Elijah

(33) Ahab also made a sacred post. Ahab did more to vex the LORD, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel who preceded him. (34) During his reign, Hiel the Bethelite fortified Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of Abiram his first-born, and set its gates in place at the cost of Segub his youngest, in accordance with the words that the LORD had spoken through Joshua son of Nun. (1) Elijah the Tishbite, an inhabitant of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD lives, the God of Israel whom I serve, there will be no dew or rain except at my bidding.” (2) The word of the LORD came to him: (3) “Leave this place; turn eastward and go into hiding by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. (4) You will drink from the wadi, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” (5) He proceeded to do as the LORD had bidden: he went, and he stayed by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. (6) The ravens brought him bread and meat every morning and every evening, and he drank from the wadi. (7) After some time the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

(8) And the word of the LORD came to him: (9) “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon, and stay there; I have designated a widow there to feed you.” (10) So he went at once to Zarephath. When he came to the entrance of the town, a widow was there gathering wood. He called out to her, “Please bring me a little water in your pitcher, and let me drink.” (11) As she went to fetch it, he called out to her, “Please bring along a piece of bread for me.” (12) “As the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I have nothing baked, nothing but a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am just gathering a couple of sticks, so that I can go home and prepare it for me and my son; we shall eat it and then we shall die.” (13) “Don’t be afraid,” said Elijah to her. “Go and do as you have said; but first make me a small cake from what you have there, and bring it out to me; then make some for yourself and your son. (14) For thus said the LORD, the God of Israel: The jar of flour shall not give out and the jug of oil shall not fail until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the ground.” (15) She went and did as Elijah had spoken, and she and he and her household had food for a long time. (16) The jar of flour did not give out, nor did the jug of oil fail, just as the LORD had spoken through Elijah.

(17) After a while, the son of the mistress of the house fell sick, and his illness grew worse, until he had no breath left in him. (18) She said to Elijah, “What harm have I done you, O man of God, that you should come here to recall my sin and cause the death of my son?” (19) “Give me the boy,” he said to her; and taking him from her arms, he carried him to the upper chamber where he was staying, and laid him down on his own bed. (20) He cried out to the LORD and said, “O LORD my God, will You bring calamity upon this widow whose guest I am, and let her son die?” (21) Then he stretched out over the child three times, and cried out to the LORD, saying, “O LORD my God, let this child’s life return to his body!” (22) The LORD heard Elijah’s plea; the child’s life returned to his body, and he revived. (23) Elijah picked up the child and brought him down from the upper room into the main room, and gave him to his mother. “See,” said Elijah, “your son is alive.” (24) And the woman answered Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD is truly in your mouth.”

(1) Much later, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go, appear before Ahab; then I will send rain upon the earth.” (2) Thereupon Elijah set out to appear before Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria. (3) Ahab had summoned Obadiah, the steward of the palace. (Obadiah revered the LORD greatly. (4) When Jezebel was killing off the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and provided them with food and drink.) (5) And Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go through the land, to all the springs of water and to all the wadis. Perhaps we shall find some grass to keep horses and mules alive, so that we are not left without beasts.” (6) They divided the country between them to explore it, Ahab going alone in one direction and Obadiah going alone in another direction. (7) Obadiah was on the road, when Elijah suddenly confronted him. [Obadiah] recognized him and flung himself on his face, saying, “Is that you, my lord Elijah?” (8) “Yes, it is I,” he answered. “Go tell your lord: Elijah is here!” (9) But he said, “What wrong have I done, that you should hand your servant over to Ahab to be killed? (10) As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom to which my lord has not sent to look for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made that kingdom or nation swear that you could not be found. (11) And now you say, ‘Go tell your lord: Elijah is here!’ (12) When I leave you, the spirit of the LORD will carry you off I don’t know where; and when I come and tell Ahab and he does not find you, he will kill me. Yet your servant has revered the LORD from my youth. (13) My lord has surely been told what I did when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the LORD, how I hid a hundred of the prophets of the LORD, fifty men to a cave, and provided them with food and drink. (14) And now you say, ‘Go tell your lord: Elijah is here.’ Why, he will kill me!” (15) Elijah replied, “As the LORD of Hosts lives, whom I serve, I will appear before him this very day.” (16) Obadiah went to find Ahab, and informed him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah. (17) When Ahab caught sight of Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” (18) He retorted, “It is not I who have brought trouble on Israel, but you and your father’s House, by forsaking the commandments of the LORD and going after the Baalim. (19) Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel, together with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

