1 Kings 17
1 Elijah was [a prophet] who lived in Tishbe [town] in [the] Gilead [region]. One day he [went to] King Ahab and said to him, “Yahweh is the God whom we Israelis [worship] and the God whom I worship and serve. Just as certainly as Yahweh lives, there will be no dew or rain for the next few years, if I do not command rain to fall!”
Elijah the Tishbite, who was one of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”
2 Then Yahweh said to Elijah,
Then the LORD’s word came to him, saying,
3 “[Because you have made the king angry with you, escape from the king and, ] go to the east, to the Kerith Brook, east of where it flows into the Jordan [River].
“Go away from here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan.
4 You will be able to drink water from the brook, and [you will be able to eat what] the crows [bring to you, because] I have commanded them to bring food to you.”
You shall drink from the brook. I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
5 So Elijah did what Yahweh commanded him to do. He went and camped alongside Kerith Brook.
So he went and did according to the LORD’s word, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith that is before the Jordan.
6 Crows bought bread and meat to him every morning and every evening, and he drank [water] 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.
7 But after a while, the water in the brook dried up, because rain did not fall anywhere in the land.
After a while, the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
8 Then Yahweh said to Elijah,
The LORD’s word came to him, saying,
9 “Go and live in Zarephath [village], near Sidon [city]. There is a widow there who will give you food to eat. I have [already] told her what to do about that.”
“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain you.”
10 So [Elijah did what God said]. He went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow who was gathering sticks. He said to her, “Would you please bring me a cup of water?”
So he arose and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink.”
11 While she was going to get it, he called out to her, “Bring me a piece of bread, too!”
As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”
12 But she replied, “Your God knows that what I am telling you is true: I do not have even one piece of bread in my house. I have only a handful of flour in a jar, and a little [olive] oil in a jug. I was gathering a few sticks to use these to [make a fire and] cook one more meal, and then after my son and I eat that, we will die [from hunger].”
She said, “As the LORD your God lives, I do not have anything baked, but only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jar. Behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and bake it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”
13 But Elijah said to her, “Do not be worried! Go home and do what you said that you were going to do. But first, bake me a little loaf of bread and bring it to me. After you do that, take what is left and prepare some food for you and your son.
Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you have said; but make me a little cake from it first, and bring it out to me, and afterward make some for you and for your son.
14 [I know that you will be able to do that, ] because Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship], says this: ‘There will always be plenty of flour and [olive] oil left in your containers, until the time when I send rain again [and the crops grow again]!’”
For the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘The jar of meal will not run out, and the jar of oil will not fail, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth.’”
15 So the woman did exactly what Elijah told her to do. And she and her son and Elijah had enough food every day,
She went and did according to the saying of Elijah; and she, he, and her household ate many days.
16 because the flour in the jar was never finished, and the jug of oil was never empty. That happened just like Yahweh had told Elijah that it would happen.
The jar of meal did not run out and the jar of oil did not fail, according to the LORD’s word, which he spoke by Elijah.
17 Some time later, the woman’s son became sick. He continued to get worse, and finally he died.
After these things, the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.
18 So the woman went to Elijah and said to him, “You are a prophet; so why have you done this to me? Have you come here to punish me for my sins by causing my son to die?”
She said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, you man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to memory, and to kill my son!”
19 But Elijah replied, “Give your son to me.” So she gave her son to him, and he took the boy’s [body] from her and carried it up [the steps] to the room where he stayed. He laid the boy’s [body] on his bed.
He said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into the room where he stayed, and laid him on his own bed.
20 Then Elijah cried out to Yahweh, “O Yahweh my God, this widow [has kindly allowed] me to stay in her home. So why have you brought this tragedy to her and caused her son to die?” [RHQ]
He cried to the LORD and said, “LORD my God, have you also brought evil on the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?”
21 Then Elijah stretched himself on top of the boy’s [body] and called out to Yahweh saying, “Yahweh my God, please allow this boy to become alive again!” He did this three times.
He stretched himself on the child three times, and cried to the LORD and said, “LORD my God, please let this child’s soul come into him again.”
22 Yahweh heard what Elijah prayed, and [he caused] the boy [to] become alive again [DOU].
The LORD listened to the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
23 Elijah carried the boy down [the steps] and gave him to his mother. He said, “Look, your son is alive!”
Elijah took the child and brought him down out of the room into the house, and delivered him to his mother; and Elijah said, “Behold, your son lives.”
24 The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know [for certain] that you are a prophet and that the words that you speak are truly from Yahweh!”
The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the LORD’s word in your mouth is truth.”
