NET Bible | New Living Translation |
1Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As certainly as the LORD God of Israel lives (whom I serve), there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command." | 1Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives—the God I serve—there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!” |
2The LORD told him: | 2Then the LORD said to Elijah, |
3"Leave here and travel eastward. Hide out in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. | 3“Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River. |
4Drink from the stream; I have already told the ravens to bring you food there." | 4Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.” |
5So he did as the LORD told him; he went and lived in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. | 5So Elijah did as the LORD told him and camped beside Kerith Brook, east of the Jordan. |
6The ravens would bring him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he would drink from the stream. | 6The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook. |
7After a while, the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land. | 7But after a while the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land. The Widow at Zarephath |
8The LORD told him, | 8Then the LORD said to Elijah, |
9"Get up, go to Zarephath in Sidonian territory, and live there. I have already told a widow who lives there to provide for you." | 9“Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.” |
10So he got up and went to Zarephath. When he went through the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood. He called out to her, "Please give me a cup of water, so I can take a drink." | 10So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?” |
11As she went to get it, he called out to her, "Please bring me a piece of bread." | 11As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.” |
12She said, "As certainly as the LORD your God lives, I have no food, except for a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. Right now I am gathering a couple of sticks for a fire. Then I'm going home to make one final meal for my son and myself. After we have eaten that, we will die of starvation." | 12But she said, “I swear by the LORD your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.” |
13Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go and do as you planned. But first make a small cake for me and bring it to me; then make something for yourself and your son. | 13But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. |
14For this is what the LORD God of Israel says, 'The jar of flour will not be empty and the jug of oil will not run out until the day the LORD makes it rain on the surface of the ground.'" | 14For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the LORD sends rain and the crops grow again!” |
15She went and did as Elijah told her; there was always enough food for Elijah and for her and her family. | 15So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. |
16The jar of flour was never empty and the jug of oil never ran out, just as the LORD had promised through Elijah. | 16There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the LORD had promised through Elijah. |
17After this the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. His illness was so severe he could no longer breathe. | 17Some time later the woman’s son became sick. He grew worse and worse, and finally he died. |
18She asked Elijah, "Why, prophet, have you come to me to confront me with my sin and kill my son?" | 18Then she said to Elijah, “O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to point out my sins and kill my son?” |
19He said to her, "Hand me your son." He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him down on his bed. | 19But Elijah replied, “Give me your son.” And he took the child’s body from her arms, carried him up the stairs to the room where he was staying, and laid the body on his bed. |
20Then he called out to the LORD, "O LORD, my God, are you also bringing disaster on this widow I am staying with by killing her son?" | 20Then Elijah cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?” |
21He stretched out over the boy three times and called out to the LORD, "O LORD, my God, please let this boy's breath return to him." | 21And he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, please let this child’s life return to him.” |
22The LORD answered Elijah's prayer; the boy's breath returned to him and he lived. | 22The LORD heard Elijah’s prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he revived! |
23Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room to the house, and handed him to his mother. Elijah then said, "See, your son is alive!" | 23Then Elijah brought him down from the upper room and gave him to his mother. “Look!” he said. “Your son is alive!” |
24The woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a prophet and that the LORD really does speak through you." | 24Then the woman told Elijah, “Now I know for sure that you are a man of God, and that the LORD truly speaks through you.” |
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