(1) Moses went and spoke these things to all Israel. (2) He said to them: I am now one hundred and twenty years old, I can no longer be active. Moreover, the LORD has said to me, “You shall not go across yonder Jordan.” (3) The LORD your God Himself will cross over before you; and He Himself will wipe out those nations from your path and you shall dispossess them.—Joshua is the one who shall cross before you, as the LORD has spoken.— (4) The LORD will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites, and to their countries, when He wiped them out. (5) The LORD will deliver them up to you, and you shall deal with them in full accordance with the Instruction that I have enjoined upon you. (6) Be strong and resolute, be not in fear or in dread of them; for the LORD your God Himself marches with you: He will not fail you or forsake you. (7) Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel: “Be strong and resolute, for it is you who shall go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their fathers to give them, and it is you who shall apportion it to them. (8) And the LORD Himself will go before you. He will be with you; He will not fail you or forsake you. Fear not and be not dismayed!”

(8) And the Israelites bewailed Moses in the steppes of Moab for thirty days. The period of wailing and mourning for Moses came to an end. (9) Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the Israelites heeded him, doing as the LORD had commanded Moses. (10) Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses—whom the LORD singled out, face to face, (11) for the various signs and portents that the LORD sent him to display in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his courtiers and his whole country, (12) and for all the great might and awesome power that Moses displayed before all Israel.

(1) When Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had put all the prophets to the sword, (2) Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “Thus and more may the gods do if by this time tomorrow I have not made you like one of them.” (3) Frightened, he fled at once for his life. He came to Beer-sheba, which is in Judah, and left his servant there; (4) he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush and sat down under it, and prayed that he might die. “Enough!” he cried. “Now, O LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” (5) He lay down and fell asleep under a broom bush. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” (6) He looked about; and there, beside his head, was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water! He ate and drank, and lay down again. (7) The angel of the LORD came a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.” (8) He arose and ate and drank; and with the strength from that meal he walked forty days and forty nights as far as the mountain of God at Horeb. (9) There he went into a cave, and there he spent the night. Then the word of the LORD came to him. He said to him, “Why are you here, Elijah?” (10) He replied, “I am moved by zeal for the LORD, the God of Hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and put Your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they are out to take my life.” (11) “Come out,” He called, “and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And lo, the LORD passed by. There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks by the power of the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind—an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake. (12) After the earthquake—fire; but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire—a soft murmuring sound. (13) When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his mantle about his face and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then a voice addressed him: “Why are you here, Elijah?” (14) He answered, “I am moved by zeal for the LORD, the God of Hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and have put Your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they are out to take my life.” (15) The LORD said to him, “Go back by the way you came, [and] on to the wilderness of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael as king of Aram. (16) Also anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah to succeed you as prophet. (17) Whoever escapes the sword of Hazael shall be slain by Jehu, and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu shall be slain by Elisha. (18) I will leave in Israel only seven thousand—every knee that has not knelt to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.” (19) He set out from there and came upon Elisha son of Shaphat as he was plowing. There were twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah came over to him and threw his mantle over him. (20) He left the oxen and ran after Elijah, saying: “Let me kiss my father and mother good-by, and I will follow you.” And he answered him, “Go back. What have I done to you?” (21) He turned back from him and took the yoke of oxen and slaughtered them; he boiled their meat with the gear of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and became his attendant.

