Elijah Flees from Jezebel

19 Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and ^[a](A)how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. ² Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “^(B)So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your ^[b]life as the ^[c]life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” ³ And he ^[d]was afraid and arose and ran for his ^[e]life and came to ^(C)Beersheba, which belongs 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 ^[f]juniper tree; and ^(D)he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take my ^[g]life, for I am not better than my fathers.” ⁵ He lay down and slept under a ^[h]juniper tree; and behold, there was ^(E)an angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat.” ⁶ Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. ⁷ The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.” ⁸ So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food ^(F)forty days and forty nights to ^(G)Horeb, the mountain of God.

Elijah at Horeb

⁹ Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, ^(H)the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰ He said, “^(I)I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, ^(J)torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And ^(K)I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

¹¹ So He said, “^(L)Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And ^(M)a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking 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 After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire ^(N)a sound of a gentle blowing. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, ^(O)he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, ^(P)a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴ Then he said, “^(Q)I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

¹⁵ The Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, ^(R)you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram; ¹⁶ and ^(S)Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and ^(T)Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. ¹⁷ It shall come about, the ^(U)one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu ^(V)shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. ^18 (W)Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not ^(X)kissed him.”

¹⁹ So he 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. And Elijah passed over to him and threw ^(Y)his mantle on him. ²⁰ He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please ^(Z)let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” ²¹ So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and ^(AA)boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him.

³⁹ And He also spoke a parable to them: “^(A)A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? ^40 (B)A ^[a]pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will ^[b]be like his teacher. ⁴¹ Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴² Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. ^43 (C)For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, ^[c]on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. ^44 (D)For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. ^45 (E)The good man out of the good ^[d]treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; ^(F)for his mouth speaks from ^[e]that which fills his heart.

Builders and Foundations

⁴⁶ “^(G)Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? ^47 (H)Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and ^[f]acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: ⁴⁸ he is like a man building a house, who ^[g]dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the ^[h]torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the ^[i]torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”