1 Kings 19
Tree of Life Version
Whisper at the Cave
19 Then Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, “So let the gods do to me and worse if by this time tomorrow I don’t make your life like the life of one of them.” 3 Frightened, he got up and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, he left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom bush. He prayed that he might die. “It’s too much!” he said. “Now, Adonai, take my life! For I’m no better than my fathers.”
5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom bush. Then behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, “Get up, and eat.” 6 So he looked, and to his surprise, there by his head was a cake baked on the hot stones and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 Then the angel of Adonai came again a second time, touched him and said. “Get up and eat, because the journey is too much for you.” 8 So he arose and ate and drank, and in the strength of that meal forty days and forty nights went to Horeb, the mountain of God.
9 When he arrived there at the cave, he spent the night there. Then behold, the word of Adonai came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 “I have been very zealous for Adonai-Tzva’ot,” he said, “for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and slain Your prophets with the sword—and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it!”[a]
11 Then He said, “Come out and stand on the mount before Adonai.”[b] Behold, Adonai was passing by—a great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and shattering cliffs before Adonai. But Adonai was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but Adonai was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake a fire, but Adonai was not in the fire. After the fire there was a soft whisper of a voice. 13 As soon as Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle, went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
Then all of a sudden, a voice addressed him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 “I have been very zealous for Adonai-Tzva’ot,” he said, “for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and slain Your prophets with the sword—and I alone am left, and they are seeking to take my life!”
15 Then Adonai said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram, 16 and anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. 17 It shall come to pass that whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu will slay; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will slay. 18 Yet I have preserved seven thousand in Israel whose knees have not bowed to Baal and whose mouth has not kissed him.”
Calling of Elisha
19 So he departed from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. Then Elijah crossed over to him and threw his mantle on him. 20 So he left the oxen and ran after Elijah saying, “Let me please kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.”[c]
“Come back,” he said to him. “For what have I done to you?” 21 So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the oxen’s yoke gear, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose, went after Elijah and became his attendant.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 19:10 cf. Acts 7:52; Rom. 11:3.
- 1 Kings 19:11 cf. Matt. 17:1-3.
- 1 Kings 19:20 cf. Luke 9:61-62.
1 Kings 19
Expanded Bible
Elijah Runs Away
19 King Ahab told Jezebel every thing Elijah had done and how Elijah had killed all the prophets with a sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods ·punish me terribly [deal severely with me, and worse; L do to me, and even more] if by this time tomorrow I don’t ·kill you just as you killed those prophets [L make your life like the life of one of them].”
3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life, taking his servant with him. When they came to Beersheba in Judah, Elijah left his servant there. 4 Then Elijah ·walked [journeyed] for a whole day into the ·desert [wilderness]. He sat down under a ·bush [juniper/broom tree] and asked to die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he prayed. “·Let me die [L Take my life]. I am no better than my ·ancestors [fathers; C that is, he is as good as dead, as they already are].” 5 Then he lay down under the tree and slept.
Suddenly an ·angel [messenger] came to him and touched him. “Get up and eat,” the angel said. 6 Elijah saw near his head a loaf baked over ·coals [hot stones] and a jar of water, so he ate and drank. Then he ·went back to sleep [L lay down again].
7 The Lord’s ·angel [messenger] came to him a second time. The angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat. If you don’t, the journey will be too ·hard [much] for you.” 8 So Elijah got up and ate and drank. The food made him strong enough to walk for forty days and nights to Mount ·Sinai [L Horeb; Ex. 3:1, 17:6; 19:18], the mountain of God. 9 There Elijah went into a cave and stayed all night.
Then the ·Lord spoke his word to [word of the Lord came to] him: “Elijah! ·Why are you [What are you doing] here?”
10 He answered, “Lord God ·All-Powerful [of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], I have ·always served you as well as I could [been very zealous for you]. But the ·people [L sons; T children] of Israel have ·broken [abandoned; forsaken] their ·agreement [covenant; solemn pact] with you, ·destroyed [torn down] your altars, and killed your prophets with swords. I ·am the only prophet [alone am] left, and now they ·are trying to kill me [seek my life], too.”
11 The Lord said to Elijah, “Go, stand ·in front of [before] me on the mountain, ·and I will pass by you [for the Lord is about to pass by].” Then a very strong wind ·blew until it caused the mountains to fall apart and large rocks to break in front of [tore apart the mountain and shattered the rocks before] the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire, there was ·a quiet, gentle sound [the sound of a gentle whisper/blowing/wind; or a brief sound of silence; T a still small voice]. 13 When Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his coat and went out and stood at the entrance to the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “Elijah! ·Why are you [What are you doing] here?”
14 He answered, “Lord God ·All-Powerful [of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], I have ·always served you as well as I could [been very zealous for you]. But the ·people [L sons; T children] of Israel have ·broken [abandoned; forsaken] their ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with you, ·destroyed [torn down] your altars, and killed your prophets with swords. I ·am the only prophet [alone am] left, and now they ·are trying to kill me [seek my life], too.”
15 The Lord said to him, “Go back on the road that leads to the ·desert [wilderness] around Damascus. Enter that city, and ·pour olive oil on [L anoint] Hazael to make him king over Aram [2 Kin. 8:7–15]. 16 Then ·pour oil on [L anoint] Jehu son of Nimshi to make him king over Israel [2 Kin. 9:1–13]. Next, ·pour oil on [L anoint] Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to ·make him a prophet in your place [succeed you as prophet; 2 Kin. 2:1–18]. 17 Jehu will kill anyone who escapes from Hazael’s sword, and Elisha will kill anyone who escapes from Jehu’s sword. 18 I ·have left [or will preserve/spare/leave] seven thousand people in Israel who have never bowed down before Baal and whose mouths have never kissed ·his idol [L him].”
Elisha Becomes a Prophet
19 So Elijah left that place and found Elisha son of Shaphat plowing a field with ·a team of oxen. He owned twelve teams of oxen and was plowing with the twelfth team [or twelve teams of oxen, and he with the twelfth]. Elijah came up to Elisha, took off his ·coat [T mantle], and put it on Elisha. 20 Then Elisha left his oxen and ran to follow Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and my mother good-bye,” Elisha said. “Then I will go with you.”
Elijah answered, “Go back. ·It does not matter to me [For what have I done to you?; or But consider what I have done to you].”
21 So Elisha went back and took his pair of oxen and ·killed [slaughtered; sacrificed] them. He used ·their wooden yoke [the plowing gear] for a fire [C symbolizing his turning from farming to a new calling as a prophet]. Then he cooked the meat and gave it to the people. After they ate it, Elisha left and followed Elijah and became his ·helper [servant; assistant].
1 Kings 19
King James Version
19 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then 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.
3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But 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.
5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
6 And 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.
7 And 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.
8 And 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.
9 And 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?
10 And 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.
11 And 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:
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
13 And 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?
14 And 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.
15 And 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:
16 And 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.
17 And 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.
18 Yet 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.
19 So 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.
20 And 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?
21 And 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.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.