The Daily Audio Bible

Elijah Runs from Jezebel

19 Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and ^[a](A)how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. ² Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “^(B)So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your ^[b]life as the ^[c]life of one of them by about this time tomorrow.” ³ And he ^[d]was afraid and arose and ^[e]ran for his ^[f]life and came to ^(C)Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his young man there. ⁴ But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and ^(D)he asked for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O Yahweh, take my ^[g]life, for I am not better than my fathers.” ⁵ Then he lay down and slept under a broom tree; and behold, there was ^(E)an angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat.” ⁶ Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. ⁷ And the angel of Yahweh came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.” ⁸ So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food ^(F)forty days and forty nights to ^(G)Horeb, the mountain of God.

Elijah at Horeb

⁹ Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, ^(H)the word of Yahweh came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰ And he said, “^(I)I have been very zealous for Yahweh, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, ^(J)pulled down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And ^(K)I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

¹¹ So He said, “^(L)Go forth and stand on the mountain before Yahweh.” And behold, Yahweh was passing by! And ^(M)a great and strong wind was tearing up the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before Yahweh; but Yahweh was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but Yahweh was not in the earthquake. ¹² Then after the earthquake a fire, but Yahweh was not in the fire; and after the fire ^(N)a sound of a thin ^[h]gentle whisper. ¹³ Now it happened that when Elijah heard it, ^(O)he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, ^(P)a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴ Then he said, “^(Q)I have been very zealous for Yahweh, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, pulled down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

¹⁵ And Yahweh said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and you will arrive and ^(R)anoint Hazael king over Aram; ¹⁶ and ^(S)Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and ^(T)Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. ¹⁷ And it will be that the ^(U)one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu ^(V)shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. ^18 (W)Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not ^(X)kissed him.”

Elijah Puts the Mantle on Elisha

¹⁹ So he went from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah passed over to him and threw ^(Y)his mantle on him. ²⁰ So he forsook the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please ^(Z)let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” ²¹ So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and ^(AA)boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him.

An Angel Frees Peter from Prison

12 Now about that time ^[a]Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to harm them. ² And he ^(A)had James the brother of John ^(B)put to death with a sword. ³ And when he saw that it ^(C)pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now ^[b]it was during ^(D)the days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four ^[c](E)squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after ^(F)the Passover to bring him out before the people. ⁵ So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.

⁶ Now on ^[d]the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, ^(G)bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. ⁷ And behold, ^(H)an angel of the Lord suddenly ^(I)appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Rise up quickly.” And ^(J)his chains fell off his hands. ⁸ And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and ^[e]put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your garment around yourself and follow me.” ⁹ And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but was thinking he was seeing ^(K)a vision. ¹⁰ And when they had passed the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which ^(L)opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. ¹¹ When Peter ^(M)came ^[f]to himself, he said, “Now truly I know that ^(N)the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all ^[g]that the Jewish people were expecting.” ¹² And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of ^(O)John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and ^(P)were praying. ¹³ And when he knocked at the door of the gate, ^(Q)a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ And when she recognized Peter’s voice, ^(R)because of her joy she did not open the gate. But she ran in and reported that Peter was standing in front of the gate. ¹⁵ And they said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is ^(S)his angel.” ¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door, they saw him and were astounded. ¹⁷ But ^(T)motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he recounted to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to ^(U)James and ^(V)the brothers.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸ Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what ^[h]had become of Peter. ¹⁹ And when Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they ^(W)be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to ^(X)Caesarea and was spending time there.

The Death of Herod

²⁰ Now he was very angry with the people of ^(Y)Tyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because ^(Z)their country was fed by the king’s country. ²¹ And on an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel and sitting on the judgment seat, began delivering an address to them. ²² And the assembly kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” ²³ And immediately ^(AA)an angel of the ^[i]Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

His Lovingkindness Endures Forever