1 So Ahab recounted to Jezebel everything that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets {nevi’im: inspired spokesmen} with the sword {cherev: iron weapon}.
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods {Elohim, oath witnesses} do so to me, and may they add more, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life {nefesh: life force} like the life of one of them.”
3 When he saw this, he became afraid, and he rose and fled for his life {nafsho: self-preservation}; he came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and he left his servant {na’aro: personal attendant} there.
4 But he went on alone a day’s journey into the wilderness, and he came and sat under a broom bush. There he asked that his life be taken, saying, “It is enough now, LORD {YHWH, Compassionate Upholder}; take my life, for I am not better than my fathers {avot: ancestors}.”
5 He lay down beneath a broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly a messenger {malakh: angelic being} touched him and said, “Arise {kum: stand up} and eat.”
6 He looked, and there by his head was a cake {'ugat: round hearth loaf} baked on hot stones and a jar {'tsappachat: small water vessel} of water; he ate and drank, and then lay down again.
7 The angel of the LORD {mal’akh YHWH, Divine Messenger} returned a second time and touched him, then said, “Arise and eat, for the journey {hadarekh: the road ahead} overtaxes you.”
8 He rose, ate, and drank; then, strengthened {koach: inner capacity} by that food, he journeyed forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God {Elohim, Divine Destination}.
9 He went there to a cave {me’arah: place of seclusion} and spent the night. Then the word of the LORD {YHWH, Divine Communicator} came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 And he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts {YHWH Elohei Tsevaot, Divine Warrior}, for the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant {brit: sacred binding agreement}; they have torn down your altars, slain your prophets with the sword; and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it.”
11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain {har: holy encounter} before the LORD {YHWH, Manifest Presence}.” And behold, the LORD was passing by: a great and strong wind was tearing the mountains apart and shattering the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind came an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
12 After the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD {YHWH, Divine Revealer} was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper {demamah: sound of stillness}.
13 When Elijah heard, he wrapped his face in his cloak {adderet: prophetic mantle}, went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then a voice {qol: divine summons} came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 And he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts {YHWH Elohei Tsevaot, Divine Warrior}, since the sons of Israel have abandoned your covenant {berit: binding agreement}, torn down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking to take my life.”
15 And the LORD {YHWH, Divine Commander} said to him, “Go, return by your way to the wilderness toward Damascus, and when you come, you shall anoint {mashachta: set apart for office} Hazael as king over Aram.”
16 And you shall anoint {timshach: consecrate with oil} Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel, and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah as prophet in your place {takhtekha: successor’s role}.
17 And it will be that whoever escapes {nimlat: ongoing survival} from the sword {cherev: instrument of judgment} of Hazael, Jehu will put to death; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will put to death.
18 But I {YHWH, Remnant Preserver} will leave seven thousand in Israel—every knee {birkayim: symbol of submission} that has not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.
19 Elijah went from that place and found Elisha {Elisha: God is salvation} son of Shaphat plowing with twelve teams of oxen before him, and Elijah came and cast his cloak {adderet: distinctive prophet’s mantle} upon him.
20 And he left the oxen {habbāqār: farm animals} and ran after Elijah. Then he said, “Let me kiss {ʾešqā-nāʾ: request farewell} my father and my mother, and then I will go after you.” And he said to him, “Go back, for what have I done to you?”
21 So he returned from following him, took a team of oxen {bakar: domesticated cattle for sacrifice}, and sacrificed them. With the oxen’s equipment he cooked the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he rose, followed Elijah {Eliyahu: prophetic mentor}, and ministered to him.