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Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say:
“May the gods punish me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I have not made your life like that of one of them.”
3 Then Elijah was afraid, and he took flight and ran for his life. When he came to Beer-sheba that belonged to Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom tree and sat down under it, then he prayed that he might die. He prayed,
“I have had enough! O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
5 Then he lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree.
All at once an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and then lay down again.
7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him. He said, “Get up and eat, for otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Then with the strength from that food, Elijah walked forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 He entered a cave there and spent the night.
And the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of Hosts. The Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to kill me also.”
11 Then the Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord.”
Then the Lord passed by, and a great and mighty wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind had passed there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake there came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there came a voice that spoke in a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of Hosts,” he replied. “The Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to kill me also.”
15 Then the Lord said to him, “Go back by the way you came to the Wilderness of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16 You are to also anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Then Jehu will put to death anyone who escapes the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death anyone who escapes the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel—every knee that has not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat as he was ploughing. There were twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was driving the twelfth. Elijah walked by him and through his mantle over him. 20 Elisha then left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.”
“Go on back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”
21 So Elisha turned back from following him. He took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He cooked the meat with the equipment from the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set off and followed Elijah and became his attendant.