1 ¶ After Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets of Baal with the sword.

2 Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, May the gods do to me, and more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.

3 Then he was afraid, and he arose, and fled for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the desert, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and asked that he might die; saying, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

5 And as he lay sleeping under the juniper tree, an angel touched him, and said to him, Get up and eat.

6 And he looked, and saw a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water by his head. So he ate and drank, and lay down again.

7 And the angel of the LORD came and touched him a second time, and said, Get up and eat; because the journey is too great for you.

8 And he arose, and ate and drank, and then on the strength of that food walked forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mountain of God.

9 ¶ There he came to a cave, and spent the night in it; and the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah?

10 And he replied, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword; and I alone am left; and they are seeking to take away my life.

11 And he said, Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and rocks in pieces 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 when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance to the cave. And there a voice came to him, and asked, What are you doing here, Elijah?

14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword; and I alone am left; and they are seeking to take away my life.

15 And the LORD said to him, Go, make your way back to the wilderness of Damascus: and when you arrive, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:

16 And anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi to be king over Israel: and anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah to be prophet in your place.

17 And it shall come to pass, that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael will be killed by Jehu: and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu will be killed by Elisha.

18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him.

19 ¶ So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve teams of oxen in front of him, and he drove the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and threw his mantle over him.

20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray you, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you. And he said to him, Go on back: for what have I done to you?

21 And he returned, and took a team of oxen, and killed them, and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he got up, and went after Elijah, and served him.