MSB 1 KI Chapter 17

The Ravens Feed Elijah

Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead,[fn] said to Ahab,“As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”

2 

Then a revelation from the LORD came to [Elijah] 3 “Leave here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Brook of Cherith, east of the Jordan.[fn] 4 And you are to drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”

5 

So [Elijah] did what the LORD had told him, and he went and lived by the Brook of Cherith, east of the Jordan. 6 The ravens would bring him bread and meat in the morning and evening, and he would drink from the brook. 7 Some time later, however the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

8 

The Widow of Zarephath

Then the word of the LORD came to [Elijah] 9 “Get up [and] go to Zarephath of Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded vvv a widow there to provide for you.”

10 

So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks. Elijah called to her and said,“Please bring me a little water in a cup, so that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to get [it], he called to her and said,“Please bring me a piece of bread

12 

But she replied,“As surely as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread— only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering a couple of sticks to take home and prepare [a meal] for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”

13 

“Do not be afraid,” Elijah said to her.“Go and do as you have said. But first make me a small cake of bread from [what you have], and bring it out to me. Afterward, make [some] for yourself and your son, 14 for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:‘The jar of flour will not be exhausted and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain upon the face of the earth.’ ”

15 

So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and there was food every day for Elijah and the woman and her household. 16 The jar of flour was not exhausted and the jug of oil did not run dry, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Elijah.

17 

Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son

Later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill, and his sickness grew worse and worse, until no breath remained in him. 18 “O man of God,” said [the woman] to Elijah,“what have you done to me? Have you come to remind me of my iniquity and cause the death of my son?”

19 

But Elijah said to her,“Give me your son.”

So he took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20 Then he cried out to the LORD“O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on this widow vvv who has opened her home to me by causing her son {to die}?” 21 Then he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the LORD“O LORD my God, please let this boy’s life return to him!”

22 

And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah, and the child’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Then Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother.“Look, your son is alive,” Elijah declared.

24 

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