1 Kings 19:1–15

Elijah Runs from Jezebel

¹Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and ^1ahow he had killed all the prophets with the sword.

²Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “^aSo may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your ¹life as the ²life of one of them by about this time tomorrow.”

³And he ¹was afraid and arose and ²ran for his ³life and came to ^aBeersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his young man there.

⁴But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and ^ahe asked for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O Yahweh, take my ¹life, for I am not better than my fathers.”

⁵Then he lay down and slept under a broom tree; and behold, there was ^aan angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat.”

⁶Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.

⁷And the angel of Yahweh came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.”

⁸So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food ^aforty days and forty nights to ^bHoreb, the mountain of God.

Elijah at Horeb

⁹Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, ^athe word of Yahweh came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁰And he said, “^aI have been very zealous for Yahweh, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, ^bpulled down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And ^cI alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

¹¹So He said, “^aGo forth and stand on the mountain before Yahweh.” And behold, Yahweh was passing by! And ^ba great and strong wind was tearing up the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before Yahweh; but Yahweh was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but Yahweh was not in the earthquake.

¹²Then after the earthquake a fire, but Yahweh was not in the fire; and after the fire ^aa sound of a thin ¹gentle whisper.

¹³Now it happened that when Elijah heard it, ^ahe wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, ^ba voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁴Then he said, “^aI have been very zealous for Yahweh, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, pulled down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

¹⁵And Yahweh said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and you will arrive and ^aanoint Hazael king over Aram;