1 Kings 17
1 Elijah was [a prophet] who lived in Tishbe [town] in [the] Gilead [region]. One day he [went to] King Ahab and said to him, “Yahweh is the God whom we Israelis [worship] and the God whom I worship and serve. Just as certainly as Yahweh lives, there will be no dew or rain for the next few years, if I do not command rain to fall!”
And Elias the Thesbite of the inhabitants of Galaad said to Achab: As the Lord liveth the God of Israel, in whose sight I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to the words of my mouth.
2 Then Yahweh said to Elijah,
And the word of the Lord came to him, saying:
3 “[Because you have made the king angry with you, escape from the king and, ] go to the east, to the Kerith Brook, east of where it flows into the Jordan [River].
Get thee hence, and go towards the east and hide thyself by the torrent of Carith, which is over against the Jordan,
4 You will be able to drink water from the brook, and [you will be able to eat what] the crows [bring to you, because] I have commanded them to bring food to you.”
And there thou shalt drink of the torrent: and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
5 So Elijah did what Yahweh commanded him to do. He went and camped alongside Kerith Brook.
So he went, and did according to the word of the Lord: and going, he dwelt by the torrent Carith, which is over against the Jordan.
6 Crows bought bread and meat to him every morning and every evening, and he drank [water] from the brook.
And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of tile torrent.
7 But after a while, the water in the brook dried up, because rain did not fall anywhere in the land.
But after some time the torrent was dried up, for it had not rained upon the earth.
8 Then Yahweh said to Elijah,
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying:
9 “Go and live in Zarephath [village], near Sidon [city]. There is a widow there who will give you food to eat. I have [already] told her what to do about that.”
Arise, and go to Sarephta of the Sidonians, and dwell there: for I have commanded a widow woman there to feed thee.
10 So [Elijah did what God said]. He went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow who was gathering sticks. He said to her, “Would you please bring me a cup of water?”
He arose, and went to Sarephta. And when he was come to the gate of the city, he saw the widow woman gathering sticks, and he called her, and said to her: Give me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
11 While she was going to get it, he called out to her, “Bring me a piece of bread, too!”
And when she was going to fetch it he called after her, saying: Bring me also, I beseech thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand.
12 But she replied, “Your God knows that what I am telling you is true: I do not have even one piece of bread in my house. I have only a handful of flour in a jar, and a little [olive] oil in a jug. I was gathering a few sticks to use these to [make a fire and] cook one more meal, and then after my son and I eat that, we will die [from hunger].”
And she answered: As the Lord thy God liveth, I have no bread, but only a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruse: 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 But Elijah said to her, “Do not be worried! Go home and do what you said that you were going to do. But first, bake me a little loaf of bread and bring it to me. After you do that, take what is left and prepare some food for you and your son.
And Elias said to her: Fear not, but go, and do as thou hast said: but first make for me of the same meal a little hearth cake, and bring it to me: and after make for thyself and thy son.
14 [I know that you will be able to do that, ] because Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship], says this: ‘There will always be plenty of flour and [olive] oil left in your containers, until the time when I send rain again [and the crops grow again]!’”
For thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: The pot of meal shall not waste, nor the cruse of oil be diminished, until the day wherein the Lord will give rain upon the face of the earth.
15 So the woman did exactly what Elijah told her to do. And she and her son and Elijah had enough food every day,
She went and did according to the word of Elias: and he ate, and she, and her house: and from that day
16 because the flour in the jar was never finished, and the jug of oil was never empty. That happened just like Yahweh had told Elijah that it would happen.
The pot of meal wasted not, and the cruse of oil was not diminished, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Elias.
17 Some time later, the woman’s son became sick. He continued to get worse, and finally he died.
And it came to pass after this that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick, and the sickness was very grievous, so that there was no breath left in him.
18 So the woman went to Elijah and said to him, “You are a prophet; so why have you done this to me? Have you come here to punish me for my sins by causing my son to die?”
And she said to Elias: What have I to do with thee, thou man of God? art thou come to me that my iniquities should be remembered, and that thou shouldst kill my son?
19 But Elijah replied, “Give your son to me.” So she gave her son to him, and he took the boy’s [body] from her and carried it up [the steps] to the room where he stayed. He laid the boy’s [body] on his bed.
And Elias said to her: Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
20 Then Elijah cried out to Yahweh, “O Yahweh my God, this widow [has kindly allowed] me to stay in her home. So why have you brought this tragedy to her and caused her son to die?” [RHQ]
And he cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord my God, hast thou afflicted also the widow, with whom I am after a so maintained, so as to kill her son?
21 Then Elijah stretched himself on top of the boy’s [body] and called out to Yahweh saying, “Yahweh my God, please allow this boy to become alive again!” He did this three times.
And he stretched, and measured himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord my God, let the soul of this child, I beseech thee, return into his body.
22 Yahweh heard what Elijah prayed, and [he caused] the boy [to] become alive again [DOU].
And the Lord heard the voice of Elias: and the soul of the child returned into him, and he revived.
23 Elijah carried the boy down [the steps] and gave him to his mother. He said, “Look, your son is alive!”
And Elias took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber to the house below, and delivered him to his mother, and said to her: Behold thy son liveth.
24 The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know [for certain] that you are a prophet and that the words that you speak are truly from Yahweh!”
And the woman said to Elias: Now, by this I know that thou art a man of God, and the word of the Lord in thy mouth is true.
