1And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had
done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets
with the sword.
2Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah,
saying, So let the gods do to
me, and more also, if I make not thy life as
the life of one of them by to morrow about this
time.
3And when he saw that,
he arose, and went for his life, and came to
Beersheba, which belongeth 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 juniper
tree: and he requested for himself that he might
die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away
my life; for I am not
better than my fathers.
5And as he lay and slept under a juniper
tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said
unto him, Arise and eat.
6And he looked, and, behold, there
was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of
water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and
laid him down again.
7And the angel of the LORD came again the
second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat;
because the journey is too
great for thee.
8And he arose, and did eat and drink, and
went in the strength of that meat forty days and
forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
9And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged
there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to
him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here,
Elijah?
10And he said, I have been very jealous for
the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel
have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine
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 brake 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 it was so,
when Elijah heard it,
that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went
out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And,
behold, there
came a voice unto him, and said, What doest
thou here, Elijah?
14And he said, I have been very jealous for
the LORD God of hosts: because the children of
Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine
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 unto him, Go, return on
thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou
comest, anoint Hazael to
be king over Syria:
16And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou
anoint to
be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of
Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to
be prophet in thy room.
17And it shall come to pass, that him
that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay:
and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall
Elisha slay.
18Yet I have left me seven
thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not
bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not
kissed him.
19So he departed thence, and found Elisha the
son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve
yoke of
oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and
Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.
20And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah,
and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my
mother, and then I
will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back
again: for what have I done to thee?
21And he returned back from him, and took a
yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh
with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the
people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went
after Elijah, and ministered unto him.