1 Reis 19

¹ And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all theThat is, of Baal.prophets with the sword.

² Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying,Though the wicked rage against God's children, yet he holds them back so they cannot execute their malice.So let the gods do [to me], and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.

³ When he sawe that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which is in Iudah, and left his seruant there.

⁴ But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD,It is so hard to control our impatience in affliction, that the saints could not overcome the same.take away my life; for I [am] not better than my fathers.

⁵ And as he lay and slept vnder the iuniper tree, behold now, an Angel touched him, and said vnto him, Vp, and eate.

⁶ And when he looked about, behold, there was a cake baken on the coles, and a pot of water at his head: so he did eate and drinke, and returned and slept.

⁷ And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise [and] eat; becauseHe declares that unless God had nourished him miraculously it would have been impossible for him to have gone on this journey.the journey [is] too great for thee.

⁸ Then he arose, and did eate and drinke, and walked in the strength of that meate fourtie dayes and fourtie nights, vnto Horeb the mount of God.

⁹ And there he entred into a caue, & lodged there: and beholde, the Lorde spake to him, and said vnto him, What doest thou here, Eliiah?

¹⁰ And he said, I haveHe complains that the more zealous he was to maintain God's glory, the more cruelly he was persecuted.been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, [even] I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

¹¹ And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; [but] the LORD [was]For the nature of man is not able to come near God, if he appeared in his strength and full majesty, and therefore he mercifully submits himself to our limitations.not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; [but] the LORD [was] not in the earthquake:

¹² And after the earthquake came fire: but the Lorde was not in the fire: and after the fire came a still and soft voyce.

¹³ And when Eliiah heard it, he couered his face with his mantel, and went out, and stoode in the entring in of ye caue: and behold, there came a voyce vnto him, and sayd, What doest thou here, Eliiah?

¹⁴ And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts:So should not depend on the multitude in maintaining God's glory, but because our duty requires us to do it.because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, [even] I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

¹⁵ And the Lord said vnto him, Goe, returne by the wildernes vnto Damascus, and when thou commest there, anoint Hazael King ouer Aram.

¹⁶ And Iehu the sonne of Nimshi shalt thou anoynt King ouer Israel: and Elisha the sonne of Shaphat of Abel Meholah shalt thou anoynt to be Prophet in thy roume.

¹⁷ And him that escapeth from the sworde of Hazael, shall Iehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Iehu, shall Elisha slay.

¹⁸ Yet I have left [me] seven thousand in Israel,He declares that wicked deceivers and idolaters are not his.all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

¹⁹ So he departed thence, and found Elisha the sonne of Shaphat who was plowing with twelue yoke of oxen before him, and was with the twelft: & Eliiah went towards him, and cast his mantel vpon him.

²⁰ And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said,Though this natural affection is not to be contemned, yet it should not move us when God calls us to serve him.Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and [then] I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?

²¹ And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with theHe would not stay till wood was brought, so great was his desire to follow his calling.instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.