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Elijah: The Still, Small Voice · The Chosen People

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Previously on The Chosen People.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: Gather the people. Every tribe, every elder, every priest. Meet
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: me on Mount Carmel.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Bring your... your prophets of Baal.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: All 450 of them.
• 0:17
  Speaker 3: We'll settle this right here, right now.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Ah, competition. The mountain was packed. Thousands had gathered. pressing
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: against the rocky slopes, lining the ridges, standing shoulder to shoulder.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Answer me, Yahweh!
• 0:38
  Speaker 4: Show them!
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Wake them!
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Drop them to their knees!
• 0:42
  Speaker 5: Let them see with.
• 0:43
  Speaker 6: Their own eyes!
• 0:45
  Speaker 7: Let them know, without a doubt, that you alone are God!
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: The sky ripped open. The heavens roared. Fire erupted, crashing down, blinding, consuming.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: In an instant, the flames consumed everything. Seize them!
• 1:07
  Speaker 7: For too long they perverted our minds with witchcraft.
• 1:11
  Speaker 6: No longer!
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Not one escapes! The crowd moved as one. Baal's prophets
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: tried to run. They were tackled, dragged, and beaten, screaming.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: to the river, to judgment. One by one, they fell.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: The water ran red. Jezebel stood by the window, watching
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: the storm from below.
• 1:37
  Speaker 8: So, the prophet of fire thinks he can toy with
• 1:40
  Speaker 8: my kingdom? Mark my words, husband. By this time tomorrow,
• 1:50
  Speaker 8: Elijah will be dead.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: The morning after Mount Carmel was quiet, the hills stretched
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: golden under the first breath of sunlight, soft and untroubled.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: Somewhere in the distance, birds chattered, indifferent to the struggles
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: of men and kings. Elijah sat outside his home, cross-legged,
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: his fingers curled around a simple clay cup of watered wine.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: He drank slowly, savouring the way the warmth settled in
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: his chest. This was a moment of peace, calm, long overdue.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: For the first time in years, the tension in his
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: body had begun to uncoil. He exhaled, stretching out his legs,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: letting the morning sink into him. He had spent too
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: long fighting, running, carrying the weight of a prophet's call
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: like a stone pressed into his ribs. But now, maybe,
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: just maybe, he could allow himself to believe it had
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: all meant something. The fire had fallen, the heavens opened,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: rain had come, and the people collapsed in worship to Yahweh.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Even Ahab, that spineless fool, had been shaken. Maybe the
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: war was over. Maybe Israel would finally return. Maybe Jezebel's
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: grip had begun to slip. Elijah smirked, raising his cup slightly,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: as if toasting the dawn. Well, Lord, that was quite
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: the spectacle, wasn't it? You've got their attention now.
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: I may be wrong, but it seems like perhaps you
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: were enjoying yourself.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: I know I was. Elijah lifted the cup to his lips,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: but the quiet was interrupted by the sound of running.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: A shadow stumbled into view, a messenger. The boy skidded
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: to a stop in front of Elijah, clutching his knees,
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: gulping down air in sharp, ragged gasps. Elijah, a message
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: from the palace. Elijah barely glanced up, still swirling the
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: wine in his cup. Let me hear some. Ahab sending
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: his apologies?
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: Or perhaps a summons, now that he's found his spine?
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: The boy didn't answer. His face was too pale, too drawn,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: eyes wide with something deeper than exhaustion. He swallowed, then
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: reached into his robe, pulling out a tightly wound scroll
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: and thrusting it toward Elijah with unsteady hands. Elijah took
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: it without urgency, still half convinced this was the formal
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: letter of surrender he had been waiting for. But when
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: his fingers curled around the parchment, he hesitated. It was rough,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: not the usual soft scrolls of the palace scribes. This
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: was cruder, thicker, like something torn from old skin rather
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: than woven from reeds, and it was stained. dark red.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: Elijah's pulse slowed and his contented smirk faded. He unrolled it.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: The letters were harsh, jagged, carved more than written, as
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: though the hand that had scrawled them had been trembling,
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: not with fear, but with rage. Elijah's eyes traced the.
• 5:42
  Speaker 8: Words, Elijah of Tishbe, know this. By this time tomorrow,
• 5:49
  Speaker 8: your blood will.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: Stain the earth.
• 5:52
  Speaker 8: Your bones will lie unburied.
• 5:54
  Speaker 6: Your flesh will be torn by the same vultures that
• 5:57
  Speaker 6: feasted on my priests. The sun will set on your corpse,
• 6:03
  Speaker 6: and when it does, I will smile. You will not
• 6:09
  Speaker 6: die a hero. You will not die a martyr. You
• 6:15
  Speaker 6: will die as a man abandoned, screaming for a god
• 6:20
  Speaker 6: who will not answer, and only the rats will mourn you.
