1 Kings 19 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

Elijah Escapes from Jezebel

Elijah Flees to Horeb

1Ki 19:1And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword.

1Ki 19:2Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.”

1Ki 19:3

1Ki 19:3And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

1Ki 19:4

1Ki 19:4But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”

1Ki 19:5

1Ki 19:5Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel[fn] touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.”

1Ki 19:6

1Ki 19:6Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again.

1Ki 19:7

1Ki 19:7And the angel[fn] of the LORD came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.”

1Ki 19:8

1Ki 19:8So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.

1Ki 19:9

1Ki 19:9And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

1Ki 19:10

1Ki 19:10So he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

God’s Revelation to Elijah

1Ki 19:11

1Ki 19:11Then 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 into the mountains and broke the 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;

1Ki 19:12

1Ki 19:12and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

1Ki 19:13

1Ki 19:13So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

1Ki 19:14

1Ki 19:14And he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

1Ki 19:15

1Ki 19:15Then the LORD said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria.

1Ki 19:16

1Ki 19:16“Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.

1Ki 19:17

1Ki 19:17“It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill.

1Ki 19:18

1Ki 19:18“Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

Elisha Follows Elijah

1Ki 19:19

1Ki 19:19So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him.

1Ki 19:20

1Ki 19:20And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”

1Ki 19:21

1Ki 19:21So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant.

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NKJV Footnotes

(19:5)

Or Angel

(19:7)

Or Angel

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