1 Kings 17

Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives—the God I serve—there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!”

Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe^[a] in Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.’

Elijah fed by ravens

Then the Lord said to Elijah,

Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah:

“Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River.

‘Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.

Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.”

You will drink from the brook, and I have instructed the ravens to supply you with food there.’

So Elijah did as the Lord told him and camped beside Kerith Brook, east of the Jordan.

So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there.

The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook.

The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

Elijah and the widow at Zarephath

But after a while the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land.

The Widow at Zarephath

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

Then the Lord said to Elijah,

Then the word of the Lord came to him:

“Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.”

‘Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have instructed a widow there to supply you with food.’

So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?”

So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, ‘Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?’

As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.”

As she was going to get it, he called, ‘And bring me, please, a piece of bread.’

But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.”

‘As surely as the Lord your God lives,’ she replied, ‘I don’t have any bread – only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it – and die.’

But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son.

Elijah said to her, ‘Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.

For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!”

For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.”’

So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days.

She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family.

There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.

For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

Some time later the woman’s son became sick. He grew worse and worse, and finally he died.

Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing.

Then she said to Elijah, “O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to point out my sins and kill my son?”

She said to Elijah, ‘What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?’

But Elijah replied, “Give me your son.” And he took the child’s body from her arms, carried him up the stairs to the room where he was staying, and laid the body on his bed.

‘Give me your son,’ Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed.

Then Elijah cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?”

Then he cried out to the Lord, ‘Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?’

And he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him.”

Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, ‘Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!’

The Lord heard Elijah’s prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he revived!

The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.

Then Elijah brought him down from the upper room and gave him to his mother. “Look!” he said. “Your son is alive!”

Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, ‘Look, your son is alive!’

Then the woman told Elijah, “Now I know for sure that you are a man of God, and that the Lord truly speaks through you.”

Then the woman said to Elijah, ‘Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.’