1 KINGS CHAPTER 17 - 20

1KINGS 17

1 And Elijah the Tishbite who
Who was among Gilead’s crew
Said to Ahab, “As does live YHWH
Israel’s Ælohim, before whom
I stand, there shall not be for doom
Dew or rain in the years to come
Except by my word wranglesome.”
2 And YHWH’s word came to him and said
3 “Get out of here and take the spread
Towards the east and hide yourself
By the brook Cherith like an elf
Before the Jordan river-bed.
4 And it shall be that you will drink
From the brook, and I’ve told a rink
Of ravens to bring you food there.
5 So he went and did by the share
Of YHWH’s word, for he went to live
By the brook Cherith fugitive
Before the Jordan’s thoroughfare.
5 The ravens brought him bread and meat
In the morning and for a treat
Bread and meat in the evening too,
And he drank from the brookly dew.

My goodness, I don’t think that I could take
That much meat in a day, for breakfast steak
And when come supper time another slab
Or two of the same carrion ravens grab.
I wonder that the prophet can find strength
To stomach such a meal, though sure at length
Hunger would drive the purest body’s soul
To gobble rotting swine flesh on the dole.
The fact is You gave laws that can be kept
Only by those in favour with the prepped.
The truly faithful find their earthly store
Of meal and oil and safety on that score
A minimal beside the luxury
Of those who worship at Ahab’s belfry.

7 And after a time it occurred
The brook dried up for beast and bird
Because there was not seen or heard
Rain in the land by gallows-bird.
8 And YHWH’s word came to him and said
9”Get up and go to Zarephath
Which is along Zidonian path,
And live there, see, I’ve told a widow
There to support you and her kiddo.

Now this is typical, I do say here,
That widows and orphans support in gear
And oil and wine and white bread on the table
The priest and ruler in true life and fable.
The one who barely can scrape by the while
Her health abides is who with cheerful smile
Gives Sunday dinner to the preacher and
Fills his pockets with something more than sand.
Beloved, I thank You that You have kept me
From that table and from that drunken spree.
Though I admit, when I have been in trouble,
It’s sometimes been the widow with burst bubble
Who came to my rescue, the one who needed
Herself her funds and buns, and yet acceded.

10 So he got up and made his way
To Zarephath, without delay
He came to the gate of the town
And see, the widow woman’s gown
There gathering sticks, and he called
To her and said “Bring me appalled
Please some water in a cup so
I may have a drink of the flow.
11 As she was leaving on that task
He called after her then to ask,
“Bring me, please a bite of bread too
In your kind hand, if you will do.
12 And she said “YHWH your Ælohim
Lives, but I have no cake or cream,
But just a handful of meal left
In the container and the cleft
Of a drop of oil in a jar,
And see I’m gathering here a pair
Of sticks that I may go and cook
It for myself and my son, look,
That we may eat it and then die.”
13 Elijah told her, “Fear no wry,
Do as you’ve said, but make me first
A little cake of not the worst
And bring it to me and then make
For you and for your son’s sweet sake.
14 “For so says YHWH and Israel’s God,
‘The meal box shall not lack a pod
Nor shall the jar of oil be gone
Until the day YHWH sends upon
The earth the lovely rain at dawn.’”

I know how You do things, Beloved, and how
Your prophets speak to man and bull and cow,
Requiring faith and sacrifice to meet
The rising sun as well as setting feet.
So I’m surprised Elijah promised that
The meal and oil would grace her habitat
If she gave to the prophet first a bite.
At least this once You gave a ray of light
Before the act of faith. It’s rarely done.
More often than Exodus under son
Your servant builds the pyramids and stores
Of unrighteous and tyrant Pharaoh boars.
I thank You for this prophet’s words beyond
Your stores of meat and bread and magic wand.

15 And she went and did by the word
Of Elijah, and it occurred
That she and he and her house all
Ate every day to the next fall.
16 The box of meal lacked not its store,
The jar of oil contained the more
According to the word of YHWH
That He spoke by Elijah’s clue.

It seems to me amazing that the oil
Did not run out but always at the toil
Of widow and of orphan ran the more.
The wolf always remained outside the door.
A year of days three people ate the scrap
Of meal and oil cast from the widow’s lap.
I wonder how much miracle You do
Today across a world where not a few
Widows and orphans find their life is strewn.
How many secret times You come in boon.
The tons of human flesh that die each day
Of malnutrition might belie the way
You act to temper evil on the score
Of humans who hoard wealth and shut the door.

17 After that it occurred the son
Of the woman of the house run,
Got sick and was really bad off,
Indeed he did not breathe or cough.
18 And she said to Elijah then,
“What have I in Your faith or den,
O man of Ælohim? Did you
Come here to me to show my due
Of sin in memory and to
Kill my son with nothing to do?”
19 And he said to her, “Give to me
Your son.” And he took him a wee
Out of her lap and carried him
Up to the loft the interim
Where he himself lived and laid him
On his own bed there trim and prim.

I guess there may be some in solitude
Of their own pew and goodness once accrued
Who note that punishment is always there
For those who fail to carry out their share
Conforming to the expectation of
The folk and their elected leaders’ love.
The widow’s son died no doubt in such minds
Because she gave him a room without blinds.
Beloved, I’ve heard the faithful say again
Why accident occurred to wench or men,
Because they did not attend church enough
Or did not spend their tithe on holy stuff.
Beloved, I doubt the word of holy people
Gathered to gripe beneath a soaring steeple.

