¹¹ So He said, “^(A)Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And ^(B)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. ¹² And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, ^(C)a sound of a gentle blowing. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, ^(D)he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, ^(E)a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴ Then he said, “^(F)I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of armies; for the sons of Israel have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they have sought to take my life.”

¹⁵ The Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when you have arrived, ^(G)you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram. ¹⁶ You shall also anoint ^(H)Jehu the son of Nimshi king over Israel; and you shall anoint ^(I)Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. ¹⁷ And it shall come about that the ^(J)one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu ^(K)shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. ^18 (L)Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not ^(M)kissed him.”

¹⁹ So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat while he was plowing, with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah came over to him and threw ^(N)his cloak on him. ²⁰ Then he left the oxen behind and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please ^(O)let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back, for ^[a]what have I done to you?” ²¹ So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them, and ^(P)cooked their meat with the implements of the oxen, and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he got up and followed Elijah and served him.