1 Kings 19
19
Elijah Runs Away to Mount Horeb
1Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done. He told her how Elijah had killed all the prophets of Baal with his sword. 2So Jezebel sent a message to Elijah. She said, “You can be sure that I will kill you, just as I killed the other prophets. I’ll do it by this time tomorrow. If I don’t, may the gods punish me greatly.”
3Elijah was afraid. So he ran for his life. He came to Beersheba in Judah. He left his servant there. 4Then he traveled for one day into the desert. He came to a small bush. He sat down under it. He prayed that he would die. “Lord, I’ve had enough,” he said. “Take my life. I’m no better than my people of long ago.” 5Then he lay down under the bush. And he fell asleep.
Suddenly an angel touched him. The angel said, “Get up and eat.” 6Elijah looked around. Near his head he saw some bread. It had been baked over hot coals. A jar of water was also there. So Elijah ate and drank. Then he lay down again.
7The angel of the Lord came to him a second time. He touched him and said, “Get up and eat. Your journey will be long and hard.” 8So he got up. He ate and drank. The food gave him new strength. He traveled for 40 days and 40 nights. He kept going until he arrived at Horeb. It was the mountain of God. 9There he went into a cave and spent the night.
The Lord Appears to Elijah
A message came to Elijah from the Lord. He said, “Elijah, what are you doing here?”
10He replied, “Lord God who rules over all, I’ve been very committed to you. The Israelites have turned their backs on your covenant. They have torn down your altars. They’ve put your prophets to death with their swords. I’m the only one left. And they are trying to kill me.”
11The Lord said, “Go out. Stand on the mountain in front of me. I am going to pass by.”
As the Lord approached, a very powerful wind tore the mountains apart. It broke up the rocks. But the Lord wasn’t in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake. But the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake. 12After the earthquake a fire came. But the Lord wasn’t in the fire. And after the fire there was only a gentle whisper. 13When Elijah heard it, he pulled his coat over his face. He went out and stood at the entrance to the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “Elijah, what are you doing here?”
14He replied, “Lord God who rules over all, I’ve been very committed to you. The Israelites have turned their backs on your covenant. They have torn down your altars. They’ve put your prophets to death with their swords. I’m the only one left. And they are trying to kill me.”
15The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came. Go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16Also anoint Jehu as king over Israel. He is the son of Nimshi. And anoint Elisha from Abel Meholah as the next prophet after you. He is the son of Shaphat. 17Jehu will put to death anyone who escapes Hazael’s sword. And Elisha will put to death anyone who escapes Jehu’s sword. 18But I will keep 7,000 people in Israel for myself. They have not bowed down to Baal. And they have not kissed him.”
The Lord Chooses Elisha
19Elijah left Mount Horeb. He saw Elisha, the son of Shaphat. Elisha was plowing in a field. He was driving the last of 12 pairs of oxen. Elijah went up to him. He threw his coat around him. 20Then Elisha left his oxen. He ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said. “Then I’ll come with you.”
“Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”
21So Elisha left him and went back. He got his two oxen and killed them. He burned the plow to cook the meat. He gave it to the people, and they ate it. Then he started to follow Elijah. He became Elijah’s servant.
Currently Selected:
1 Kings 19: NIrV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1 Kings 19
19
Elijah Flees from Jezebel
1Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets [of Baal] with the sword. 2Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and even more, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your #19:2 Lit soul.life like the life of one of them.” 3And Elijah was afraid and arose and ran for his life, and he came to #19:3 Beersheba was about ninety miles south of Jezreel and was not part of Ahab’s kingdom.Beersheba which belongs to Judah, and he left his servant there. 4But he himself traveled a day’s journey into the wilderness, and he came and sat down under a juniper tree and asked [God] that he might die. He said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 5He lay down and slept under the juniper tree, and behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6He looked, and by his head there was a bread cake baked on hot coal, and a pitcher of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. 7Then the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Get up, and eat, for the journey is too long for you [without adequate sustenance].” 8So he got up and ate and drank, and with the strength of that food he traveled forty days and nights to Horeb (Sinai), the mountain of God.
Elijah at Horeb
9There he came to a cave and spent the night in it; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10He said, “I have been very #19:10 Or jealous, i.e. intolerant of unfaithfulness.zealous (impassioned) for the Lord God of hosts (armies) [proclaiming what is rightfully and uniquely His]; for the sons of Israel have abandoned (broken) Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I, only I, am left; and they seek to take away my life.”
11So He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by, and a great and powerful wind was tearing out the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, [there was] an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12After the earthquake, [there was] a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, [there was] the sound of a gentle blowing. 13When Elijah heard the sound, he wrapped his face in his mantle (cloak) and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14He said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts (armies), because the sons of Israel have abandoned (broken) Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I, only I, am left; and they seek to take away my life.”
15The Lord #19:15 God tells Elijah how to complete the destruction of the worship of Baal. First, Hazael was to be placed on the Aramean (Syrian) throne in order to attack Ahab. Second, when Ahab was weakened, Jehu was to seize his throne because he opposed the worship of Baal and was a powerful military man. Third, Elijah was to appoint Elisha as his successor, as the one who would, along with Jehu, strike down Baal’s remaining followers.said to him, “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram (Syria); 16and you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat of #19:16 This city was located in the tribal territory of Manasseh in the Jordan River valley.Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. 17It shall come about that Jehu shall put to death whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, and Elisha shall put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu. 18Yet I will leave 7,000 [survivors] in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed down to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
19So Elijah departed 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. Elijah went over to him and threw his mantle (coat) on him. 20He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother [goodbye], then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go on back; for what have I done to [stop] you?” 21So Elisha left him and went back. Then he took a pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their meat with the implements of the oxen [as fuel], and gave the meat to the people, and they ate. Then he stood and followed Elijah, and served him. [2 Kin 3:11]
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Amplified® Bible
Copyright © 2015 by
The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631
All rights reserved. http://www.lockman.org