20 And he cried unto YHWH and said
“O YHWH my Ælohim biped,
Have You also brought ill upon
The widow with whom I was drawn
To stay with by killing her spawn?”
21 He stretched himself upon the child
Three times and cried unto YHWH wild
And said “O YHWH my Ælohim,
I pray You, let this child’s soul seem
To come to him out of the dream.”
22 And YHWH heard Elijah’s voice and
The soul of the child by command
Came into him again and he
Revived from death most wonderfully.
23 Elijah then took up the child
And brought him down from his room styled
Into the house and gave him back
To his mother and without slack
Say “See your son’s alive on track.”
24 The woman told Elijah, “Now
By this I know that You somehow
Are a man of Ælohim, that
YHWH’s word as truth in your mouth sat.”

It’s clear this is no miracle at all,
But mouth to mouth resuscitation’s pall.
They only thought Your hand was there to call
The life and breath back into one so small.
In fact I see the miracle repeated
Each time I take a breath and undefeated.
The death that threatens me each time I let
Out my breath will no doubt catch me once yet.
Until then miracles remain for me
Twenty times in the minute while I’m free
To deal with other things forgetting Your
Kiss of life creating my life and more.
Beloved, the child I am gets up again
To find myself alive in earthly den.

1 KINGS 18

1 Many days passed and then the word
Of YHWH came to Elijah stirred
In the third year, saying “Go show
Yourself to Ahab and I’ll blow
The rain upon the earth below.”
2 So Elijah went to present
Himself to Ahab and there went
A great famine in every tent
Samarian. 3 And Ahab called
Obadiah who unenthralled
Was ruler of his house installed.
4 For as Jezebel cut off such
As were prophets of YHWH as much
Obadiah took of their number
One hundred prophets and to slumber
Hid them by fifty in a cave
And fed them bread and water’s wave.
5 And Ahab said to Obadiah,
“Go into the land and pariah
To all the springs of water and
To all the brooks and if off hand
We might find grass to save the horses
And mules alive that in their courses
We do not lose all in the land.”
6 So they divided up the land
Between them to go through the strand.
Ahab went one way by himself
And Obadiah took the shelf
The other way and by himself.

Though Ahab was a wicked man indeed,
And selfish as the first Genevan creed,
Still he is willing to walk several mile
To save the livestock from the horsemeat pile.
There’s none but has redeeming form and face
Or some feature of mercy and of grace.
Even Hitler they say cried when his pet
Canary bird lay cold and firmly set.
Beloved, we all remember in our way
To keep the law You spoke on Sinai’s day,
But few remember to keep all ten right.
And that is what I lay before Your sight.
May I if I alone keep all ten laws
In thought and word and even deed of paws.

7 As Obadiah’s on the way,
See, Elijah to his dismay,
Met him, and he was recognized,
And Obadiah when surprised
Fell on his face and said “Are you
My lord Elijah in the stew?”
8 And he answered him, “Yes, it’s me,
Go tell your master and lord, ‘See,
Elijah’s here and he’s still free.’”
9 And he said “What have I done now
In way of sin that you would plough
Your servant beneath Ahab’s hand
To kill me and mine off the land?
!0 “As YHWH your Ælohim does live,
There’s no nation beneath the sieve,
Or kingdom where my lord has not
Sent to seek you, and when he got
The answer no, he made them swear
They did not find you anywhere
In the kingdom and nation there.
11 “And now you say ‘Go tell your lord,
See, Elijah is here and floored.’
12 “And it will happen just as soon
As I have turned back from your boon,
A wind from YHWH will blow you where
I do not know, but have a care,
And so when I come tell Ahab,
And he can’t find you where to grab,
Then he will kill me, but I fear
YHWH from my youth, your servant dear.
13 “Did no one tell my lord what I
Did when Jezebel made a try
At killing all YHWH’s prophets, how
I hid a hundred men somehow
Of YHWH’s prophets by fifty strong
In a cave and fed them along
With bread and water and a song?
14 “And now you say ‘Go tell your lord
See, Elijah whom you abhorred,
Is here, and he’ll kill me by sword.”

The best humour I find is with the mate
Who doesn’t realize that wicked state
Of comic that is natural to his view.
He’s funny because he has not a clue.
Well Obadiah’s such a man, though truth
Be told despite his size and hollow youth
What he says of the danger in the smile
Of Ahab is not just a funny style.
The man’s too serious for his worth, and yet
His serious bone is what, when the sun set
Of faithfulness, pushed him to save a share
Of prophets snatched from hand of death and bare.
I thank You, my Beloved, for such men still
In courts of Vatican, Capitol Hill.

15 Elijah said “As YHWH of hosts
Lives, before whom I stand with boasts,
I’ll surely show myself today
To him and you shall live for pay.”
16 So Obadiah went to meet
Ahab, and told him, what a feat,
And Ahab went to meet Elijah,
The man he looked for to confide you.
17 It happened when Ahab then saw
Elijah, that Ahab from craw
Said to him “Are you the one that
Troubles Israel without rain’s spat?”

The men in power always think the true,
The lowly and the righteous, the such few,
Are to blame for the evils that they do
Themselves upon the ravages of earth.
Such are the kings and presidents in worth,
To say no word at all of civil servant.
But Obadiah is a man most fervent,
And bravely meets Ahab to tell the news,
Who promptly blames Elijah for his dues.
Beloved, of four types of men here are three:
The armed hand who obeys the mystery
Of wickedness and claims to rule in state,
The hiding prophet, and the silent mate
Who works behind the scenes for good rebate.

