1 Kings 17
1 Elijah the Tishbite, (from Tishbe in Gilead), told Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, the one I serve, in the years to come there will be not be any dew or rain unless I say so!”
And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, As Jehovah the God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except by my word.
2 Then the Lord told Elijah,
And the word of Jehovah came to him saying,
3 “Leave here and go east. Hide in the valley of the Cherith brook where it meets the Jordan.
Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the torrent Cherith, which is before the Jordan.
4 You can drink from the brook, and I have ordered ravens to bring you food you there.”
And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the torrent; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
5 So Elijah did what the Lord told him. He went to the valley of the Cherith brook, where it meets the Jordan, and stayed there.
And he went and did according to the word of Jehovah; he went and abode by the torrent Cherith, which is before the Jordan.
6 Ravens brought him bread and meat both in the morning and in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the torrent.
7 A while later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
And it came to pass after a while that the torrent dried up, for there had been no rain in the land.
8 Then the Lord told Elijah,
And the word of Jehovah came to him saying,
9 “Leave here and go to Zarephath near Sidon and stay there. I have given instructions to a widow there to provide you with food.”
Arise, go to Zarephath, which is by Zidon, and abide there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to maintain thee.
10 So he left for Zarephath. When he arrived at the entrance to the town, he saw a woman, a widow, gathering sticks. He called her over and asked her, “Could you bring me a little water in a cup so I can have a drink?”
And he arose and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the entrance of the city, behold, a widow woman was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
11 As she was going to get it, he called after her and said, “Oh, and please bring me a piece of bread.”
And she went to fetch [it], and he called to her and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand.
12 She replied, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour is left in a jar and a little bit of olive oil in a jug. Right now I am gathering a few of sticks so I can go and cook what's left for myself and my son so we can eat it, and then we'll die.”
And she said, As Jehovah thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse; and behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
13 Elijah said to her, “Don't be afraid. Go home and do what you said. But first make me a small loaf of bread from what you have and bring it to me. Then make something for yourself and your son.
And Elijah said to her, Fear not; go, do as thou hast said; but make me thereof a little cake first; and bring it to me; and afterwards make for thee and for thy son.
14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not become empty and the jug of olive oil will not run out until the day the Lord sends rain to water the ground.”
For thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: The meal in the barrel shall not waste, neither shall the oil in the cruse fail, until the day that Jehovah sendeth rain upon the face of the earth!
15 She went and did as Elijah had told her, and Elijah, the widow, and her household were able to eat for many days.
And she went and did according to the word of Elijah; and she, and he, and her house, ate a whole year.
16 The jar of flour was did not become empty and the jug of olive oil did not run out, just as the Lord had said through Elijah.
The meal in the barrel did not waste, neither did the oil in the cruse fail, according to the word of Jehovah which he had spoken through Elijah.
17 Later on the woman's son fell sick. (She was the one who owned the house.) He went from bad to worse, and finally he died.
And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.
18 “What are you doing to me, man of God?” the woman asked Elijah. “Have you come to remind me about my sins and cause my son to die?”
And she said to Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come to me to call mine iniquity to remembrance, and to slay my son?
19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He picked him up from her arms, carried him upstairs to the room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed.
And he said to her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
20 Then he cried out to the Lord, saying, “Lord my God, why have you allowed this to happen to this widow who has opened her home to me, this terrible tragedy of causing her son to die?”
And he cried to Jehovah and said, Jehovah, my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
21 He stretched himself out on the boy three times, and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, please let this boy's life return to him!”
And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to Jehovah and said, Jehovah, my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again!
22 The Lord responded to Elijah's cry. The boy's life returned to him, and he lived!
And Jehovah heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he lived.
23 Elijah took the boy and brought him down from the room into the house, and gave him to his mother. “See, your son is alive,” Elijah told her.
And Elijah took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and delivered him to his mother; and Elijah said, See, thy son lives.
24 “Now I'm convinced that you are a man of God, and that what the Lord speaks through you is the truth,” the woman replied.
And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of Jehovah in thy mouth is truth.
