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1 Kings 17 - Good News Bible bible

1 Kings 17

¹A prophet named Elijah, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to King Ahab, "In the name of the LORD, the living God of Israel, whom I serve, I tell you that there will be no dew or rain for the next two or three years until I say so."

²Then the LORD said to Elijah,

³"Leave this place and go east and hide yourself near Cherith Brook, east of the Jordan.

⁴The brook will supply you with water to drink, and I have commanded ravens to bring you food there."

⁵Elijah obeyed the LORD's command, and went and stayed by Cherith Brook.

⁶He drank water from the brook, and ravens brought him bread and meat every morning and every evening.

⁷After a while the brook dried up because of the lack of rain.

⁸Then the LORD said to Elijah,

⁹"Now go to the town of Zarephath, near Sidon, and stay there. I have commanded a widow who lives there to feed you."

¹⁰So Elijah went to Zarephath, and as he came to the town gate, he saw a widow gathering firewood. "Please bring me a drink of water,"he said to her.

¹¹And as she was going to get it, he called out, "And please bring me some bread, too."

¹²She answered, "By the living LORD your God I swear that I don't have any bread. All I have is a handful of flour in a bowl and a bit of olive oil in a jar. I came here to gather some firewood to take back home and prepare what little I have for my son and me. That will be our last meal, and then we will starve to death."

¹³"Don't worry,"Elijah said to her. "Go on and prepare your meal. But first make a small loaf from what you have and bring it to me, and then prepare the rest for you and your son.

¹⁴For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'The bowl will not run out of flour or the jar run out of oil before the day that I, the LORD, send rain.' "

¹⁵The widow went and did as Elijah had told her, and all of them had enough food for many days.

¹⁶As the LORD had promised through Elijah, the bowl did not run out of flour nor did the jar run out of oil.

¹⁷Some time later the widow's son got sick; he got worse and worse, and finally he died.

¹⁸She said to Elijah, "Man of God, why did you do this to me? Did you come here to remind God of my sins and so cause my son's death?"

¹⁹"Give the boy to me,"Elijah said. He took the boy from her arms, carried him upstairs to the room where he was staying, and laid him on the bed.

²⁰Then he prayed aloud, "O LORD my God, why have you done such a terrible thing to this widow? She has been kind enough to take care of me, and now you kill her son!"

²¹Then Elijah stretched himself out on the boy three times and prayed, "O LORD my God, restore this child to life!"

²²The LORD answered Elijah's prayer; the child started breathing again and revived.

²³Elijah took the boy back downstairs to his mother and said to her, "Look, your son is alive!"

²⁴She answered, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the LORD really speaks through you!"