{The famine [242] was also bad in Canaan.} But Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt. So Jacob said to his sons, “Why are we sitting here doing nothing?
And the seven years of hunger began, just like Joseph had said. No food grew anywhere in any of the countries in that area. But in Egypt, people had plenty to eat! Why? Because Joseph had stored the grain.
When Elijah heard this, he was afraid. So he ran away to save his life. He took his servant with him. They went to Beersheba, Judah. Elijah left his servant in Beersheba.
During all this time, the people in the valley heard the thundering and saw the lightning on the mountain. They saw smoke rising from the mountain. The people were afraid, and they shook with fear. They stood away from the mountain and watched.
“Why are we just sitting here?\par Come, let’s run to the strong cities.\par If the Lord our God is going to make us die,\par then let’s die there.\par We have sinned against the Lord,\par so God gave us poisoned water to drink.\par
Ephraim saw his sickness,\par and Judah saw his wound.\par So they went to Assyria for help.\par They told their problems to the great king.\par But that king can’t heal you.\par He can’t cure your wound.\par
But these leaders saw that God had given me a special work, the same as Peter. {\cf2\super [13]} God gave Peter the work of telling the Good News to the Jews. But God gave me the work of telling the Good News to the non-Jewish people.