CHAPTER 19
1 Forsooth Ahab told to Jezebel all things that Elijah had done, and how he had slain with sword all the prophets of Baal.
2 And Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, and said, Gods do these things to me, and add these things too, no but tomorrow in this hour I shall put thy life as the life of one of them.
3 Therefore Elijah dreaded, and rose, and went whither ever his will bare him; and he came into Beersheba of Judah, and he left there his child;
4 and went into desert, the way of one day. And when he came, and sat under one juniper tree, he asked to his soul, that he should die; and he said, Lord, it sufficeth to me, take my soul; for I am not better than my fathers.
5 And he casted forth himself, and slept in the shadow of the juniper tree. And lo! the angel of the Lord touched him, and said to him, Rise thou, and eat.
6 He beheld, and, lo! at his head was a loaf baked under ashes, and a vessel of water. Therefore he ate, and drank, and slept again.
7 And the angel of the Lord turned again the second time, and touched him; and he said to him, Rise thou, and eat; for a great way is to thee.
8 And when he had risen, he ate, and drank; and he went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights, unto Horeb, the hill of God.
9 And when he had come thither, he dwelled in a den; and lo! the word of the Lord was made to him, and said to him, Elijah, what doest thou here?
10 And he answered, By fervent love, that is, of all the heart, I have loved fervently, for the Lord God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken the covenant of the Lord; they have destroyed thine altars, and killed with sword thy prophets; and I am left alone, and they seek my life, that they do it away.
11 And he said to Elijah, Go thou out, and stand in the hill, before the Lord. And lo! the Lord passeth by, and a great wind, and strong, turning upside-down hills, and all-breaking stones before the Lord; not in the wind is the Lord. And after the wind is a stirring; not in the stirring is the Lord.
12 And after the stirring is a fire; not in the fire is the Lord. And after the fire is an hissing of thin wind, or breathing softly; there is the Lord.
13 And when Elijah had heard this, he covered his face with a mantle, and he went out, and stood in the door of the den. And a voice spake to him, and said, Elijah, what doest thou here?
14 And he answered, With fervent love I have loved fervently, for the Lord God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken thy covenant; they have destroyed thine altars, and they have killed with sword thy prophets; and I am left alone, and they seek my life, that they do it away.
15 And the Lord said to him, Go, and turn again into thy way, by the desert, into Damascus; and when thou shalt come thither, thou shalt anoint Hazael king upon Syria;
16 and thou shalt anoint king upon Israel, Jehu, the son of Nimshi; and thou shalt anoint a prophet for thee, Elisha, the son of Shaphat, that is of Abelmeholah.
17 And it shall be, whoever shall flee the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall slay him; and whoever shall flee the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall slay him.
18 And I shall leave to me in Israel seven thousand of men, of which the knees be not bowed before Baal, and each mouth that worshipped not him, and kissed not his hand.
19 Therefore Elijah went forth from thence, and found Elisha, the son of Shaphat, earing in twelve yokes of oxen; and he was one in the twelve yokes of oxen, earing. And when Elijah had come to him, Elijah [or he] casted his mantle upon him.
20 And he ran anon after Elijah, when the oxen were left, and said, I pray thee, kiss I my father and my mother, and so I shall pursue [or follow] thee. And Elijah said to him, Go thou, and turn again, for I have done to thee that that was mine to do.
21 Soothly he turned again from Elijah, and took twain [or a pair of] oxen, and killed them; and with the plow of the oxen he seethed the flesh, and gave to the people, and they ate; and he rose, and went, and pursued [or followed] Elijah, and ministered to him.