18 And he answered, “Not I, not I
Have troubled Israel on the sly,
But you and your father’s house in
That you forsook commands for sin
Against YHWH, and followed Baalim.

Elijah is not scared of anything
Since he knows God sent him to tell the king
A straight word and a truthful one to show
The king the evil in his come and go.
Ahab might well have cut his throat right then,
But Elijah is not afraid of men.
The cause is cleverly wound out in books
Of social science and in proudful looks
Of politicians as well as the hooks
Of priest craft garnered in irrational.
But such causes fail to measure the sal.
The reason for the evil on the land
Is simply wicked doing by the band
That serves the government and tries to stand.

19 Now send and gather Israel,
All to me on the mount Carmel,
And the prophets of Baal to number
Four hundred and fifty to slumber,
And the prophets of the groves four
Hundred eating upon the score
Of Jezebel not to encumber.
20 So Ahab sent to all the folk
Of Israel, and gathered by stroke
The prophets to Mount Carmel’s oak.
21 Elijah came to all the folk
And said “How long do you each bloke
Waver between two ways of being?
If YHWH is Ælohim, agreeing
Then follow Him, but if Baal is,
Then follow him in all your biz.”
But the people did not tell him
A single word they were so grim.
22 Elijah told the people then,
“I only I remain a prophet
Of YHWH, but Baal’s prophets to scoff at
Are four hundred and fifty men.
23 “Let them therefore give us two bulls,
And let them choose for miracles
One bull for themselves and cut it
In pieces and lay on wood fit,
And set no fire, and I will dress
The other bull and then address
To lay it on the wood and put
No fire under it or its foot.
24 “Call on the name of your gods and
I’ll call on the name of YHWH’s hand,
And the Ælohim by command
That answers by fire, let him stand
As Ælohim.” And all the folk
Answered and said “Good and well spoke.”
25 Elijah said to Baal’s prophets,
“Choose one bull for yourselves and sofits,
And dress it first, for you are many,
And call on your gods’ name or any,
But do not set fire to the fenny.”
26 So they took the bull given them,
And they prepared it from cuff to hem,
And called upon the name of Baal
From morn till noon, saying “O Baal,
Hear us!” But no voice answered them.
Then they jumped all around the place
Of sacrifice they’d made scapegrace.

I cast aside at last the melodies
Of heathen worship in loving frenzies,
That seem to be a way that’s right to men
But are the path to darkened hearts again.
Let nothing have a hold, Beloved, on me
But words borne on Your tongue to make me free.
Break You the binding fetters that I fail
To see because of the illusion’s veil.
You sing the universe into its being,
Sing me thus into hearing, into seeing
The glories that are multiplied in You
And in Your words and everything You do.
Beloved, let there be no song but the tried
In which my soul in You comes to abide.

27 It happened when noon came Elijah
Made fun of them and said “Don’t hide you,
Yell louder, since he is a god,
Maybe he’s talking for a prod,
Or hunting or on a long trip,
Or maybe he’s asleep, some lip
Will wake him up, so rant and rip.”

Though I make no bones that Elijah mocked
The pagan priest and prophet when he stocked
The sacrificial load on Carmel’s brow,
I don’t hold it a good example now.
There are too many in this fearful place
Who use their self-righteous excuse to face
The disagreeable with rant and laughter
Not caring who or what is tumbling after.
Beloved, let me be courteous and just
Even to priest and prophet of the crust
Of this world’s false religions shining where
The wealth and prestige of liar and thief
Usurp the faithful heritage and share.
Politely I go down to my own grief.

28 And they shouted louder and cut
Themselves as they do in their rut
With knives and daggers till the blood
Gushed out upon them in a flood.

The practice of shouting and cutting self
Was anciently practiced by satyr’s elf
In every field where gods were born and died.
The practice has not finished in the tide
Of time before the waking of the shore.
There are still those who slash the open door.
I see the blackened journey meet the crowd
Upon Ashura for the craven shroud,
And know that pagan priesthood that once cried
Before Elijah’s still here to abide.
Beloved, the holy writ is still a sure
Source of wisdom to action for the poor
Despite the guidance of the vain to add
To tears and beaten breast something more sad.

29 It happened when midday was past,
They prophesied until the cast
Of evening sacrifice was come,
But voice of neither god nor bum
Was heard nor any answer there
Nor anyone who seemed to care.
30 Elijah said to all the folk,
“Come near me.” And all at a stroke
Came near to him. And he repaired
The altar of YHWH that was bared.
31 Elijah took twelves stones to make
As many as tribes for the sake
Of Jacob, to whom YHWH’s word came,
Saying Israel shall be your name.
32 And with those stone he built an altar
In YHWH’s name and he did not falter
To make a trench about the altar,
Big enough for two pokes of seed.
33 He laid wood in order of need
And cut the bulls in pieces, and
Laid it on the wood, and said “Fill
Four containers with water still
And pour it on the holocaust
And on the wood let none be lost.”

Beloved, the altar of my heart is made
No doubt of stones instead of fleshly grade.
But on those stones twelve secret names are laid
By which I enter in the holy place.
Beloved, the twelve names are Your given grace.
The centuries may pock the sudden wave
Of people sleeping with the dog in cave
Until the light of dawn come to the brave,
And yet I know the secret number comes
With the divine guidance to meet the sums
Of life and of eternity in mace.
Beloved, upon the twelve names let me lace
My praise to Your name till the night reveal
The star that leads to the celestial wheel.

