“Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well”?
Parallel translations
- WEB “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have broken down your altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.”
- KJV Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
- NKJV “Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”?
- NASB “Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.”
- NLT “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Elijah's complaint that Israel had killed the prophets and that he alone was left, in danger of his life.
Overview
Paul quotes Elijah's lament from 1 Kings 19:10, 14, in which the prophet felt utterly isolated amid national apostasy. The despair is genuine but mistaken in its sweep, as the next verse reveals. It models how God's servants can underestimate the extent of his preserving grace in dark times.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- 1 Kgs 19:10–18“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.”
- 1 Kgs 18:13Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the prophets of the LORD? I hid a hundred prophets of the LORD, fifty men per cave, and I provided them with food and water.
- Neh 9:26But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.
- Jer 2:30“I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.”
- 1 Kgs 18:4for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)
- 1 Kgs 18:30–31Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people approached him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been torn down.
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 11:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.