Elijah at Horeb

⁹ Then he came there to a cave and spent the night there; and behold, ^(A)the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰ And he said, “^(B)I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of armies; for the sons of Israel have abandoned Your covenant, ^(C)torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And ^(D)I alone am left; and they have sought to take my life.”

¹¹ So He said, “^(E)Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And ^(F)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, ^(G)a sound of a gentle blowing. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, ^(H)he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, ^(I)a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴ Then he said, “^(J)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, ^(K)you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram. ¹⁶ You shall also anoint ^(L)Jehu the son of Nimshi king over Israel; and you shall anoint ^(M)Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. ¹⁷ And it shall come about that the ^(N)one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu ^(O)shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. ^18 (P)Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not ^(Q)kissed him.”