Here’s a readers’ theatre setting of 1 Kings 19:
1-15. It is set for three voices.
Readers’
Theatre: 1 Kings 19: 1-15
One: When Ahab got home,
he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done,
including the way he had killed all the
prophets of Baal.
So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah:
“May the gods strike me and even kill me
if by this time tomorrow I have not killed
you just as you killed them.”
Elijah was afraid and fled for his life.
He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he
left his servant there.
Then he went on alone into the wilderness,
traveling all day.
He sat down under a solitary broom tree and
prayed that he might die.
Two: I have had enough, Lord.
Take my life,
for I am no better than my ancestors who have
already died.
One: Then he lay down and slept under the broom
tree.
But as he was sleeping,
an angel touched him and told him, “Get up
and eat!”
He looked around
and there beside his head was some bread
baked on hot stones
and a jar of water!
So he ate and drank and lay down again.
Then the angel of the Lord came
again and touched him and said,
“Get up and eat some more,
or the journey ahead will be too much for
you.”
So he got up and ate and drank,
and the food gave him enough strength
to travel forty days and forty nights to
Mount Sinai,
the mountain of God.
There he came to a cave, where he spent the
night.
But the Lord said to him,
Three: What are you doing here, Elijah?
Two: I have zealously served
the Lord God Almighty.
But the people of Israel have broken their
covenant with you,
torn down your altars, and killed every one
of your prophets.
I am the only one left, and now they are
trying to kill me, too.
Three: Go out and stand before me on the mountain.
One: And as Elijah stood there,
the Lord passed by,
and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain.
It was such a terrible blast that the rocks
were torn loose,
but the Lord was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake,
but the Lord was not in the
earthquake.
And after the earthquake there was a fire,
but the Lord was not in the fire.
And after the fire there was the sound of a
gentle whisper.
When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in
his cloak
and went out and stood at the entrance of the
cave.
Three: What are you doing here, Elijah?
Two: I have zealously served
the Lord God Almighty.
But the people of Israel have broken their
covenant with you,
torn down your altars,
and killed every one of your prophets.
I am the only one left, and now they are
trying to kill me, too.
Three: Go back the same way you came,
and travel to the wilderness of Damascus.
