1 Kings 17:1-24 CEB

[1] Elijah from Tishbe, who was one of the settlers in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD lives, Israel’s God, the one I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain these years unless I say so.” [2] Then the LORD’s word came to Elijah: [3] Go from here and turn east. Hide by the Cherith Brook that faces the Jordan River. [4] You can drink from the brook. I have also ordered the ravens to provide for you there. [5] Elijah went and did just what the LORD said. He stayed by the Cherith Brook that faced the Jordan River. [6] The ravens brought bread and meat in the mornings and evenings. He drank from the Cherith Brook. [7] After a while the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land. [8] The LORD’s word came to Elijah: [9] Get up and go to Zarephath near Sidon and stay there. I have ordered a widow there to take care of you. [10] Elijah left and went to Zarephath. As he came to the town gate, he saw a widow collecting sticks. He called out to her, “Please get a little water for me in this cup so I can drink.” [11] She went to get some water. He then said to her, “Please get me a piece of bread.” [12] “As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any food; only a handful of flour in a jar and a bit of oil in a bottle. Look at me. I’m collecting two sticks so that I can make some food for myself and my son. We’ll eat the last of the food and then die.” [13] Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go and do what you said. Only make a little loaf of bread for me first. Then bring it to me. You can make something for yourself and your son after that. [14] This is what Israel’s God, the LORD, says: The jar of flour won’t decrease and the bottle of oil won’t run out until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.” [15] The widow went and did what Elijah said. So the widow, Elijah, and the widow’s household ate for many days. [16] The jar of flour didn’t decrease nor did the bottle of oil run out, just as the LORD spoke through Elijah. [17] After these things, the son of the widow, who was the matriarch of the household, became ill. His sickness got steadily worse until he wasn’t breathing anymore. [18] She said to Elijah, “What’s gone wrong between us, man of God? Have you come to me to call attention to my sin and kill my son?” [19] Elijah replied, “Give your son to me.” He took her son from her and carried him to the upper room where he was staying. Elijah laid him on his bed. [20] Elijah cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, why is it that you have brought such evil upon the widow that I am staying with by killing her son?” [21] Then he stretched himself over the boy three times and cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, please give this boy’s life back to him.” [22] The LORD listened to Elijah’s voice and gave the boy his life back. And he lived. [23] Elijah brought the boy down from the upper room of the house and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, “Look, your son is alive!” [24] “Now I know that you really are a man of God,” the woman said to Elijah, “and that the LORD’s word is truly in your mouth.”