1 Kings 17:2 | New International Reader’s Version

New International Reader’s Version

1 Elijah was from Tishbe in the land of Gilead. He said to Ahab, ‘I serve the LORD. He is the God of Israel. You can be sure that he lives. And you can be just as sure that there won’t be any dew or rain on the whole land. There won’t be any during the next few years. It won’t come until I say so.’

Elijah announces no dew or rain Elijah is fed by ravens

2 Then a message came to Elijah from the LORD. He said, 3 ‘Leave this place. Go east and hide in the Kerith Valley. It is east of the River Jordan. 4 You will drink water from the brook. I have instructed some ravens to supply you with food there.’ 5 So Elijah did what the LORD had told him to do. He went to the Kerith Valley. It was east of the River Jordan. He stayed there. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning. They also brought him bread and meat in the evening. He drank water from the brook.

Elijah and the widow at Zarephath

7 Some time later the brook dried up. It hadn’t rained in the land for quite a while. 8 A message came to Elijah from the LORD. He said, 9 ‘Go right away to Zarephath in the region of Sidon. Stay there. I have instructed a widow there to supply you with food.’ 10 So Elijah went to Zarephath. He came to the town gate. A widow was there gathering sticks. He called out to her. He asked, ‘Would you bring me a little water in a jar? I need a drink.’ 11 She went to get the water. Then he called out to her, ‘Please bring me a piece of bread too.’ 12 ‘I don’t have any bread,’ she replied. ‘And that’s just as sure as the LORD your God is alive. All I have is a small amount of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I’m gathering a few sticks to take home. I’ll make one last meal for myself and my son. We’ll eat it. After that, we’ll die.’ 13 Elijah said to her, ‘Don’t be afraid. Go home. Do what you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me. Make it out of what you have. Bring it to me. Then make some for yourself and your son. 14 The LORD is the God of Israel. He says, “The jar of flour will not be used up. The jug will always have oil in it. You will have flour and oil until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.” ’ 15 She went away and did what Elijah had told her to do. So Elijah had food every day. There was also food for the woman and her family. 16 The jar of flour wasn’t used up. The jug always had oil in it. That’s what the LORD had said would happen. He had spoken that message through Elijah. 17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He got worse and worse. Finally he stopped breathing. 18 The woman said to Elijah, ‘You are a man of God. What do you have against me? Did you come to bring my sin out into the open? Did you come to kill my son?’ 19 ‘Give me your son,’ Elijah replied. He took him from her arms. He carried him to the upstairs room where he was staying. He put him down on his bed. 20 Then Elijah cried out to the LORD. He said, ‘LORD my God, I’m staying with this widow. Have you brought pain and sorrow even to her? Have you caused her son to die?’ 21 Then he lay down on the boy three times. He cried out to the LORD. He said, ‘LORD my God, give this boy’s life back to him!’ 22 The LORD answered Elijah’s prayer. He gave the boy’s life back to him. So the boy lived. 23 Elijah picked up the boy. He carried him down from the upstairs room into the house. He gave him to his mother. He said, ‘Look! Your son is alive!’ 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, ‘Now I know that you are a man of God. I know that the message you have brought from the LORD is true.’

English Standard Version

Elijah Predicts a Drought

1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe^[1] in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” (De 10:8; Jud 12:4; Ru 3:13; 1Ki 18:1; 1Ki 18:10; 1Ki 18:15; 1Ki 22:14; 2Ki 3:14; 2Ki 5:16; Lu 4:25; Jas 5:17)

De 10:8Jud 12:4Ru 3:131Ki 18:11Ki 18:101Ki 18:151Ki 22:142Ki 3:142Ki 5:16Lu 4:25Jas 5:17

2 And the word of the Lord came to him: 3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

The Widow of Zarephath

8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” (Ob 1:20; Lu 4:26) 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 he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” (Nu 15:32; 1Ki 17:9) 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” (1Ki 17:1) 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son

17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” (De 33:1; Lu 4:34; Lu 5:8) 19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. 20 And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life^[2] come into him again.” (2Ki 4:34; Ac 20:10) 22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. (Heb 11:35) 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” 24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” (Joh 3:2)