1 Kings 19 - Living Bible (TLB)

19 When Ahab told Queen Jezebel what Elijah had done, and that he had slaughtered the prophets of Baal, 2 she sent this message to Elijah: “You killed my prophets, and now I swear by the gods that I am going to kill you by this time tomorrow night.”

3 So Elijah fled for his life; he went to Beersheba, a city of Judah, and left his servant there. 4 Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day, and sat down under a broom bush and prayed that he might die.

“I’ve had enough,” he told the Lord. “Take away my life. I’ve got to die sometime, and it might as well be now.”[a]

5 Then he lay down and slept beneath the broom bush. But as he was sleeping, an Angel touched him and told him to get up and eat! 6 He looked around and saw some bread baking on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.

7 Then the Angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, for there is a long journey ahead of you.”

8 So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God, 9 where he lived in a cave.

But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 He replied, “I have worked very hard for the Lord God of the heavens; but the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you and torn down your altars and killed your prophets, and only I am left; and now they are trying to kill me too.”

11 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain; it was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his scarf and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

And a voice said, “Why are you here, Elijah?”

14 He replied again, “I have been working very hard for the Lord God of the armies of heaven, but the people have broken their covenant and have torn down your altars; they have killed every one of your prophets except me; and now they are trying to kill me too.”

15 Then the Lord told him, “Go back by the desert road to Damascus, and when you arrive, anoint Hazael to be king of Syria. 16 Then anoint Jehu (son of Nimshi) to be king of Israel, and anoint Elisha (the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah) to replace you as my prophet. 17 Anyone who escapes from Hazael shall be killed by Jehu, and those who escape Jehu shall be killed by Elisha! 18 And incidentally, there are 7,000 men in Israel who have never bowed to Baal nor kissed him!”

19 So Elijah went and found Elisha who was plowing a field with eleven other teams ahead of him; he was at the end of the line with the last team. Elijah went over to him and threw his coat across his shoulders and walked away again.[b]

20 Elisha left the oxen standing there and ran after Elijah and said to him, “First let me go and say good-bye to my father and mother, and then I’ll go with you!”

Elijah replied, “Go on back! Why all the excitement?”

21 Elisha then returned to his oxen, killed them, and used wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the other plowmen, and they all had a great feast. Then he went with Elijah, as his assistant.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 19:4 and it might as well be now, literally, “I am no better than my fathers.”
  2. 1 Kings 19:19 and walked away again, implied.

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19 And Ahab declareth to Jezebel all that Elijah did, and all how he slew all the prophets by the sword, 2 and Jezebel sendeth a messenger unto Elijah, saying, `Thus doth the gods, and thus do they add, surely about this time to-morrow, I make thy life as the life of one of them.' 3 And he feareth, ...
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19 Forsooth Ahab told to Jezebel all things that Elijah had done, and how he had slain with (the) sword all the prophets of Baal. 2 And Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, and said, Gods do these things to me (The gods do these things to me), and add these things too, no but tomorrow in this hour I ...
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1 Kings 19 - World English Bible (WEB)

19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I don’t make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time!” 3 When he saw that, h...
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1 Kings 19 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

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1 Kings 19 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Elijah Flees from Jezebel19 Ahab told Jez′ebel all that Eli′jah had done, and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jez′ebel sent a messenger to Eli′jah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”...
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1 Kings 19 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

Elijah Flees from Jezebel19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.’...
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1 Kings 19 - New Living Translation (NLT)

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1 Kings 19 - New Life Version (NLV)

Elijah Gets Away from Jezebel19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done. He told her how Elijah had killed with the sword all the men who spoke for Baal. 2 Then Jezebel sent news to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by ...
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1 Kings 19 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Elijah Escapes from Jezebel19 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had (A)executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, (B)“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 tomorro...
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1 Kings 19 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

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Elijah Runs Away to Mount Horeb19 Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done. He told her how Elijah had killed all the prophets of Baal with his sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a message to Elijah. She said, “You can be sure that I will kill you, just as I killed the other prophets. I’ll do it by this ...
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