(1) After Ahab’s death, Moab rebelled against Israel. (2) Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber at Samaria and was injured. So he sent messengers, whom he instructed: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury.” (3) But an angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go and confront the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, ‘Is there no God in Israel that you go to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? (4) Assuredly, thus said the LORD: You shall not rise from the bed you are lying on, but you shall die.’” And Elijah went. (5) The messengers returned to Ahaziah; and he asked, “Why have you come back?” (6) They answered him, “A man came toward us and said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him: Thus said the LORD: Is there no God in Israel that you must send to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Assuredly, you shall not rise from the bed you are lying on, but shall die.’” (7) “What sort of man was it,” he asked them, “who came toward you and said these things to you?” (8) “A hairy man,” they replied, “with a leather belt tied around his waist.” “That’s Elijah the Tishbite!” he said. (9) Then he sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men. He climbed up to him, and found him sitting at the top of a hill. “Man of God,” he said to him, “by order of the king, come down!”

(10) Elijah replied to the captain of the fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you with your fifty men!” And fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

(11) The king then sent to him another captain with his fifty men; and he addressed him as follows: “Man of God, by order of the king, come down at once!” (12) But Elijah answered him, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you with your fifty men!” And fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men. (13) Then he sent a third captain of fifty with his fifty men. The third captain of fifty climbed to the top, knelt before Elijah, and implored him, saying, “Oh, man of God, please have regard for my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours! (14) Already fire has come from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty and their men; I beg you, have regard for my life!” (15) Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him, do not be afraid of him.” So he rose and went down with him to the king. (16) He said to him, “Because you sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron—as if there were no God in Israel whose word you could seek—assuredly, you shall not rise from the bed which you are lying on; but you shall die.” (17) And [Ahaziah] died, according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. Jehoram succeeded him as king, in the second year of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat of Judah, for he had no son. (18) The other events of Ahaziah’s reign [and] his actions are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Israel.

(4) And the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ‘I will assign it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you shall not cross there.” (5) So Moses the servant of the LORD died there, in the land of Moab, at the command of the LORD. (6) He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, near Beth-peor; and no one knows his burial place to this day.

(16) He said to him, “Because you sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron—as if there were no God in Israel whose word you could seek—assuredly, you shall not rise from the bed which you are lying on; but you shall die.” (17) And [Ahaziah] died, according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. Jehoram succeeded him as king, in the second year of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat of Judah, for he had no son. (18) The other events of Ahaziah’s reign [and] his actions are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Israel. (1) When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha had set out from Gilgal. (2) Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Bethel.” “As the LORD lives and as you live,” said Elisha, “I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. (3) Disciples of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” He replied, “I know it, too; be silent.” (4) Then Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Jericho.” “As the LORD lives and as you live,” said Elisha, “I will not leave you.” So they went on to Jericho. (5) The disciples of the prophets who were at Jericho came over to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” He replied, “I know it, too; be silent.” (6) Elijah said to him, “Stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan.” “As the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you,” he said, and the two of them went on. (7) Fifty men of the disciples of the prophets followed and stood by at a distance from them as the two of them stopped at the Jordan. (8) Thereupon Elijah took his mantle and, rolling it up, he struck the water; it divided to the right and left, so that the two of them crossed over on dry land. (9) As they were crossing, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” Elisha answered, “Let a double portion of your spirit pass on to me.” (10) “You have asked a difficult thing,” he said. “If you see me as I am being taken from you, this will be granted to you; if not, it will not.” (11) As they kept on walking and talking, a fiery chariot with fiery horses suddenly appeared and separated one from the other; and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. (12) Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “Oh, father, father! Israel’s chariots and horsemen!” When he could no longer see him, he grasped his garments and rent them in two. (13) He picked up Elijah’s mantle, which had dropped from him; and he went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. (14) Taking the mantle which had dropped from Elijah, he struck the water and said, “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” As he too struck the water, it parted to the right and to the left, and Elisha crossed over. (15) When the disciples of the prophets at Jericho saw him from a distance, they exclaimed, “The spirit of Elijah has settled on Elisha!” And they went to meet him and bowed low before him to the ground. (16) They said to him, “Your servants have fifty able men with them. Let them go and look for your master; perhaps the spirit of the LORD has carried him off and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” “Do not send them,” he replied. (17) But they kept pressing him for a long time, until he said, “Send them.” So they sent out fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him. (18) They came back to him while he was still in Jericho; and he said to them, “I told you not to go.” (19) The men of the town said to Elisha, “Look, the town is a pleasant place to live in, as my lord can see; but the water is bad and the land causes bereavement.” (20) He responded, “Bring me a new dish and put salt in it.” They brought it to him; (21) he went to the spring and threw salt into it. And he said, “Thus said the LORD: I heal this water; no longer shall death and bereavement come from it!” (22) The water has remained wholesome to this day, in accordance with the word spoken by Elisha. (23) From there he went up to Bethel. As he was going up the road, some little boys came out of the town and jeered at him, saying, “Go away, baldhead! Go away, baldhead!” (24) He turned around and looked at them and cursed them in the name of the LORD. Thereupon, two she-bears came out of the woods and mangled forty-two of the children. (25) He went on from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