34 And he said “Do so once again.”
And they did so. And he said then,
“Do so a third time.” And they did
So a third time and as he bid.
35 The water ran around the altar,
He filled the trench not a defaulter.
36 It happened at the holocaust
Prophet Elijah would accost,
And said “YHWH Ælohim of those
Abraham, Isaac and repose
Of Israel, let it be known
Today that You are God alone
In Israel, and I You servant,
I’ve done all this at Your word fervent.

I wondered at first where they got the water,
Since there was nothing from the sky that caught her.
How could Elijah insist that the folk
Pour for a drink cast water on the oak
And on the stones to fill in wasteful spoke
The trench about the altar till the time
That You should answer in both fire and rhyme.
But I suppose that there was water still
Somewhere to dip up beyond the drought’s grill.
Someone had hoarded water for the break.
They did not yet know for Elijah’s sake
The rain would come again. Some still thought Baal
In scientific dress might yet prevail.
They had more water than oil and cheesecake.

37 “Hear me, O YHWH, so this folk may
Know that You are YHWH God that they
May have their hearts turned back Your way.

O my Beloved! How great a prayer is this!
How strong Elijah, prophet not to miss!
The great apostle James failed not to kiss
His memory, no doubt because this word
Lifts You in glory and every heart stirred.
See, I too come to prayer and bring petition
And praise and plaint and not without contrition,
And yet I dare not bring the prayer that he
Prayed on mount Carmel and so wonderfully.
I cannot pray for a whole people here,
I am a lone dervish, no more I fear.
I let the world roll on and pray that You
Somehow guide all who fumble for the true,
But with each breath bring me back to Your view.

38 Then YHWH’s fire came and it consumed
The holocaust and wood and doomed
Stones and the dust and licked up still
The water in the trench for swill.

I hear the raucous sounds that try to set
The defiled fire beneath the altar wet,
And close my ears to every human strain
Of holiness that pours out blood in vain.
I beg that I may sit in cold and dark
Without a candle and without a spark
To lighten me until You choose to send
Your fire and light to the hearth where I bend.
Beloved, Beloved, the fire of love I find
Kindled upon my altar, though I’m blind,
Suffices in this world of winter storm,
Suffices as a fire to keep me warm
Though road I travel I still travel here
Alone and lonely with only my pir.

39 When all the people saw the thing
They bowed down on their faces’ fling
And said “YHWH He is Ælohim,
YHWH He is Ælohim to gleam!”

You, my Beloved, are Ælohim alone
And only You sit on the sovereign throne
Of universe, of world, of fire and stone.
You, my Beloved, are God and I declare
That I acknowledge no gods of the fair
But only You Creator do I dare
To own, and so I own You till the end
Of every church and synagogue and friend
Of mosque until like Elijah I spend
My life beside the juniper and by
The cave of Sinai where I hear the cry
Of wind and storm and fire come from the sky
To say that You are God and only You
Unite all in one hope, being, and crew.

40 Elijah said to them, “Take now
The prophets of Baal, let none cow
Escaping.” And they took them and
Elijah brought them down in hand
To the brook Kishon, killed them there.
41 Elijah said for Ahab’s share
“Get up and eat and drink for there
Is sounding an abundant rain.
42 So Ahab went to eat again
And drink. And Elijah went up
To the top of Carmel to sup
And prostrated himself upon
The earth and put his face up drawn
Between his knees upon the lawn.

The one text of the Hebrew Masorete
That shows how long ago the prophet met
The duty to prayer with face on the ground
And knees drawn up and bended to the sound
Is this. And yet the model prayer of him
Who still lives to see every prayer’s true trim
And tackle is prayed with the blood upon
The hands that killed the leaders that were drawn
To mount Carmel to exercise their right
And duty as priests, prophets of the might
Of earthly glory and the same kings that
Still carry the load of wealth in their vat.
Here I still fall upon my face to pray
And draw my bent knees up in the same way.

43 He said to his servant, “Go now
Look toward the sea.” And anyhow
He went and looked and said “There’s not
Anything there.” He told the plot
“Go seven times again, a lot.”

The cycle of my praying also comes
To seven in the days of the week’s sums.
The seven daily prayers fall from my tongue
Including the two night prayers said unsung.
And so I send my soul to look upon
The bright sea shining in the glowing dawn,
And hear her answer that the sky is clear.
I bow again, Beloved, in love and fear.
As evening draws near and the final prayer,
The seventh of the night and day of care,
Arises to Your sky I find the cloud
From the sea comes to me to speak aloud
And brings the torrents of the waited rain
In answer to my seven prayers not in vain.

44 It happened at the seventh time
He said “See, there goes up a prime
Cloud from the sea like a man’s hand.”
And he said “Go tell Ahab manned,
‘Prepare and get you down, the rain
Will stop you if you here remain.”
45 It happened in the meantime that
The sky was black with clouds that sat
And wind, and there was a great rain.
And Ahab rode Jezreel’s domain.
46 YHWH’s hand was on Elijah and
He tightened his belt with his hand
And ran before Ahab up to
The entrance of Jezreel in view.

See here, Beloved, this is the text I rate
And show to You my servant’s role and fate.
I run before the kings and presidents
And flatter them although I have good sense.
Unless I run before the chariot bound
For bloody city and the queen there found,
I shall run risk of falling to the ground
In faintness for the meals that only come
To those who plough their furrows to their drum.
I know You fed me once in wilderness
On carrion from the ravens’ fields, to bless
The widow’s jar and crib, but now confess
As soon as priest craft hits a snag I go
To eat sweetmeats before the glittering show.

