1 Kings 19
19
Elijah Runs Away from Ahab and Jezebel
1Ahab told his wife Jezebel what Elijah had done and that he had killed the prophets. 2She sent a message to Elijah: “You killed my prophets. Now I'm going to kill you! I pray that the gods will punish me even more severely if I don't do it by this time tomorrow.”
3Elijah was afraid when he got her message, and he ran to the town of Beersheba in Judah. He left his servant there, 4#Jon 4.3. then walked another whole day into the desert. Finally, he came to a large bush and sat down in its shade. He begged the Lord, “I've had enough. Just let me die! I'm no better off than my ancestors.” 5Then he lay down in the shade and fell asleep.
Suddenly an angel woke him up and said, “Get up and eat.” 6Elijah looked around, and by his head was a jar of water and some baked bread. He sat up, ate and drank, then lay down and went back to sleep.
7Soon the Lord's angel woke him again and said, “Get up and eat, or else you'll get too tired to travel.” 8So Elijah sat up and ate and drank.
The food and water made him strong enough to walk 40 more days. At last, he reached Mount Sinai,#19.8 Sinai: Hebrew “Horeb.” the mountain of God, 9and he spent the night there in a cave.
The Lord Appears to Elijah
While Elijah was on Mount Sinai, the Lord asked, “Elijah, why are you here?”
10 #
Ro 11.3. He answered, “Lord God All-Powerful, I've always done my best to obey you. But your people have broken their solemn promise to you. They have torn down your altars and killed all your prophets, except me. And now they are even trying to kill me!”
11“Go out and stand on the mountain,” the Lord replied. “I want you to be there when I pass by.”
All at once, a strong wind shook the mountain and shattered the rocks. But the Lord was not in the wind. Next, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12Then there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.
Finally, there was a gentle breeze,#19.12 a gentle breeze: Or “a soft whisper” or “hardly a sound.” 13and when Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his coat. He went out and stood at the entrance to the cave.
A voice asked, “Elijah, why are you here?”
14Elijah answered, “Lord God All-Powerful, I've always done my best to obey you. But your people have broken their solemn promise to you. They have torn down your altars and killed all your prophets, except me. And now they are even trying to kill me!”
15 #
2 K 8.7-13. The Lord said:
Elijah, you can go back to the desert near Damascus. And when you get there, appoint#19.15 appoint: This would have included a ceremony in which olive oil would be poured on his head to show that he was now king. Hazael to be king of Syria. 16#2 K 9.1-6. Then appoint Jehu son of Nimshi to be king of Israel, and Elisha son of Shaphat#19.16 Shaphat: Hebrew “Shaphat from Abel-Meholah.” to take your place as my prophet.
17Hazael will start killing the people who worship Baal. Jehu will kill those who escape from Hazael, and Elisha will kill those who escape from Jehu.
18 #
Ro 11.4. But 7,000 Israelites have refused to worship Baal, and they will live.
Elisha Becomes Elijah's Assistant
19Elijah left and found Elisha plowing a field with a pair of oxen. There were eleven other men in front of him, and each one was also plowing with a pair of oxen. Elijah went over and put his own coat on Elisha.#19.19 put … Elisha: This was a sign that Elijah wanted Elisha to follow him and become a prophet.
20Elisha stopped plowing and ran after him. “Let me kiss my parents goodbye, then I'll go with you,” he said.
“You can go,” Elijah said. “But remember what I've done for you.”
21Elisha left and took his oxen with him. He killed them and boiled them over a fire he had made with the wood from his plow. He gave the meat to the people who were with him, and they ate it. Then he left with Elijah and became his assistant.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
1 Kings 19
19
1And Ahab declareth to Jezebel all that Elijah did, and all how he slew all the prophets by the sword,
2and Jezebel sendeth a messenger unto Elijah, saying, ‘Thus doth the gods, and thus do they add, surely about this time to-morrow, I make thy life as the life of one of them.’
3And he feareth, and riseth, and goeth for his life, and cometh in to Beer-Sheba, that [is] Judah's, and leaveth his young man there,
4and he himself hath gone into the wilderness a day's Journey, and cometh and sitteth under a certain retem-tree, and desireth his soul to die, and saith, ‘Enough, now, O Jehovah, take my soul, for I [am] not better than my fathers.’
5And he lieth down and sleepeth under a certain retem-tree, and lo, a messenger cometh against him, and saith to him, ‘Rise, eat;’
6and he looketh attentively, and lo, at his bolster a cake [baken on] burning stones, and a dish of water, and he eateth, and drinketh, and turneth, and lieth down.
7And the messenger of Jehovah turneth back a second time, and cometh against him, and saith, ‘Rise, eat, for the way is too great for thee;’
8and he riseth, and eateth, and drinketh, and goeth in the power of that food forty days and forty nights, unto the mount of God — Horeb.
9And he cometh in there, unto the cave, and lodgeth there, and lo, the word of Jehovah [is] unto him, and saith to him, ‘What — to thee, here, Elijah?’
10And he saith, ‘I have been very zealous for Jehovah, God of Hosts, for the sons of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant — Thine altars they have thrown down, and Thy prophets they have slain by the sword, and I am left, I, by myself, and they seek my life — to take it.’
11And He saith, ‘Go out, and thou hast stood in the mount before Jehovah.’ And lo, Jehovah is passing by, and a wind — great and strong — is rending mountains, and shivering rocks before Jehovah: — not in the wind [is] Jehovah; and after the wind a shaking: — not in the shaking [is] Jehovah;
12and after the shaking a fire: — not in the fire [is] Jehovah; and after the fire a voice still small;
13and it cometh to pass, at Elijah's hearing [it], that he wrappeth his face in his robe, and goeth out, and standeth at the opening of the cave, and lo, unto him [is] a voice, and it saith, ‘What — to thee, here, Elijah?’
14And he saith, ‘I have been very zealous for Jehovah, God of Hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, Thine altars they have thrown down, and Thy prophets they have slain by the sword, and I am left, I, by myself, and they seek my life — to take it.’
15And Jehovah saith unto him, ‘Go turn back on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus, and thou hast gone in, and anointed Hazael for king over Aram,
16and Jehu son of Nimshi thou dost anoint for king over Israel, and Elisha son of Shaphat, of Abel-Meholah, thou dost anoint for prophet in thy stead.
17‘And it hath been, him who is escaped from the sword of Hazael, put to death doth Jehu, and him who is escaped from the sword of Jehu put to death doth Elisha;
18and I have left in Israel seven thousand, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that hath not kissed him.’
19And he goeth thence, and findeth Elisha son of Shaphat, and he is plowing; twelve yoke [are] before him, and he [is] with the twelfth; and Elijah passeth over unto him, and casteth his robe upon him,
20and he forsaketh the oxen, and runneth after Elijah, and saith, ‘Let me give a kiss, I pray thee, to my father and to my mother, and I go after thee.’ And he saith to him, ‘Go, turn back, for what have I done to thee?’
21And he turneth back from after him, and taketh the yoke of oxen, and sacrificeth it, and with instruments of the oxen he hath boiled their flesh, and giveth to the people, and they eat, and he riseth, and goeth after Elijah, and serveth him.
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