1 Kings

The first book of the Kings commonly called, the third book of the Kings, chapter 17, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 17 New English Translation

Elijah Visits a Widow in Sidonian Territory

   1 Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As certainly as the LORD God of Israel lives (whom I serve), there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command." 2 The LORD told him: 3 "Leave here and travel eastward. Hide out in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. 4 Drink from the stream; I have already told the ravens to bring you food there." 5 So he did as the LORD told him; he went and lived in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. 6 The ravens would bring him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he would drink from the stream.
   7 After a while, the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 The LORD told him, 9 "Get up, go to Zarephath in Sidonian territory, and live there. I have already told a widow who lives there to provide for you." 10 So he got up and went to Zarephath. When he went through the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood. He called out to her, "Please give me a cup of water, so I can take a drink." 11 As she went to get it, he called out to her, "Please bring me a piece of bread." 12 She said, "As certainly as the LORD your God lives, I have no food, except for a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. Right now I am gathering a couple of sticks for a fire. Then I'm going home to make one final meal for my son and myself. After we have eaten that, we will die of starvation." 13 Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go and do as you planned. But first make a small cake for me and bring it to me; then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the LORD God of Israel says, 'The jar of flour will not be empty and the jug of oil will not run out until the day the LORD makes it rain on the surface of the ground.'" 15 She went and did as Elijah told her; there was always enough food for Elijah and for her and her family. 16 The jar of flour was never empty and the jug of oil never ran out, just as the LORD had promised through Elijah.
   17 After this the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. His illness was so severe he could no longer breathe. 18 She asked Elijah, "Why, prophet, have you come to me to confront me with my sin and kill my son?" 19 He said to her, "Hand me your son." He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him down on his bed. 20 Then he called out to the LORD, "O LORD, my God, are you also bringing disaster on this widow I am staying with by killing her son?" 21 He stretched out over the boy three times and called out to the LORD, "O LORD, my God, please let this boy's breath return to him." 22 The LORD answered Elijah's prayer; the boy's breath returned to him and he lived. 23 Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room to the house, and handed him to his mother. Elijah then said, "See, your son is alive!" 24 The woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a prophet and that the LORD really does speak through you."

King James Version

   1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
   2 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
   3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
   4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
   5 So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
   6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
   7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
   8 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
   9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
   10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
   11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
   12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
   13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
   14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.
   15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
   16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.
   17 ¶ And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
   18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
   19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
   20 And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
   21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.
   22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
   23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
   24 ¶ And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.