• 6:25
  Speaker 8: When you take your last.
• 6:27
  Speaker 6: Breath, know this. Your name will be Ash, and your
• 6:34
  Speaker 6: god will be forgotten.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: Elijah's breath hitched. The parchment trembled in his grip. The ink.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Why is it.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: The boy swallowed. His voice, when it came, was barely
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: more than a whisper. The messenger's hands clenched into fists.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: His voice trembled. Elijah went white. His stomach lurched, his
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: legs felt suddenly hollow beneath him. His fingers slackened and
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: the parchment drifted to the ground, curling slightly at the
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: edges like something still alive. He didn't think, didn't speak,
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: didn't breathe. He just ran. The hills blurred past him,
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: his body moving on something beyond instinct, beyond thought, something
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: primal and urgent and stupid. Because running was useless, wasn't it?
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: He could run across the whole world and still wake
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: up with her voice echoing in his ears. He could
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: cross the sea and hide in the cliffs of Tyre,
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: and still Jezebel would reach him. The fire of Carmel
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: hadn't moved her to repentance. It had only stirred her
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: to anger. Fools! The people saw the.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: Fire, they saw the storm, they saw it all, and
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: yet they still bow to Jezebel? What is wrong with
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: these people?
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: His breath came in ragged bursts, his ribs aching with
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: every step, his mind an unspooling tangle of rage and
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: confusion and something else, something deeper, something darker. Ahab had
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: been a fool from the beginning, but he was weak.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: Jezebel was something else. She did not hesitate, she did
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: not kneel, she did not fear. And the worst part...
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: was that maybe she was right. Maybe this was what
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: the world really was. Maybe Yahweh could burn altars and
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: split seas and cool down plagues, and people would still
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: do what people always did. What did Moses say?
• 9:02
  Speaker 7: These people are stiff-necked, as the word stiff-necked, proud, blind.
• 9:08
  Speaker 7: They have seen, they have seen everything, and they still
• 9:11
  Speaker 7: do not believe anything.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: The Lord had warned them again and again through Moses,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: through the judges, through David, through Elijah himself. He had
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: shown them, yet still they rebelled. Idiots!
• 9:27
  Speaker 7: You claim Yahweh with its convenience. The second Jezebel speaks, you.
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: Go back to your filth, back to your Asherah balls,
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: back to your Baal feasts, your orgies, your mindless, spineless,
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: cowardly excuses for worship. How many times must the Lord prove.
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: Himself to you?
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: His legs faltered. His knees hit the dirt. His lungs burned.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: His arms shook. A single, lonely broom tree barely cast
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: enough shade to soften the heat. But he crawled under it,
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: burying his face in his hands, shouting now, wild, raw, furious. Enough!
• 10:08
  Speaker 7: I can't do this anymore!
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: Do you hear me, Lord?
• 10:12
  Speaker 7: I can't do this!
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: His voice cracked, but he didn't stop. He wouldn't stop.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Not until he had said it all.
• 10:21
  Speaker 7: This is what you wanted, isn't it? This is why
• 10:24
  Speaker 7: you called me? To waste my life on these people
• 10:28
  Speaker 7: who don't care?
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: To watch them bend their knees one day and break
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: their vows the next?
• 10:34
  Speaker 7: Was Moses wasting his time too? Was Joshua for all
• 10:39
  Speaker 7: of us?
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: Did you know?
• 10:42
  Speaker 7: When you split the sea, that they would still chase
• 10:45
  Speaker 7: after every false god they could carve with their filthy
• 10:49
  Speaker 7: little hands.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: The wind hissed over the sand, carrying his words nowhere.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: Elijah's chest heaved in anger. He was wrong, of course.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Obadiah and many others had remained faithful, but Elijah, in
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: his grief, felt completely alone. He let himself collapse, dust
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: and sweat streaking his face. Silence. And then, a hand
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: reached out and touched his shoulder. Warm, solid, reassuring. That's
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: a bit dramatic, don't you think? Elijah flinched so hard
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: he nearly threw himself sideways. A man was kneeling next
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: to him. No, not just a man. He was young
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: or old, a stranger yet familiar. His robes were plain.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: His face was knowing, amused, affectionate. The smirk at the
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: edge of his mouth made something in Elijah's already frayed
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: mind snap. Who are you? The man gestured lazily to
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: a rock beside them. There was bread, fresh bread.
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: Warm.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: Next to it, a jug of water. Eat.
