1 Kings 17

Elijah Predicts Drought

1Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of 12the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “3As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, 4there shall certainly be neither dew nor rain during these years, except by my word.” 2Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 3“Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is 5east of the Jordan. 4And it shall be that you will drink from the brook, and 6I have commanded the ravens to provide food for you there.” 5So he went and did everything according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is 7east of the Jordan. 6And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. 7But it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

8Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9“Arise, go to 8Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, 9I have commanded a widow there to provide food for you.” 10So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the entrance of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and 10he called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a 11cup, so that I may drink.” 11As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” 12But she said, “12As the Lord your God lives, 13I have no food, only a handful of flour in the 14bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering 15a few sticks so that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son, so that we may 16eat it and 17die.” 13However, Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said. Just make me a little bread loaf from 18it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. 14For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘The 19bowl of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil become empty, until the day that the Lord provides rain on the face of the earth.’” 15So she went and did everything in accordance with the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16The 20bowl of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil become empty, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.

Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son

17Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his 21condition became very grave, until at the end 22he was no longer breathing. 18So she said to Elijah, “2324Why is my business any of yours, you 25man of God? Yet you have come to me to bring my wrongdoing to remembrance, and to put my son to death!” 19But he said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her 26arms and carried him up to the upstairs room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed. 20And he called to the Lord and said, “Lord, my God, have You also brought catastrophe upon the widow with whom I am 27staying, by causing her son to die?” 2128Then he stretched himself out over the boy three times, and called to the Lord and said, “Lord, my God, please, let this boy’s life return 29to him.” 22And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah, 30and the life of the boy returned 31to him and he revived. 23Elijah then took the boy and brought him down from the upstairs room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” 24Then the woman said to Elijah, “32Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”