1 KINGS 19

1 And Ahab told to Jezebel
Everything Elijah did well,
And how he’d killed the prophets with
A sword instead of word and myth.
2 Then Jezebel sent messenger
To Elijah to tell the fer,
“So let the gods do to me too,
If I do not make your life screw
Like the life of one of them by
Tomorrow about this time high.

The battle for justice is always lost
Just when the hero stops to count the cost.
So it has been, so it shall always be:
Success is proof, not of the poverty
That comes from faith in You, but of bereft
False faith that always consumes what is left.
The king may hesitate to down the right,
May for a moment seem to see the light,
But there is always reason when he turns
To homeward to relinquish what he learns.
There’s always vital interest of the state
And of the lobby to increase the rate.
But every battle lost for justice wins
The war of beauty against ugly sins.

3 And when he saw that, he got up
And fled for his life like a top,
And came to Beersheba which is
In Judah, left servant of his.
4 But he himself went on a day
Travelling in the desert way,
Came and sat under juniper,
And prayed to die for all the stir,
And said “It is enough, now, YHWH,
Take my life away for my due
Is not more than my fathers’ true”.

The fact is every life is not worth more
Than life of the fathers that went before.
That’s hardly dismal thought to keep in store
And shows no foul depression at the door.
Every man’s fated once to live and die,
And each life passing on the glowing fly
Is worth its own infinities of hope
That beauty and justice may be one rope.
Beloved, You are perverse that You do not
Give to a man the very thing he sought.
Elijah prays to die, but then You send
A fiery chariot and so transcend
The veils of dark creation in the light
Of everlasting glory in Your sight.

5 And as he lay and slept beneath
A juniper tree, see the wreath,
An angel touched him and told him,
“Get up and eat, you’re far too trim.”
6 And he looked and see, there a cake
Baked on the coals, he was awake,
And a jar of water beside
His head. And he did eat and bide
To drink and laid him down again.

I too sleep in illusion’s soft entrain
Through days and nights, living as though in vain,
And waking only to sip the delights
Of sherbet or to quench my hunger’s spites
With cakes baked on the coals of anchorites.
I too sleep by the juniper in safe
Dreams of the gathered orphan and the waif,
And find when I awake the present hand
Sent from Your heart into this human land
To nourish me where by the tree I stand.
Beloved, I drink the nectar secretly
Set by my head beneath evergreen tree,
And fash my face in Kauthar’s greening brook
To find Your footprints everywhere I look.

7 The angel of YHWH came again
The second time and touched him and
Said “Get up, eat, the trip at hand
Is too hard for you as you’ve planned.”
And he got up and ate and drank,
And went in the strength that he sank
From that food forty days and nights
To Horeb mount of God’s delights.

I too have fasted forty days and nights
And sought Your holy mountain’s crystallites
On which words of light and cerelean hue
Irradiate in gold, and red and blue.
I too have fasted and recited Psalms
Beneath the pine as well as under palms
To find Your word filling the universe
Annulling evil and the evil curse.
Beloved, as I stand at the threshold of
My days of fasting running in the love
Of desert and delight, I see the crown
Of Sinai glittering above the brown
Wastelands and hold my hope before Your face
To find myself within this sacred place.

9 And he came there into a cave,
And stayed there and see from that grave
The word of YHWH came to him and
He said to him, “What have you planned
To do here, Elijah unmanned?”
10 And he said “I’ve been jealous for
YHWH Ælohim of hosts before,
Because Israel’s fold did forsake
Your covenant and by mistake
Threw down Your altars, and they killed
Your prophets with the sword fulfilled,
And I, only I am still left,
And they would kill me too bereft.”

How many times have I felt just the same
As I gathered with one or two to claim
The promise of reciting Your dear name
Within the glowing words of Torah and
The Psalms, the Gospels and in golden band
The holy Qur’an with the rise of dawn.
How many times as the prayer time was drawn
Have I found I bowed with no other man
To share the glory of Your sky in scan.
Beloved, indeed Your altars are cast down
From every hill where anciently the frown
Of pagan vibrancy acclaimed the life
That was the growing fruit of all its strive.
I too have felt the sting of fuming ban.

11 And He said “Go out and stand on
The mountain before YHWH at dawn.
And see, YHWH passed by and a great
And strong wind broke the mountain’s weight,
And tore the rocks in pieces where
YHWH went, but YHWH resided not
In the wind, and after the hot
Wind came an earthquake but then YHWH
Was not in the earthquake to-do.

I’ve seen strong winds since I was very young
Come off the gulf and sing with roaring tongue
Along the slash pines up to where live oaks
Are starkly emerald against the strokes
Of lightning laying bare the universe.
For earthquakes I have hardly been the worse
To feel the ground weave to trip up my feet
Like drunken and to rattle and to greet
The plates and windows with its terror there.
But in the wind and earthquake as my share,
Just like Elijah on the holy mount,
I found them still a dark and empty fount
Unless Your voice inaudibly almost
Come to whisper along my lonely coast.

12 After the earthquake came a fire,
But YHWH was not there in the fire,
And after the fire one small voice.
13 And so Elijah heard the choice,
And wrapped his face up in his cloak,
And went out and stood there for broke
At the mouth of the cave. And see,
A voice to him that said “Tell Me
What you are doing here Elijah,
And what do you hope here will hide you?