(20) But for you who revere My name a sun of victory shall rise to bring healing. You shall go forth and stamp like stall-fed calves, (21) and you shall trample the wicked to a pulp, for they shall be dust beneath your feet on the day that I am preparing—said the LORD of Hosts. (22) Be mindful of the Teaching of My servant Moses, whom I charged at Horeb with laws and rules for all Israel. (23) Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of the LORD. (24) He shall reconcile parents with children and children with their parents, so that, when I come, I do not strike the whole land with utter destruction. Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of the LORD.

(48) 48. When Moses had spoken thus at the end of his life, and had foretold what would befall to every one of their tribes (36) afterward, with the addition of a blessing to them, the multitude fell into tears, insomuch that even the women, by beating their breasts, made manifest the deep concern they had when he was about to die. The children also lamented still more, as not able to contain their grief; and thereby declared, that even at their age they were sensible of his virtue and mighty deeds; and truly there seemed to be a strife betwixt the young and the old who should most grieve for him. The old grieved because they knew what a careful protector they were to be deprived of, and so lamented their future state; but the young grieved, not only for that, but also because it so happened that they were to be left by him before they had well tasted of his virtue. Now one may make a guess at the excess of this sorrow and lamentation of the multitude, from what happened to the legislator himself; for although he was always persuaded that he ought not to be cast down at the approach of death, since the undergoing it was agreeable to the will of God and the law of nature, yet what the people did so overbore him, that he wept himself. Now as he went thence to the place where he was to vanish out of their sight, they all followed after him weeping; but Moses beckoned with his hand to those that were remote from him, and bade them stay behind in quiet, while he exhorted those that were near to him that they would not render his departure so lamentable. Whereupon they thought they ought to grant him that favor, to let him depart according as he himself desired; so they restrained themselves, though weeping still towards one another. All those who accompanied him were the senate, and Eleazar the high priest, and Joshua their commander. Now as soon as they were come to the mountain called Abarim, (which is a very high mountain, situate over against Jericho, and one that affords, to such as are upon it, a prospect of the greatest part of the excellent land of Canaan,) he dismissed the senate; and as he was going to embrace Eleazar and Joshua, and was still discoursing with them, a cloud stood over him on the sudden, and he disappeared in a certain valley, although he wrote in the holy books that he died, which was done out of fear, lest they should venture to say that, because of his extraordinary virtue, he went to God.

It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer the Great says: Over an area of twelve mil by twelve mil, equivalent to the size of the camp of Israel, a Divine Voice proclaimed and said: And Moses, the great scribe of Israel, died. And some say: Moses did not actually die, as it is written here: “And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there” (Deuteronomy 34:5), and it is written there: “And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights” (Exodus 34:28). Just as there, where it says: “And he was there with the Lord,” it means that he was standing and serving before God; so too, here, when it says: “And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there,” it means that he was standing and serving before God. The verse describing the burial of Moses states: “And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab over against Beth Peor; and no man knows of his grave to this day” (Deuteronomy 34:6). Rabbi Berekhya says: This verse provides a sign within a sign, i.e., a very precise description of the location of his burial, and even with this the verse concludes: “And no man knows of his grave to this day” (Deuteronomy 34:6).