1 Kings
Chapter 17
1 Elijah from Tishbe in Gilead told Ahab, “As the living God of Israel, before whom I stand, there won’t be any dew or rain for these years, unless I say so.”
2 God’s message came to him, saying,
3 Go away, turn east, and hide by the Cherith stream, in front of the Jordan.
4 You will drink from the stream, and I have told the ravens to bring you food there.
5 So he went and did as God had said. He lived by the Cherith stream, which is near the Jordan.
6 The birds brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the stream.
7 After some time, the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the country.
8 God’s message came to him, saying,
9 Get up, go to Zarephath in Sidon, and stay there. I have told a widow there to take care of you.
10 He got up and went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the city entrance, he saw a widow picking up sticks. He asked her, “Please bring me a small amount of water in a container to drink.”
11 As she went to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.”
12 She said, “As God is alive, I don’t have a cake, only a little flour in a jar and a bit of oil in a jug. Look, I’m picking up two sticks to cook it for me and my son, so we can eat it and then die.”
13 Elijah told her, “Don’t be afraid; go ahead and make what you said: but first, please make me a small cake and bring it to me, then make some for yourself and your son.”
14 God says the jar of flour won’t run out, and the jug of oil won’t dry up, until the day God sends rain on the land.
15 She went and did as Elijah said: she, he, and her family ate for many days.
16 The jar of flour didn’t run out, nor did the jug of oil dry up, just as God promised through Elijah.
17 After these events, the woman’s son, who owned the house, became very ill, and he was so sick that he stopped breathing.
18 She asked Elijah, “What do you want with me, man of God? Have you come to remind me of my sin and cause my son to die?”
19 He said to her, “Give me your son.” He took the boy from her arms, went to the upstairs room where he stayed, and laid him on his own bed.
20 He called out to God and said, “My God, have you also caused harm to the widow I’m staying with by causing her son to die?”
21 He lay on the child three times, called to God, and said, “O God, please let the child’s soul come back to him.”
22 God heard Elijah’s voice, and the child’s life returned to him, and he came back to life.
23 Elijah took the child, brought him from the room into the house, and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, “Look, your son is alive.”
24 The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of God from your mouth is true.”