Beloved, it’s always You who gets to ask
The questions when You take a man to task.
There’s not a man alive, though dead ones keep
The pews warm in the places where they sleep,
Who has not burning questions that arise
Each time he stops to look up to the skies.
And when the chance appears to pin You down,
You never say “Let’s go out on the town
And I’ll give all the answers to the claims
That are so often brought about in blames.”
Oh no. The first thing You do is speak up
To ask a question of the human tup,
As though You needed answers. We’re the ones,
Beloved, without the wisdom of our buns.

14 And he said “I’ve been jealous for
YHWH Ælohim of hosts before,
Because Israel’s fold did forsake
Your covenant and by mistake
Threw down Your altars, and they killed
Your prophets with the sword fulfilled,
And I, only I am still left,
And they would kill me too bereft.”

Beloved, I like Elijah’s boldness here,
Who does not lie in simple, abject fear
But tells the truth of what he’s done and seen.
I like the man for both his guts and spleen.
Sometimes I think that I’m alone to find
Your will and way among the deaf and blind,
Though I unlike Elijah have not spent
My arms in slaying prophets on the bent,
Nor calling down the fire from clouds unrent.
With few exceptions all have found me kind.
Nor kindness nor a proclamation gets
The word a hearing on the tv sets,
And if it did, I’d run away, I trow,
To find my granite mountain, Sinai’s brow.

15 And YHWH said to him, “Go, return
On your way to Damascene burn,
And when you get there you’ll anoint
Hazael king of the Syrian joint.
16 “And Jehu son of Nimshi you
Shall anoint king of Israel’s crew,
And Elisha son of Shaphat
Of Abelmeholah for that
You shall anoint prophet instead
Of you to slumber in your bed.
17 “And it shall happen that the one
Who escapes Hazael’s sword when done
Shall be killed by Jehu and he
That escapes Jehu’s sword shall be
Killed by Elisha though he flee.
18 “But I have left in Israel
Seven thousand knees all who well
Have not bowed down to Baal and each
Mouth of which have not kissed his peach.”

This trinity of swords surprises me
In everything but sandwich meat to be
The bread of Syria and Elisha’s fee.
Elijah has the power to set up kings
In Damascus to rate the flounderings
Of Syrian wars, that is a thing that tests
My powers of hope since others wear such vests.
A foreign king surprises me, and yet
Elisha’s sword as prophet when he’s met
Is also glance of light I had not found
Before upon the golden threshing ground.
Beloved, I distrust the strange bread You take
To sandwich in the king of Israel’s lake,
But in the practice see the plan You make.

19 So he went from there and he found
Elisha son of Shaphat round
And ploughing twelve yoke on the ground
Before him, and the twelfth with him.
And Elijah passed by him grim
And threw his mantle over him.
20 He left the oxen and ran after
Elijah and said “Let with laughter
Please kiss my father, also my
Mother and I will follow by
You.” And he told him, “Just go back,
For what have I done to your track?”
21 And he turned back from him and took
A yoke of oxen by the hook
And slaughtered them and boiled their flesh
Over the oxen’s wood yokes fresh,
And offered to the folk and they
Ate, then he got up on his way
After Elijah and became
His servant and at last found fame.

Deary! The man would honour Dad and Mom
Before he went out at the prophet’s sum
In lowly service to the man of God.
And yet Your Bible keeps the word in pod.
It does not say whether Elisha strode
Back to his dad and mom’s humble abode
To say good-bye and kiss them on the cheek.
It only says he sacrificed the bleak
Work oxen and gave meat to helpers there
Before he left to find the divine fare.
You leave the doubt and task to me and those
Who read these words after Elisha rose
To say whether he kept the word or not
To honour Mom and Dad when he was sought.

1KINGS 20

1 And Benhadad the Syrian king
Gathered all his army in ring,
And thirty-two kings with him, and
Horses, and chariots up to stand
In siege against Samaria’s land,
And fought against it with his band.
2 And he sent messengers to king
Ahab of Israel in the wing
Of the city, and said to him,
“So says Benhadad, a man grim,
3 ‘Your silver’s mine and so’s your gold,
Your wives also, children as bold,
All those are mine, you’re in the cold.’”
4 The king of Israel answered and
Said “My lord, O king, here I stand
According to your word and I
Am yours and everything you spy.”
5 The messengers came back and said
“So speaks Benhadad to your head,
‘Although I sent to you to say
“Give me silver and gold today,
And your wives and your children fey,”
6 “’Still I will send my men to you
Tomorrow at this time in crew,
And they shall search your house in view
And your servants’ houses and then
Whatever is pleasant to men
In your eyes, they shall take in hand
And bring it back into my land.’”

That pleasant thing, Muhammad in the word
Of holy script and mouth of beast and bird,
Is worthy that the kings of earth might fight
To gain his jewelled treasure and his light.
Will Benhadad take Ahmed from the store
Of Ahab’s treasures to bring to the door
Of his own house, the glory of his land?
The wicked kings of yore might come to stand
And bicker for the lot of Ahmed’s strength.
But as I wander this last world’s sure length
I find Muhammad’s not the treasure sought,
Although he might be justifying bought
To secure energy of stone and oil.
I find Ahmed derelict on the soil.

7 Then Israel’s king called all the folk
The aged in the land of oak,
And said “Note please, see how this one
Seeks mischief, for he in summon
Sends for my wives and children and
Silver and gold, I cannot stand.”
8 And all the elders and the folk
Said to him, “Do not hear the bloke,
And don’t consent under his stroke.”
9 That’s why he told the messengers
Of Benhadad, “Tell my lord, fers,
The king, ‘Everything you sent for
To your servant from the first roar
I will do, but this thing I may
Not do.’” And so they went their way,
The messengers did, and they brought
To him the message they were taught.
10 Benhadad sent to him and said
“Let the gods do to me and spread
Even more also, if the dust
Of Samaria shall be as must
For handfuls for all the folk that
Come after me to join the spat.”