• 12:12
  Speaker 5: Drink.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: A little food would do you well. Elijah just stared.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Go on.
• 12:20
  Speaker 10: You'll need your strength for all the flailing and whining
• 12:22
  Speaker 10: you plan on doing later.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Elijah's mouth opened. Nothing came out. His mind was still reeling,
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: still caught between his grief and his rage. He hesitated.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: He hesitated.
• 12:36
  Speaker 5: What?
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: You think I poisoned it?
• 12:39
  Speaker 10: Do you always act like this when someone gives you food?
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: I sent the crows in. You seem to get along
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: with them just fine. Elijah scowled, reaching for the bread
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: without thinking. It was soft. He ate. The warmth filled
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: his stomach, slow and steady. The first real thing he
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: had felt in days. He drank.
• 13:03
  Speaker 9: Oh!
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: It was pleasant if only for a moment. The man
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: watched him, grinning like he had been waiting for this
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: exact moment. Better?
• 13:16
  Speaker 5: Maybe.
• 13:17
  Speaker 10: Good.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: Now sleep. You've got a long journey ahead of you.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: For forty days and forty nights, Elijah had wandered through
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: the wilderness, driven by hunger, fear, and something deeper, nameless, gnawing,
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: pulling him forward. Mount Horeb loomed before him, dark against
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: the endless sky. The air here was different, thicker, heavy
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: with the weight of things too ancient to name. This
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: was no mere mountain. It was a graveyard of past revelations.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: This was where Moses had stood, where the Lord had
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: split the heavens in thunder and glory. This was where
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: the law had been carved into stone. Elijah approached a
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: large cave carved by the wind somewhere between the base
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: and its peak. He stepped inside, sat and waited. Suddenly,
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: in the stillness, A voice came.
• 14:28
  Speaker 5: What are you doing here, Elijah?
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Elijah exhaled sharply, his whole body tensed. The voice had
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: been neither harsh nor condemning, just a question, simple and direct.
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: But something in it unraveled him.
• 14:46
  Speaker 7: Why would you ask that?
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: I thought you knew everything. A flicker of shame curled
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: in his chest. Had he just spoken to the Lord
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: like that? He bit the inside of his cheek, glancing down,
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: his hands loosening for half a breath. Irreverence burned on
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: his tongue, bitter, unworthy. But then he recalled all he
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: had been through. His voice wavered, then rose, hot, furious, undone.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: My God, I have.
• 15:20
  Speaker 7: Been very zealous for you.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: I fought for you.
• 15:24
  Speaker 7: Stood alone for you.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: And what has it gotten me?
• 15:28
  Speaker 7: Israel has forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, murdered
• 15:32
  Speaker 7: your prophets.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: I am the last one left.
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: And now they want me dead too.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: You're asking me what I'm doing here?
• 15:42
  Speaker 5: Lord, what are.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: You doing here? The words left his mouth before he
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: could stop them. His voice cracked, his chest heaved. Elijah waited,
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: wondering if this was the moment he would die. But
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: his words were met with silence. Not fire, not brimstone,
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: just silence. Elijah's heart pounded against his ribs. His breath
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: was sharp and steady. He braced himself. Suddenly... The Lord spoke.
• 16:16
  Speaker 5: Go out and stand on the mountain before me. I
• 16:22
  Speaker 5: have something I wish for you to see.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Elijah's breath hitched, his pulse stammered. He knew what this meant.
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: He had read of Moses, of Sinai. He had read
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: of the cloud and the fire and the trembling of
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: the earth when the presence of the Almighty moved. He
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: had read of how even the great prophet had been
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: forced to turn away, shielded in the cleft of the
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: rock because to see Yahweh was to die. His feet
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: moved forward, slow, deliberate. He did not cower. He did
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: not shield his face. Let it come. Let the wind
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: split the sky, let the fire consume him, let the
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: ground crack beneath his feet. Let Yahweh take him. He
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: stepped forward. The wind came first. It howled down the mountainside,
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: a living thing, a force with teeth. It roared past him,
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: tearing into the rock, ripping it apart. Stones cracked and shattered,
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: debris flying in every direction. It screamed with a sound
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: that did not belong to the earth, a sound that
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: felt like it was ripping the world apart. Elijah staggered back,
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: hands raised to shield his face, his heart pounding wildly.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: His breath hitched, his whole body was tense. This is
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: how Moses saw him. The wind shrieked. It raged. It
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: broke the mountain. And then, silence. And Yahweh was not there.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: Elijah's stomach twisted. His hands dropped slowly. He swallowed hard.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: He barely had time to process the disappointment before the
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: earthquake came. The ground beneath him lurched, cracked and split.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: The whole mountain shook, the rocks beneath his feet rolling.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: He had to brace himself against the wall of the cave,
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: his legs buckling, his breath stolen from him. Yes, yes,
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: this is it, the fire. The quake rumbled, roared, and
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: then it stopped. The dust settled. The mountain stood still.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: And Yahweh was not there. Elijah let out a sharp breath,
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: his chest tight. He clenched his jaw.
