THE FIRST BOOK OF
THE KINGS,

1 Kings 17 ©

Elijah foretells Ahab a great drought, v. 1. &c. Is sent by God to the brook Cherith, 2. There he is fed by the ravens, 5. Is sent to Zarephath, to a widow, 8. Who feeds him with meal and oil, of which there is no want, 11. Elijah raises the widow’s son, 17. She acknowledges him to be a prophet, 24.

1

AND Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of 1Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, 2before whom I stand, 3therea shall not be dew nor rain 4these years, but 5according 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 6Cherith, that is before Jordan.

4

And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have 7commanded the 8ravens 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 9after 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 10him, saying,

9

Arise, get thee tob11Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have 12commanded 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, 13Fetch 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 14cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering 15two sticks, that I may go in and dressc it for me and my son, that we may eat it, 16and 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, 17The 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 18and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her 19house, did eat many 20days.

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 21by 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, 22that there was no breath left in him.

18

And she said unto Elijah, 23What have I to do with thee, 24O thou man of God? 25art thou come unto me to call my sin 26to 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,d where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

20

And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, 27hast thou 28also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

21

And he 29stretched 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 30come into 31him again.

22

And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came 32into 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.