1. 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, and riseth, and goeth for his life, and cometh in to Beer-Sheba, that [is] Judah's, and leaveth his young man there,
4. and he himself hath gone into the wilderness a day's Journey, and cometh and sitteth under a certain retem-tree, and desireth his soul to die, and saith, `Enough, now, O Jehovah, take my soul, for I [am] not better than my fathers.'
5. And he lieth down and sleepeth under a certain retem-tree, and lo, a messenger cometh against him, and saith to him, `Rise, eat;'
6. and he looketh attentively, and lo, at his bolster a cake [baken on] burning stones, and a dish of water, and he eateth, and drinketh, and turneth, and lieth down.
7. And the messenger of Jehovah turneth back a second time, and cometh against him, and saith, `Rise, eat, for the way is too great for thee;'
8. and he riseth, and eateth, and drinketh, and goeth in the power of that food forty days and forty nights, unto the mount of God--Horeb.
9. And he cometh in there, unto the cave, and lodgeth there, and lo, the word of Jehovah [is] unto him, and saith to him, `What--to thee, here, Elijah?'
10. And he saith, `I have been very zealous for Jehovah, God of Hosts, for the sons of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant--Thine altars they have thrown down, and Thy prophets they have slain by the sword, and I am left, I, by myself, and they seek my life--to take it.'
11. And He saith, `Go out, and thou hast stood in the mount before Jehovah.' And lo, Jehovah is passing by, and a wind--great and strong--is rending mountains, and shivering rocks before Jehovah: --not in the wind [is] Jehovah; and after the wind a shaking: --not in the shaking [is] Jehovah;
12. and after the shaking a fire: --not in the fire [is] Jehovah; and after the fire a voice still small;
13. and it cometh to pass, at Elijah's hearing [it], that he wrappeth his face in his robe, and goeth out, and standeth at the opening of the cave, and lo, unto him [is] a voice, and it saith, `What--to thee, here, Elijah?'