1 Kings 17:1-13 ▼

1 Elijah 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.|

2 The LORD told him:

3 |Leave here and travel eastward. Hide out in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan.

4 Drink from the stream; I have already told the ravens to bring you food there.|

5 So he did as the LORD told him; he went and lived in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan.

6 The ravens would bring him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he would drink from the stream.

7 After a while, the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

8 The LORD told him,

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.|

10 So 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.|

11 As she went to get it, he called out to her, |Please bring me a piece of bread.|

12 She 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.|

13 Elijah 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.