1 Reis 17

¹ Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab: »By the living Jehovah, the God of Israel, whose servant I am, there will be no dew or rain in these years, but only at my word.«

² Then the word of Jehovah came to him, saying:

³ »Go east from here and hide by the Cherith Brook, east of Jordan.

⁴ »You will drink from the brook. I have ordered the ravens to feed you there.«

⁵ So he did as Jehovah said, living by the Cherith Brook, east of Jordan.

⁶ The ravens took him bread in the morning and meat in the evening. And he drank water from the brook.

⁷ Now after a time the brook became dry, because there was no rain in the land.

⁸ Then the word of Jehovah came to him, saying:

⁹ »Go now to Zarephath, in Zidon, and live there. I have given orders to a widow woman there to see that you have food.«

¹⁰ He went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, he saw a widow woman gathering sticks. He said to her: »Will you give me a little water in a vessel for my drink?«

¹¹ As she was going to get it, he said: »And get me some bread.«

¹² Then she said: »By the life of Jehovah your God, I have nothing but a little meal, and a drop of oil in the bottle; and now I am getting two sticks together so that I may go in and make it ready for me and my son, so that we may have a meal before our death.«

¹³ Elijah said to her: »Have no fear. Go and do as you said, but first make me a little cake of it and come and give it to me. Then make something for yourself and your son.

¹⁴ »For this is the word of Jehovah, the God of Israel: ‘Your supply of meal will not come to an end. The bottle will never be without oil, till the day when Jehovah sends rain on the earth.’«

¹⁵ She did as Elijah told her and they all had food for a long time.

¹⁶ The store of meal did not come to an end. The bottle was never without oil. This was just as Jehovah said through the mouth of Elijah.

¹⁷ After this the son of the woman of the house became ill. He was so ill that there was no breath in him.

¹⁸ She said to Elijah: »What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to put God in mind of my sin, and to put my son to death?«

¹⁹ He said: »Give your son to me.« And lifting him out of her arms, he took him up to his room and put him down on his bed.

²⁰ Crying to Jehovah he said: »O Jehovah my God, have you sent evil even on the widow I now visit, by causing her son's death?«

²¹ Stretching himself out on the child three times, he made his prayer to Jehovah. He said: »O Jehovah my God, be pleased to let this child's life come back to him again.«

²² Jehovah listened to the voice of Elijah. The child began to breath and came back to life.

²³ Elijah took the child down from his room into the house and gave him to his mother. »See, your son is alive.« He said.

²⁴ Then the woman said to Elijah: »Now I am certain that you are a man of God, and that the word of Jehovah in your mouth is truth.«