Elijah Runs from Jezebel

19 Ahab complained to Jezebel about everything that Elijah had done, especially the part about him killing all the prophets of Baal with a sword. ² Jezebel sent a messenger to tell Elijah, “May the gods do the same to me and even more if tomorrow about this time I haven’t made you like one of those prophets you had killed.”^[a]

³ Elijah was terrified, so he got up and ran for his life to Beer-sheba, which is part of Judah, and left his servant there ⁴ and ran for a day’s journey deep into the wilderness. He found a juniper tree, sat down under it, and prayed that he could die. He asked God, “Enough! Lord! Take my life, because I’m not better than my ancestors!” ⁵ Then he lay down and went to sleep under the juniper tree. All of a sudden, there was an angel, who kept grabbing him and telling him, “Get up! Eat!”

⁶ So he looked around, and there near his head was a muffin sitting on top of some heated stones, along with a jar of water. Elijah ate and drank and then lay down again. ⁷ Later, the angel of the Lord came a second time, grabbed him, and said “Get up! Eat! The journey ahead^[b] is too difficult for you!” ⁸ So Elijah^[c] got up, ate and drank, and survived on that one meal for 40 days and nights as he set out on his journey to Horeb, God’s mountain.