ELIJAH AND THE WIDOW

8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Get up, go to Zarephathq that belongs to Sidon and stay there. Look, I have commanded a woman who is a widow to provide for you there.” 10 So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup and let me drink.”r 11 As she went to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.”

12 But she said, “As the Lord your God lives,s I don’t have anything baked—only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oilt in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die.”u

13 Then Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid; go and do as you have said. But first make me a small loaf from it and bring it out to me. Afterward, you may make some for yourself and your son, 14 for this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘The flour jar will not become empty and the oil jug will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the surface of the land.’ ”v

15 So she proceeded to do according to the word of Elijah. Then the woman, Elijah, and her household ate for many days.w 16 The flour jar did not become empty, and the oil jug did not run dry, according to the word of the Lord he had spoken throughB Elijah.