Proper 7 (12)

1Verse 1. Now Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2Verse 2. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I have not made your life like the lives of those you killed!” 3Verse 3. And Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4Verse 4. while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 8Verse 8. So he got up and ate and drank. And strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9Verse 9. There Elijah entered a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10Verse 10. “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.” 11Verse 11. Then the LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD. Behold, the LORD is about to pass by.” And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12Verse 12. After the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a still, small voice. 13Verse 13. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14Verse 14. “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.” 15Verse 15. Then the LORD said to him, “Go back by the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus.

Text not available in the Berean Standard Bible.

1Verse 1. “I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. To a nation that did not call My name, I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ 2Verse 2. All day long I have held out My hands to an obstinate people who walk in the wrong path, who follow their own imaginations, 3Verse 3. to a people who continually provoke Me to My face, sacrificing in the gardens and burning incense on altars of brick, 4Verse 4. sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs and polluted broth from their bowls. 5Verse 5. They say, ‘Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ Such people are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long. 6Verse 6. Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will pay it back into their laps, 7Verse 7. both for your iniquities and for those of your fathers,” “Because they burned incense on the mountains and scorned Me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their former deeds.” 8Verse 8. This is what the LORD says: “As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes, and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’ so I will act on behalf of My servants; I will not destroy them all. 9Verse 9. And I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and heirs from Judah; My elect will possess My mountains, and My servants will dwell there.