Bible Browser

17  Yet for all this they sinned more against him ♦︎
   and defied the Most High in the wilderness.
18  They tested God in their hearts ♦︎
   and demanded food for their craving.
19  They spoke against God and said, ♦︎
   ‘Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20  ‘He struck the rock indeed, so that the waters gushed out
      and the streams overflowed, ♦︎
   but can he give bread or provide meat for his people?’
52  But he led out his people like sheep ♦︎
   and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53  He led them to safety and they were not afraid, ♦︎
   but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54  He brought them to his holy place, ♦︎
   the mountain which his right hand took in possession.
55  He drove out the nations before them
      and shared out to them their inheritance; ♦︎
   he settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

⁹At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ ¹⁰He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’

Elijah Meets God at Horeb

11 He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹²and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. ¹³When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ ¹⁴He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’ ¹⁵Then the Lord said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. ¹⁶Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. ¹⁷Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. ¹⁸Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.’

Israel’s Rejection Is Not Final

11I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. ²God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? ³‘Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.’ ⁴But what is the divine reply to him? ‘I have kept for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’ ⁵So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. ⁶But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.^*