Before the drought, Mount Carmel had been a place of beauty, its streams fed from never-failing springs, and its fertile slopes covered with fair flowers and flourishing groves. But now its beauty languished under a withering curse. The altars erected to the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth stood now in leafless groves. On the summit of one of the highest ridges, in sharp contrast with these was the broken-down altar of Jehovah.

Før tørken var der meget smukt på Karmels bjerg. Dets floder blev forsynet med vand fra evigt rindende kilder, og dets frugtbare skråninger var beklædt med smukke blomster og frodige lunde. Men skønheden var døet bort under en svidende forbandelse, Baals og Astartes altre stod i visne lunde. På en af de højeste bjergrygge lå Herrens nedbrudte alter.