They told the king, saying, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came in before the king, he prostrated himself before the king with his face to the ground.

So Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord and said to him, “Thus the king has said, ‘Come out.’” But he said, “No, for I will die here.” And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “Thus spoke Joab, and thus he answered me.”

“Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.

He said to him, “It is I. Go, say to your master, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’”

As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent to search for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made the kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you.

And now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here.”’

And now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here”’; he will then kill me.”

Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

While your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” And the king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it.”

But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not yet a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him?”