1 Kings 19:9–21

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;

¹⁶and ^aJehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and ^bElisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.

¹⁷“And it will be that the ^aone who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu ^bshall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death.

¹⁸“^aYet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not ^bkissed him.”

Elijah Puts the Mantle on Elisha

¹⁹So he went from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah passed over to him and threw ^ahis mantle on him.

²⁰So he forsook the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please ^alet me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”

²¹So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and ^aboiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him.