1Elijah the Tishbite, who was one of the settlers in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives—the God whom I serve—there will be no dew or rain in these coming years unless I say so.”
2Then the word of Yahweh came to Elijah, saying,
3“Leave here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Cherith Brook, which is east of the Jordan River.
4You will drink from the brook, and I have commanded ravens to feed you there.”
5So he went and did what Yahweh told him to do; he went and lived by the Cherith Brook, which is east of the Jordan River.
6Ravens brought him bread and meat every morning and evening, and he drank from the brook.
7After a while, the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
8Then Yahweh spoke to him again, saying,
9"Get up and go to Zarephath, near Sidon, and stay there. I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."
10So he got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, he saw a widow gathering sticks. He called out to her, "Please bring me a little water in a cup so I can drink."
11As she was going to get it, he called out again, "Please bring me a piece of bread as well."
12She said, "As surely as Yahweh your God lives, I don't have any bread, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I'm gathering a couple of sticks to go in and prepare it for myself and my son, so we can eat it and then die."
13Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said, but first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me. Afterward, prepare something for yourself and your son.
14For Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not run out and the jug of oil will not go empty until the day Yahweh sends rain on the land.'"
15So she went and did just as Elijah told her, and she, Elijah, and her household had plenty to eat for many days.
16The jar of flour did not run out, and the jug of oil did not go empty, just as Yahweh had promised through Elijah.
17After these things, the son of the woman who owned the house became sick; and his sickness was so severe that he stopped breathing.
18She said to Elijah, "What do you want with me, man of God? Have you come to remind me of my sin and to kill my son?"
19He said to her, "Give me your son." He took the boy from her arms, carried him up to the room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.
20Then he cried out to Yahweh, "Yahweh my God, have you brought this tragedy upon the widow I am staying with by killing her son?"
21He stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to Yahweh, "Yahweh my God, please let this child's life return to him!"
22Yahweh heard Elijah's prayer, and the child's life returned to him, and he revived.
23Elijah took the child, brought him down from the room into the house, and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, "Look, your son is alive!"
24The woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of Yahweh you speak is true."