1 Kings Chapter 17 begins with the prophet Elijah telling King Ahab that there will be a drought that will only end when the Lord says it will. Then God tells Elijah to leave the town and hide in a ravine that lies east of Jordan. Elijah obeys and goes to hide in the Kerith Ravine and is fed by ravens and drinks water from the brook there.

Elijah Visits a Widow

Because of the drought, the brook eventually dries up. God tells Elijah to go to a widow who lives in Sidon. God has already told this woman to feed Elijah. Elijah goes and finds the woman collecting sticks and he asks her for some water. As she goes to get some he tells her to bring him some bread, too.

But she says she has no bread. She only has a bit of flour and a bit of oil. This was why she was gathering sticks so she could make some food for herself and her son so that they can at least have this. Elijah comforts her and tells her to go to her home and cook, but first make him a cake from what she has in store then feed herself and her son, because the Lord says that her flour and her oil will not run out before the drought ends.

Elijah Heals Her Son

The woman does what Elijah says and there is enough food for her, her son, and Elijah and they eat well every day. But one day the son sickens. The widow is angry at Elijah, insisting that he came to bring turmoil on her family. But Elijah asks to be given the boy.

He carries the boy upstairs to his room and puts him on the bed and calls out to God to save the boy’s life. God hears Elijah and restores the boy’s life. Elijah carries the boy downstairs to his mother and the widow praises him as a true man of God.

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1 Kings 17 (King James Version)

1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

2 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

5 So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

8 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.

15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.

17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.

18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?

19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

20 And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.

22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.

24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.

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