1 Kings 19:4-15

19:4 while he went a day’s journey into the desert. He went and sat down under a shrub 1  and asked the Lord to take his life: 2  “I’ve had enough! Now, O Lord, take my life. After all, I’m no better than my ancestors.” 3  19:5 He stretched out 4  and fell asleep under the shrub. All of a sudden an angelic messenger 5  touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 19:6 He looked and right there by his head was a cake baking on hot coals and a jug of water. He ate and drank and then slept some more. 6  19:7 The Lord’s angelic messenger came back again, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, for otherwise you won’t be able to make the journey.” 7  19:8 So he got up and ate and drank. That meal gave him the strength to travel forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

19:9 He went into a cave there and spent the night. All of a sudden the Lord spoke to him, “Why are you here, Elijah?” 19:10 He answered, “I have been absolutely loyal 8  to the Lord, the sovereign God, 9  even though the Israelites have abandoned the agreement they made with you, 10  torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and now they want to take my life.” 11  19:11 The Lord 12  said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord. Look, the Lord is ready to pass by.”

A very powerful wind went before the Lord, digging into the mountain and causing landslides, 13  but the Lord was not in the wind. After the windstorm there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 19:12 After the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a soft whisper. 14  19:13 When Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his robe and went out and stood at the entrance to the cave. All of a sudden 15  a voice asked him, “Why are you here, Elijah?” 19:14 He answered, “I have been absolutely loyal 16  to the Lord, the sovereign God, 17  even though the Israelites have abandoned the agreement they made with you, 18  torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and now they want to take my life.” 19  19:15 The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came and then head for the Desert of Damascus. Go and anoint Hazael king over Syria.

1 tn Or “broom tree” (also in v. 5).

2 tn Heb “and asked with respect to his life to die.”

3 tn Heb “fathers.”

4 tn Or “lay down.”

5 tn Heb “Look, a messenger.”

6 tn Heb “and again lay down”

7 tn Heb “for the journey is too great for you.”

8 tn Or “very zealous.” The infinitive absolute preceding the finite verb emphasizes the degree of his zeal and allegiance.

9 tn Traditionally, “the God of hosts.”

10 tn Heb “abandoned your covenant.”

11 tn Heb “and they are seeking my life to take it.”

12 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

13 tn Heb “tearing away the mountains and breaking the cliffs” (or perhaps, “breaking the stones”).

14 tn Heb “a voice, calm, soft.”

15 tn Heb “look.”

16 tn Or “very zealous.” The infinitive absolute preceding the finite verb emphasizes the degree of his zeal and allegiance.

17 tn Traditionally, “the God of hosts.”

18 tn Heb “abandoned your covenant.”

19 tn Heb “and they are seeking my life to take it.”