throughout the afternoon they were in an ecstatic frenzy, but there was no sound, no answer, and no response.

They marched out at noon, while Ben Hadad and the thirty-two kings allied with him were drinking heavily in their quarters.

So they took a bull, as he had suggested, and prepared it. They invoked the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us.” But there was no sound and no answer. They jumped around on the altar they had made.

At noon Elijah mocked them, “Yell louder! After all, he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or perhaps he stepped out for a moment or has taken a trip. Perhaps he is sleeping and needs to be awakened.”