• 19:19
  Speaker 9: Wasn't it always like this? The sea split, the cloud
• 19:25
  Speaker 9: of fire, the mountain in flames.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: Mortals need a spectacle to have faith, right?
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: Without it, they run back to their idols like dogs
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: to filth.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: Where are you? And then the fire came. It rose
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: before him, searing, blinding, and pure. It licked at the air, twisting, raging.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: It was a consuming force. The heat alone should have
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: killed him.
• 19:58
  Speaker 10: Yes, yes, Lord.
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: Here you are, I knew it. Thank me, Lord, I'm ready.
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: And then the fire faded away. Yahweh was not there,
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: and something inside Elijah broke. His fists clenched, his throat tightened,
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: his heart hammered, but it wasn't in awe anymore. It
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: was rage. Where are you?
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: Where is your voice?
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: I've seen you set fire.
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: I've seen you stop the rain.
• 20:33
  Speaker 7: I've seen you strike down the prophets of Baal and
• 20:35
  Speaker 7: split the waters before Moses.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: Where are you?
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: There was a long stretch of silence. Then, suddenly, there
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: was a breath, a hush, a whisper. A still, small voice.
• 21:00
  Speaker 5: Elijah.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: Elijah froze when the Lord said his name. It wasn't booming.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: It wasn't thundering. It wasn't consuming. But it was near.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: And in the stillness, in the quiet, in the absence
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: of fury and spectacle... Elijah felt something he had not
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: felt since he was a little boy. He felt the
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: tenderness of God. He didn't feel like the renowned prophet
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: of fire. He felt like a child, wrapped in his
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: father's embrace, being hushed to calm after a tantrum. Elijah's
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: whole body, taut with anxiety and rage, began to loosen.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: His knees hit the earth, and then, in the silence,
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: he felt it. His calloused heart began to soften. Tears
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: stung the corners of Elijah's eyes.
• 22:07
  Speaker 5: You are not alone, Elijah. You never have been.
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: Elijah thought about the ravens, the stream, the fire, and
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: the widow's son. Of course, he'd never been alone. Elijah
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: just pressed his forehead to the dirt and listened.
• 22:29
  Speaker 5: Your mission is not over. Go, anoint Hazael as king
• 22:35
  Speaker 5: over Aram. Anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, king over Israel.
• 22:42
  Speaker 5: He will be my hand against the house of Ai.
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: The prophecy of judgment sent a flicker of something electric
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: through Elijah's exhausted mind. Ahab, Jezebel, their stolen vineyard, their
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: slaughtered prophets, their golden idols gleaming in the filth of Samaria.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: Elijah's breath hitched. He had thought it was over. thought
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: he would die in a cave, bitter and forgotten. But
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: here God was, giving him hope that good could actually
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: triumph over evil.
• 23:31
  Speaker 5: Elisha, son of Shafrat, shall be a prophet in your place.
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: So, you aren't done burning things down yet? Not yet.
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: Elijah wiped his face. He stood. He turned toward the
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: path ahead, and he walked. Elisha had always known the land.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: His father's fields stretched wide, their furrows deep, the soil
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: dark and rich beneath his hands. It was a good life.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: a steady life, the kind of life most men dreamed of,
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: with its quiet certainties, oxen in their yoke, the slow
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: rhythm of ploughing, the knowledge that seasons turned as they
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: always had, as they always would. He had spent his
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: youth with his hands in the dirt and his mind
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: in the scrolls, learning the laws of Moses by lamplight,
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: whispering the Psalms under his breath, while the oxen pulled forward.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: But the truth, the truth he had never said aloud,
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: was that the steady life had never quite fit him.
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: The land was good, the work was good, but some
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: restless thing inside him had never stopped looking toward the horizon.
