1 Kings 19

¹Ahab told Jezʹebel all that Eliʹjah had done, and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. ²Then Jezʹebel sent a messenger to Eliʹjah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” ³Then he was afraid, and he arose and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

⁴But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers.” ⁵And he lay down and slept under a broom tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” ⁶And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank, and lay down again. ⁷And the angel of the Lord came again a second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, else the journey will be too great for you.” ⁸And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

⁹And there he came to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Eliʹjah?” ¹⁰He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” ¹¹And he said, “Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹²and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. ¹³And when Eliʹjah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Eliʹjah?” ¹⁴He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” ¹⁵And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazʹael to be king over Syria; ¹⁶and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel; and Eliʹsha the son of Shaphat of Aʹbel-mehoʹlah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. ¹⁷And him who escapes from the sword of Hazʹael shall Jehu slay; and him who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Eliʹsha slay. ¹⁸Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baʹal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

¹⁹So he departed from there, and found Eliʹsha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing, with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Eliʹjah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him. ²⁰And he left the oxen, and ran after Eliʹjah, and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again; for what have I done to you?” ²¹And he returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Eliʹjah, and ministered to him.