Chapter 17

Elijah Predicts Drought

1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of 1athe settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “bAs the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely cthere shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”

2 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 1east of the Jordan.

4 “It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and aI have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.”

5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is 1east of the Jordan.

6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook.

7 It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

9 “Arise, go to aZarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, bI have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and ahe called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a 1jar, that I may drink.”

11 As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.”

12 But she said, “aAs the Lord your God lives, bI have no 1bread, only a handful of flour in the 2bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering 3a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and cdie.”

13 Then Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from 1it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son.

14 “For thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘The 1bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil 2be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth.’ ”

15 So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days.

16 The 1bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil 2become empty, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.

Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son

17 Now it came about after these things that 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 she said to Elijah, “aWhat do I have to do with you, O bman of God? 1You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!”

19 He said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed.

20 He called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am 1staying, by causing her son to die?”

21 aThen he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray You, let this child’s life return 1to him.”

22 The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, aand the life of the child returned 1to him and he revived.

23 Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.”

24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “aNow I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”