< 1 Kings 17 >
1 And Elijah the Tishbite, from the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord lives, the God of Israel, in whose sight I stand, there shall not be dew or rain during these years, except by the words of my mouth.”
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.
2 And the word of the Lord came to him, saying:
And the word of the Lord came to Eliu, [saying],
3 “Withdraw from here, and go toward the east, and hide at the torrent Cherith, which is opposite the Jordan.
Depart hence eastward, and hide you by the brook of Chorrath, that is before Jordan.
4 And there you shall drink from the torrent. And I have instructed the ravens to feed you there.”
And it shall be [that] you shall drink water of the brook, and I will charge the ravens to feed you there.
5 Therefore, he went and acted in accord with the word of the Lord. And going away, he settled by the torrent Cherith, which is opposite the Jordan.
And Eliu did according to the word of the Lord, and he sat by the brook of Chorrath before Jordan.
6 And the ravens carried bread and flesh to him in the morning, and likewise bread and flesh in the evening. And he drank from the torrent.
And the ravens brought him loaves in the morning, and flesh in the evening and he drank water of the brook.
7 But after some days, the torrent dried up. For it had not rained upon the earth.
And it came to pass after some time, that the brook was dried up, because there had been no rain upon the earth.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying:
And the word of the Lord came to Eliu, [saying],
9 “Rise up, and go to Zarephath of the Sidonians, and dwell there. For I have instructed a widowed woman there to feed you.”
Arise, and go to Sarepta of the Sidonian [land]: behold, I have there commanded a widow-woman to maintain you.
10 He rose up and went away to Zarephath. And when he had arrived at the gate of the city, he saw the widowed woman collecting wood, and he called to her. And he said to her, “Give me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.”
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 you, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
11 And as she was going to bring it, he called out after her, saying, “Bring me also, I beg you, a morsel of bread in your hand.”
And she went to fetch it; and Eliu cried after her, and said, Bring me, I pray you, a morsel of the bread that is in your hand.
12 And she responded: “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, except a handful of flour in a jar, and a little oil in a bottle. See, I am collecting a couple of sticks, so that I may go in and make it for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”
And the woman said, [As] the Lord your 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.
13 And Elijah said to her: “Do not be afraid. But go and do as you have said. Yet truly, first make for me, from the same flour, a little bread baked under ashes, and bring it to me. Then afterward, make some for yourself and for your son.
And Eliu said to her, Be of good courage, go in and do according to your word: but make me thereof a little cake, and you shall bring [it] out to me first, and you shall make [some] for yourself and your children last.
14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘The jar of flour will not fail, nor the bottle of oil be diminished, until the day when the Lord will grant rain upon the face of the earth.’”
For thus says 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.
15 She went and acted in accord with the word of Elijah. And he ate, and she and her household ate. And from that day,
And the woman went and did [so], and did eat, she, and he, and her children.
16 the jar of flour did not fail, and the bottle of oil was not diminished, in accord with the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by the hand of Elijah.
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.
17 Now it happened that, after these things, the son of the woman who was the mother of the family became ill. And the sickness was very powerful, so that no breath remained in him.
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.
18 Therefore, she said to Elijah: “What is there between you and me, O man of God? Have you entered to me, so that my iniquities would be remembered, and so that you would put to death my son?”
And she said to Eliu, What have I to do with you, O man of God? have you come in to me to bring my sins to remembrance, and to kill my son?
19 And Elijah said to her, “Give your son to me.” And he took him from her bosom, and he carried him to an upper room, where he himself was staying. And he placed him on his own bed.
And Eliu said to the woman, Give me your 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.
20 And he cried out to the Lord, and he said, “O Lord, my God, have you even afflicted the widow by whom I am, in a sense, sustained, so that you would put to death her son?”
And Eliu cried aloud, and said, Alas, O Lord, the witness of the widow with whom I sojourn, you have wrought evil [for her] in slaying her son.
21 And he stretched himself out beside the boy three times. And he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord, my God, let the soul of this boy, I beg you, return to his body.”
And he breathed on the child thrice, and called on the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, let, I pray you, the soul of this child return to him.
22 And the Lord heeded the voice of Elijah. And the soul of the boy returned to him, and he revived.
And it was so, and the child cried out,
23 And Elijah took the boy, and he brought him down from the upper room to the lower part of the house. And he gave him to his mother. And he said to her, “See, your son lives.”
and he brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; and Eliu said, See, your son lives.
24 And the woman said to Elijah: “By this, I now realize that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is true.”
And the woman said to Eliu, Behold, I know that you [are] a man of God, and the word of the Lord in your mouth [is] true.