Composite 23 - 3 [1] Kings 19:3-9, 11-13, 15, 16 (Vespers, 3rd reading)
- 1
- In those days, Elijah went to Beersheba, in the land of Judah. And he left his servant there and went a days journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree. And he lay down and slept under the tree. And behold, someone touched him and said to him, “Arise, eat and drink.” And Elijah looked, and behold, at his head there was a cake of barley and a cruse of water. And he arose, and ate and drank, and lay down again and slept.
- 2
- And the angel of the Lord returned a second time, and touched him, and said to him, “Arise, eat and drink, for the journey will be too much for you.” And he arose, and ate and drank. And he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Mount Horeb.
- 3
- And he entered there into a cave, and lodged there. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and the Lord said to him, “You shall go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountain, and broke in pieces the rock 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; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a voice of a gentle breeze, and the Lord was there. And it came to pass when Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his mantle and went out and stood before the cave.
- 4
- And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way, and you shall come on the way of the widerness of Damascus; and you shall anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat to be prophet in your place.”