< Kings III 17 >
1 And Eliu the prophet, the Thesbite of Thesbae of Galaad, said to Achaab, As the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be these years dew nor rain, except by the word of my mouth.
Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD lives—the God of Israel before whom I stand—there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”
2 And the word of the Lord came to Eliu, [saying],
Then a revelation from the LORD came to Elijah:
3 Depart hence eastward, and hide thee by the brook of Chorrath, that is before Jordan.
“Leave here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Brook of Cherith, east of the Jordan.
4 And it shall be [that] thou shalt drink water of the brook, and I will charge the ravens to feed thee there.
And you are to drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
5 And Eliu did according to the word of the Lord, and he sat by the brook of Chorrath before Jordan.
So Elijah did what the LORD had told him, and he went and lived by the Brook of Cherith, east of the Jordan.
6 And the ravens brought him loaves in the morning, and flesh in the evening and he drank water of the brook.
The ravens would bring him bread and meat in the morning and evening, and he would drink from the brook.
7 And it came to pass after some time, that the brook was dried up, because there had been no rain upon the earth.
Some time later, however, the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
8 And the word of the Lord came to Eliu, [saying],
Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah:
9 Arise, and go to Sarepta of the Sidonian [land]: behold, I have there commanded a widow-woman to maintain thee.
“Get up and go to Zarephath of Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
10 And he arose and went to Sarepta, and came to the gate of the city: and, behold, a widow-woman was there gathering sticks; and Eliu cried after her, and said to her, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, so that I may drink.”
11 And she went to fetch it; and Eliu cried after her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of the bread that is in thy hand.
And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread.”
12 And the woman said, [As] the Lord thy God lives, I have not a cake, but only a handful of meal in the pitcher, and a little oil in a cruse, and, behold, I am going to gather two sticks, and I shall go in and dress it for myself and my children, and we shall eat it and die.
But she replied, “As surely as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering a couple of sticks to take home and prepare a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”
13 And Eliu said to her, Be of good courage, go in and do according to thy word: but make me thereof a little cake, and thou shalt bring [it] out to me first, and thou shalt make [some] for thyself and thy children last.
“Do not be afraid,” Elijah said to her. “Go and do as you have said. But first make me a small cake of bread from what you have, and bring it out to me. Afterward, make some for yourself and your son,
14 For thus saith the Lord, The pitcher of meal shall not fail, and the cruse of oil shall not diminish, until the day that the Lord gives rain upon the earth.
for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be exhausted and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain upon the face of the earth.’”
15 And the woman went and did [so], and did eat, she, and he, and her children.
So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and there was food every day for Elijah and the woman and her household.
16 And the pitcher of meal failed not, and the cruse of oil was not diminished, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by the hand of Eliu.
The jar of flour was not exhausted and the jug of oil did not run dry, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Elijah.
17 And it came to pass afterward, that the son of the woman the mistress of the house was sick; and his sickness was very severe, until there was no breath left in him.
Later, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill, and his sickness grew worse and worse, until no breath remained in him.
18 And she said to Eliu, What have I to do with thee, O man of God? hast thou come in to me to bring my sins to remembrance, and to slay my son?
“O man of God,” said the woman to Elijah, “what have you done to me? Have you come to remind me of my iniquity and cause the death of my son?”
19 And Eliu said to the woman, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and took him up to the chamber in which he himself lodged, and laid him on the bed.
But Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.
20 And Eliu cried aloud, and said, Alas, O Lord, the witness of the widow with whom I sojourn, thou hast wrought evil [for her] in slaying her son.
Then he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on this widow who has opened her home to me, by causing her son to die?”
21 And he breathed on the child thrice, and called on the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, let, I pray thee, the soul of this child return to him.
Then he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, please let this boy’s life return to him!”
22 And it was so, and the child cried out,
And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah, and the child’s life returned to him, and he lived.
23 and he brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; and Eliu said, See, thy son lives.
Then Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. “Look, your son is alive,” Elijah declared.
24 And the woman said to Eliu, Behold, I know that thou [art] a man of God, and the word of the Lord in thy mouth [is] true.
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 truth.”