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!”
Then said Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, unto Ahab, By the life of Yahweh, God of Israel, before whom I stand, there shall not, these two years, be either dew or rain, —save at the bidding of my word.
2 Then Yahweh said to Elijah,
Then came the word of Yahweh unto 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].
Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, —and hide thyself in the ravine of Cherith, which faceth 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.”
and it shall be that, of the torrent, shalt thou drink, —and, the ravens, have I commanded to sustain thee, 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 word of Yahweh, —yea he went and dwelt in the ravine of Cherith, which faceth the Jordan.
6 Crows bought bread and meat to him every morning and every evening, and he drank [water] from the brook.
And, the ravens, used to bring him bread and flesh, in the morning, and bread and flesh, in the evening, —and, of the torrent, used he to drink.
7 But after a while, the water in the brook dried up, because rain did not fall anywhere in the land.
But it came to pass, at the end of [certain] days, that the torrent dried up, —because there had been no rain in the land.
8 Then Yahweh said to Elijah,
Then came the word of Yahweh unto 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, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there, —Lo! I have commanded, there, a widow woman, to sustain thee.
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 entrance of the city, lo! there, a widow woman 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 While she was going to get it, he called out to her, “Bring me a piece of bread, too!”
And, as she went to fetch it, he called to her and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread, in thy 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].”
And she said—By the life of Yahweh, thy God, verily I have not a cake, only a handful of meal in the jar, and a little oil in the cruse, —and lo! I have been gathering a couple of sticks, so I shall go in and make it ready for me and for 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.
And Elijah said unto her—Do not fear, go in—make ready according to thy word, —howbeit, make me thereof a little cake, first, and bring it out to me, and, for thyself and thy son, make ready, afterwards.
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, thus, saith Yahweh, God of Israel, The jar of meal, shall not waste, and, the cruse of oil, shall not fail, —until the day that Yahweh giveth rain upon the face of the ground.
15 So the woman did exactly what Elijah told her to do. And she and her son and Elijah had enough food every day,
So she went and made ready, according to the word of Elijah, —and did eat, she, and he, and her house, [certain] 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 waste, —and, the cruse of oil, did not fail, —according to the word of Yahweh, which he spake through Elijah.
17 Some time later, the woman’s son became sick. He continued to get worse, and finally he died.
And it came to pass, after these things, that the son of the woman, owner of the house, fell sick, —yea it came to pass that his sickness was very severe, until no, breath, was 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?”
Then said she unto Elijah, What have I in common with thee, O man of God? Hast thou come unto me, to call to remembrance mine iniquity, and to cause the death of 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.
And he said unto her—Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him unto the upper room, where, he, was staying, and laid him upon 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]
Then cried he unto Yahweh, and said, —O Yahweh, my God! Even upon the widow with whom I am sojourning, hast thou brought misfortune by causing the death of 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.
And he stretched himself out upon the boy, three times, and cried unto Yahweh, and said, —O Yahweh, my God! Let the life of this boy, I pray thee, come again within him.
22 Yahweh heard what Elijah prayed, and [he caused] the boy [to] become alive again [DOU].
And Yahweh hearkened unto the voice of Elijah, —and the life of the boy came again within him, and he lived.
23 Elijah carried the boy down [the steps] and gave him to his mother. He said, “Look, your son is alive!”
Then Elijah took the boy, and carried him down out of the upper room, into the house, and gave him to his mother, —and Elijah said, See! thy son liveth.
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!”
And the woman said unto Elijah, Now, then I know, that, a man of God, thou art, —and that, the word of Yahweh, is in thy mouth, of a truth.
