The First Book of the Kings

⭑ Unlocked Dynamic Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 17 -

Elijah was a prophet who lived in the city of Tishbe in the region of Gilead. One day he went to King Ahab and said to him, “Yahweh is the God whom we Israelites worship and the God whom I worship and serve. Just as certainly as Yahweh lives, there will be no dew or rain for the next few years, unless I command it to fall.”

Then Yahweh said to Elijah,

“Because you have made the king angry with you, escape from the king and, go to the east, to the Kerith Brook, east of where it flows into the Jordan River.

You will be able to drink water from the brook, and you will be able to eat what the crows bring to you, because I have commanded them to bring food to you.”

So Elijah did what Yahweh commanded him to do. He went and camped alongside Kerith Brook.

Crows brought bread and meat to him every morning and every evening, and he drank water from the brook.

But after a while, the water in the brook dried up, because rain did not fall anywhere in the land.

The Widow of Zarephath

Then Yahweh said to Elijah,

“Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. There is a widow there who will give you food to eat. I have already told her what to do about that.”

So Elijah did what God said. He went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow who was gathering sticks. He said to her, “Would you please bring me a cup of water?”

While she was going to get it, he called out to her, “Bring me a piece of bread, too!”

But she replied, “Your God knows that what I am telling you is true. I do not have even one piece of bread in my house. I have only a handful of flour in a jar, and a little olive oil in a jug. I was gathering a few sticks to use these to make a fire and cook one more meal, and then after my son and I eat that, we will die from hunger.”

But Elijah said to her, “Do not be worried! Go home and do what you said that you were going to do. But first, bake me a little loaf of bread and bring it to me. After you do that, take what is left and prepare some food for you and your son.

I know that you will be able to do that, because Yahweh, the God whom we Israelites worship, says this, ‘There will always be plenty of flour and olive oil left in your containers, until the time when I send rain again and the crops grow again!’”

So the woman did exactly what Elijah told her to do. And she and her son and Elijah had enough food every day,

because the flour in the jar was never finished, and the jug of oil was never empty. That happened just like Yahweh had told Elijah that it would happen.

Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son

Some time later, the woman’s son became sick. He continued to get worse, and finally he died.

So the woman went to Elijah and said to him, “You are a prophet; so why have you done this to me? Have you come here to punish me for my sins by causing my son to die?”

But Elijah replied, “Give your son to me.” So she gave her son to him, and he took the boy’s body from her and carried it up the steps to the room where he stayed. He laid the boy’s body on his bed.

Then Elijah cried out to Yahweh, “O Yahweh my God, this widow has kindly allowed me to stay in her home. So why have you brought this tragedy to her and caused her son to die?”

Then Elijah stretched himself on top of the boy’s body and called out to Yahweh saying, “Yahweh my God, please allow this boy to become alive again!” He did this three times.

Yahweh heard what Elijah prayed, and he caused the boy to become alive again.

Elijah carried the boy down the steps and gave him to his mother. He said, “Look, your son is alive!”

The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know for certain that you are a prophet and that the words that you speak are truly from Yahweh!”

Elijah the Tishbite, who was one of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”

Then the LORD’s word came to him, saying,

“Go away from here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan.

You shall drink from the brook. I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”

So he went and did according to the LORD’s word, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith that is before the Jordan.

The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.

After a while, the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

The Widow of Zarephath

The LORD’s word came to him, saying,

“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain you.”

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

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

She said, “As the LORD your God lives, I don’t have anything baked, but only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jar. Behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and bake it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go and do as you have said; but make me a little cake from it first, and bring it out to me, and afterward make some for you and for your son.

For the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘The jar of meal will not run out, and the jar of oil will not fail, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth.’”

She went and did according to the saying of Elijah; and she, he, and her household ate many days.

The jar of meal didn’t run out and the jar of oil didn’t fail, according to the LORD’s word, which he spoke by Elijah.

Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son

After these things, 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.

She said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, you man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to memory, and to kill my son!”

He said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into the room where he stayed, and laid him on his own bed.

He cried to the LORD and said, “LORD my God, have you also brought evil on the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?”

He stretched himself on the child three times, and cried to the LORD and said, “LORD my God, please let this child’s soul come into him again.”

The LORD listened to the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

Elijah took the child and brought him down out of the room into the house, and delivered him to his mother; and Elijah said, “Behold, your son lives.”

The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the LORD’s word in your mouth is truth.”