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: He had read of Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, and David,
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: of the men who went astray. He had wondered what
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: it would be like to be called, to leave, to follow,
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: to live a life where God's voice was not a
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: story in the past, but a presence in the present.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: The plow dug into the soil, the wooden yoke creaking
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: under the strength of the twelve-yoked oxen. Elisha squinted against
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: the sun, dust curling in the dry wind. Another day,
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: another field. Then, suddenly, he saw a tall, wild-haired figure
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: walking straight toward him from the horizon. Elisha blinked. The
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: man did not slow, did not stop, did not announce himself.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: He just walked right up to Elisha without a word
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: and unceremoniously threw a cloak onto him. It landed across
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: his shoulders like a verdict. Elisha stared at it, then
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: at the man. Hello there. May I help you? The man,
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: if he could even be called that, stared back at
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: Elisha with eyes of fire. There was something unearthly about him,
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: something almost elemental. The man tilted his head slightly. His
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: beard was thick, his eyes sharp, his robes dust-stained and travel-worn. No. No,
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: I think it is you who will be helping me. Ah,
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: of course. Naturally.
• 26:51
  Speaker 10: A mysterious wild-eyed man throws a cloak over me and
• 26:55
  Speaker 10: now I'm his assistant?
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: Apprentice, disciple, prophet in training, herald of the Empire's doom.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: Take your pick. Elisha ran a hand down the fabric
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: draped over him. It was rough woven, heavy. There was
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: something ancient about it. Something that carried weight beyond its threads.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: A thought flickered in his mind, sharp and sudden. This
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: was the mantle of a prophet. His chest tightened, his
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: breath came short, and then it clicked. The wild eyes,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: the sun-beaten face, the dust-caked robes, the eyes of fire.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: He knew who this was. Elijah? The name landed like
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: a stone in his gut. This was Elijah the Tishbite. Elijah,
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: the prophet of fire. Elijah, the slayer of Baal's priests. Elijah,
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: who called down flames from the heavens and rain from
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: an empty sky. Elijah, whom Ahab feared, whom Jezebel hated,
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: whom Yahweh had chosen. Elisha straightened beneath the weight of
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: the mantle the weight of the moment. He swallowed hard,
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: steadying himself. Let me ask you this, Elisha.
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: Does your blood not boil to see how Ahab ravages
• 28:33
  Speaker 3: this land? How Jezebel paints her face and plays queen
• 28:37
  Speaker 3: while Israel falls into ruin?
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: Elisha exhaled slowly, his expression unreadable. then tilted his head
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: as if considering something.
• 28:48
  Speaker 10: I imagine it takes her longer to get ready in
• 28:50
  Speaker 10: the morning than it does for Ahab to lose a battle.
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: Elijah blinked, then grinned a wild grin. I like you. So,
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: are you in? Elisha only nodded, adjusting the cloak around
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: his shoulders.
• 29:08
  Speaker 10: I wouldn't miss it for the world. I only ask,
• 29:11
  Speaker 10: let me go kiss my father and mother goodbye.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: Then, I will follow you. Elijah shrugged, the smirk still
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: lingering at the corner of his mouth. Sure, go ahead.
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: Kiss whoever you want. What have I done to you?
• 29:26
  Speaker 10: That remains to be seen.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: No, you're quick. This will be fun. Elisha had spent
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: his whole life behind the plow. It was his father's
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: before him and his father's before that. It was stability.
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: It was tradition. It was the kind of thing that
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: men were supposed to hold on to. Elisha burned it.
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: He slaughtered the oxen, broke apart the plow and lit
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: it all ablaze. The fire roared, snapping at the air,
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: the scent of roasting meat rising with the smoke. The
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: entire village gathered, the smell too inviting to ignore. They ate,
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: they feasted, they watched as Elisha, son of Shaphat, walked
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: away from his family's fields forever. Because there was no
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: going back. Because Elisha knew when Yahweh called, you do
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: not hesitate. Because a prophet's life was not a life
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: of safety or comfort or return. It was a life
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: of fire. And Elisha was ready. As Elisha and his
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: new master walked away from the smoking fields, silence stretched
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: between them. A good silence, the kind that meant something
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: had shifted. A new hope was dawning in Israel. Yahweh
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: was on the move. Elisha pulled the mantle tighter around
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: his shoulders and turned to his master with a grin.
• 31:10
  Speaker 10: Elijah and Elisha. Well, I'm sure that won't get confusing
• 31:15
  Speaker 10: at all.
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: Oh, good.
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: You've got some wit in you.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: In this line of work, you'll need it. This Pray.com
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: production is only made possible by our dedicated team of
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: creative talents. Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zach Schellewager and Ben
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People, narrated
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: by Paul Colter-Fianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato,
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald, Sylvia Zaradok, Thomas Copeland Jr.,
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: Rosanna Pilcher, and Mitch Lashinsky. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: written by Aaron Salvato, Brie Rosely, and Chris Baig. You
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: can hear more Prey.com productions on the Prey.com app, available
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: you enjoyed The Chosen People, please rate and leave a review.