Conflict among the shadows that arise
Here in the world decked out in human guise
Is always the product of pride once caught
In the trap that Your oneness must be taught.
All men know that the thinking one inside
Is the one god that no one should deride,
And that secret within the breast is one
That never is uttered beneath the sun,
And yet it informs every word and act.
I am God is the knowledge and exact.
Conflict arises when that one god sees
The other man also claims the chemise
Of the divine, and since You’re one alone,
Someone must therefore be toppled from throne.

11 The king of Israel answering
Said “Tell him, ‘When one’s harnessing
Let him not boast as when he takes
The harness off after the cakes.’”
12 It happened when he heard this word,
As he was drinking with the stirred
Kings in their tents that he said to
His servants, “Set for battle due.”
And so they set themselves in siege
Against the city by their liege.
13 And see, a prophet came up to
Ahab, Israel’s king, and said true,
“So says YHWH, ‘Have you seen all this
Great crowd of folk? The benefice
I give is that into your hand
I shall deliver the whole band
Today, and you will come to know
That I am YHWH of high and low.”

The prophet that cries benefits to me
Is not Elijah or the progeny
Of Abraham, the prophet that chirps at
My window is from my own habitat:
The pine-spread slopes, the aspen thickets where
The summer breezes clap their mittens there.
The chatter, twitter prophet of my hopes
Is one who knows the wild vine’s twisting ropes
Up to the attic where to cock an eye
Black, beady, and then to take off and fly.
Kings get the messages of prophet men
And women, but such as I look again
To find the green or yellow breast is right
In its prediction of the shining light.

14 Then said Ahab, “By whom?” And he
Replied, “So says YHWH faithfully,
‘By youthful princes of the cities.’”
Then he said “Who shall bind the fight?”
And he answered “Yourself in right.”
15 He counted then the number of
The youthful princes of above
Districts to find two hundred and
Thirty-two, and the people’s band
In all the sons of Israel
Came to seven thousand in swell.
16 And they went out in noontime heat
While Benhadad drank to entreat
In the booths, he and the kings,
Thirty-two kings who pulled his strings.
17 Then went out the young princes of
The provinces fore and above,
And sent Benhadad out, and they
Told him saying “Men in the way
Come out from Samaria’s sway.”
18 He said “If they in peace come out,
Take them alive, and if in rout
Of battle they come out, alive
Take them as best you can contrive.”
19 So these then set out from the city,
The youthful princes in committee
Of the districts, the army too
Followed after them kept in view.
20 And they killed every one his man,
And so fled every Syrian,
And after them pursued Israel,
But he escaped, Benhadad royal
Of Syria on horse along
With horsemen coming in the throng.
21 The king of Israel then went out
And struck horse and chariot about,
And killed the Syrians with great
Slaughter fallen upon their pate.

I see that You, Beloved, strengthened the hand
Of Ahab against Syrian in the land.
Did You not notice that Ahab was just
Or nearly as reproachable as dust
As Benhadad? The king who wins the war
May be your relative favourite for spoor,
But in the end, all those that You treat well
And give them power and reign to rule a spell
Are just as evil as the ones that score
Nothing for fear of Your condemning rod.
After all, You alone, just You are God.
Illusion crazes all the hills and towns
And ends by seeking not smiles, but men’s frowns
Upon the rooted and the unploughed sod.

22 And then the prophet came near to
The king of Israel in view
And said to him, “Go fortify
Yourself and know and see what thing
You do, for the year’s turn will bring
The Syrian king up on your sky.”
23 And the Syrian king’s servants said
To him, “A God of hills is bred
Their Ælohim, that’s why they came
Stronger than we, but if we aim
To fight them in the valley, then
Surely we’ll be the stronger men.”

O my Beloved, I doubt not that You are
The God of hills rising against the star
And cloud and moon, towards the brighter sun.
I doubt not that the battle has been won
Along the hills where Your feet ever run.
And yet You who live on the fairest peak
Of mountain further than a man can seek
Still come to tread the valleys and the sands
Where Syrian soldiers and kings in their bands
Come stealing through the darkness of the year.
Beloved, I too love hills and know that You
Bless the trees on their slopes more than You do
The trellises of flatlands where the show
Of evil comes to curse the way I go.

24 “And this thing you shall do, you’ll take
The kings away for each man’s sake
And put governors in their stake.
25 And count yourself an army out
As much as the army in rout,
A horse for horse and chariot
For chariot, and we’ll have fought
Against them in the plain, surely
We shall be stronger than the free.”
He heard their voice and did thusly.
26 It happened at turn of the year
That Benhadad had numbered gear
Of Syria, and approached the plain
Of Aphek to fight for his gain
Against Israel and Israel’s reign.
27 And Israel’s sons were numbered there
All present, and they went to share
In battle against them, and pitched
Israel’s sons against them ditched
Like two little flocks of kids, round
About them Syrians filled the ground.
28 And there came near a man of God
And said to the king and the prod
Of Israel, and so he said
“So says YHWH, ‘Just because they’ve spread
This rumour, the Syrians have done,
That a God of the hills is YHWH,
And not a God of plains is Huu,’
That’s why I shall under the sun
Deliver all this multitude
Into your power, and all your brood
Will know that even I am YHWH.”
29 They pitched against each other there
For seven days, it came to bear
On the seventh day battle raged
And Israel’s folk there engaged
Killed of the Syrians hundred count
Of thousands, and so great amount
Of footmen in one day uncaged.

If they came out upon a Sunday when
They camped against Israel and Israel’s men,
Then battle drew up on the Sabbath day,
It’s very likely it happened that way.
The wicked soon learn when to try the just
By their distractions on the day they must
Refrain from all tasks to return to You
And drink the nectar of the residue
Of blessings the week has presented them.
The wicked always try to crush the gem
Of Sabbath in their spite for faith and love,
In hatred of Your sovereignty above.
Each divine image in the breast of man
Rules all things to the extent that it can.

30 But fled the rest into Aphek,
Into the city for a speck,
And a wall fell down on the men
Twenty-seven thousand again
That were left. And Benhadad led
And came into the city spread
Into an inner place and den.

Beloved, I too like Benhadad of old
Flee into Your own city and am bold
To find my inner chamber cut in stone,
In stony heart, and their before Your throne
I wait my fate and thank the stars above
That I am bound up in eternal love.
Beloved, I too like Benhadad flee from
The battle against good and when I’ve come
Into the city where I find my rest,
I plead Your mercy from all sin confessed.
Beloved, the flight of general and king
Is always from the good and to the ring
Of far security, but I come here
Within my own heart where You will appear.

31 His servants said to him then, “See,
We’ve heard Israel’s house’s kings be
Merciful kings, so let us please
Put gunny sacks from waist to knees,
And ropes on our heads, and go out
To Israel’s king, for there’s no doubt
He’ll save your life and that with ease.”
32 So they put gunny sacks around
Their waists, and then with their heads crowned
With ropes they came to Israel’s king
And said “Benhadad, underling
Of yours says “Please now, let me live.”
And he said “Does the man still live?
He is my brother, though I’m king.”

I recognize myself, Beloved in this
King of Your people Israel amiss,
King Ahab, who did nothing of the right
And was always a vile man in Your sight.
My heart is merciful to all who come
And flatter me with word or paltry sum,
And soon as I see smiles I leave Your state
Forgetting You, Your law, Your lovely gate.
As soon as civil servant deigns to be
Civil, then I’m his friend eternally.
Let only Your law be criterion
Of how a relate to everyone’s son,
And I shall show a better face to all
Who grimace or who flatter at the ball.

33 Now the men listened carefully
And caught the word immediately
And they said “Your brother and bred
Benhadad.” And so then he said
“Go bring him.” So Benhadad came
Out to him and he raised his flame
Into the chariot ahead.
34 And he said to him, “Cities that
My father too from your dad flat
I shall restore, and you shall make
Streets in Damascus for your sake
As my dad made Samaria.”
Then he answered, “I’ll send your paw
Away with this treaty in claw.”
So he made the treaty with him
And sent him away safe and prim.

When shall I learn, Beloved, the promise made
By law and statute is not justice weighed,
But excuse for the wealthy come to rule
And pretend they are just to every fool.
The law applies only to those whose hand
Is in the sugar bowl, for others sand
Is put into the spoon to grind the teeth.
Beloved, I give democracy a wreath
And know that every man who does the right
Depends on You alone by day and night.
Policemen are the dupes who must obey
The caller with the greater sum to pay,
And judges hand down verdicts to the best
Bidder who has a gold fob on his chest.

35 And one man of the prophets’ sons
Said to his neighbour by the guns
Of YHWH, “Please hit me”, but the man
Refused to hit him by his plan.
36 Then he said to him, “Because you
Did not obey the voice of YHWH,
See now as soon as you go out
From me a lion round about
Shall kill you.” And as soon as he
Was gone from him, a lion free
Found him and killed him with a shout.
37 Then he found another man and
Said “Hit me, please.” And by command
The man hit him so when he hit
Him he wounded him quite a bit.
38 So the prophet went out to wait
For the king by the pathway’s gate
Disguising himself and his face
With ashes on him to debase.
39 It happened that the king passed by
And so he yelled at the king night,
And he said “Your servant went out
Into the battle and the shout,
And see a man turned to the side
And brought me a man to abide,
And said ‘Keep this man, if at all
He is missing out of the stall,
Then your life for his life I’ll take
Or else weigh silver for his sake.’
40 “It happened your servant had much
To do here and there until such
That he was gone.” And Israel’s king
Told him, “So let your judgement ring,
You yourself decided the thing.”
41 Then he was quick to take away
The ashes from his eyes and grey,
And Israel’s king then recognized
Him as one of the prophets prized.
42 And he said to him, “So says YHWH,
‘Because you’ve released the man who
Was appointed by me to be
Destroyed and destroyed utterly,
Therefore your life is forfeit for
His life, and your folk out of door
For his people, who shall go free.’”
43 And Israel’s king went to his house
Heavy and displeased like a mouse
And came to Samaria’s town
Still wearing on his face a frown.

The point is not to be cunning like that
Italian princeling who knew where they sat
For intrigue and so wrote a noble book
That’s still the guideline modern rulers took.
The cynical breach of promise is not
What school of prophets cantillating taught.
But rather mercy is not man’s to take
Any more than vengeance is his to make.
All is in Your hands, and You stand to stake
The mercy on one and another break.
Mercy without conditions is the rule
That’s taught by every selfish, loving fool.
Obedience to Your command is still
The only way to rise and foot the hill.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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