17 1 Elijah said to king Ahab,
There will be neither rain nor dew for years unless I say so.
2 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah, and said,
3 Go east. Hide by the brook Cherith.
4 Drink from the brook. I'll send ravens to feed you.
5 So Elijah went to the brook Cherith. 6 And ravens brought him fresh bread every morning, and bread and flesh in the evening. 7 But the brook dried up, because there was no rain.
8 The word of the Lord came again to Elijah, and said,
9 Go to Zarephath. I've commanded a widow there to provide for you.
10-11 So Elijah went to Zarephath. When he arrived, he saw a widow gathering sticks. He called to her, saying,
Give me some water so I can drink. And bring me some bread, while you're at it.
12 The widow said,
I don't have any cake, just a handful of meal and a cruse of oil.
I'm gathering two sticks so I can feed my son and me. Then we'll die.
13 Elijah said,
Okay. But first make me some cake. Then you and your son can eat.
14 Because God said, "Your handful of meal and cruse of oil will last until I make it rain."
15 So the widow did what he said and fed the three of them for many days.
16 And the handful of meal and oil fed all three for all this time, just like God said it would.
17 But then the widow's son became sick and was no longer breathing.
18 The widow said to Elijah, "Why'd you come here, man of God? To kill my son?"
19-20 Elijah said to her, "Give me your son."
And he took the boy's body upstairs to the bed in his room, laid him on the bed, and said to God,
Why did you kill this woman's son?
21 He stretched himself upon the child three times and asked God to bring the boy back to life again.
22 God heard Elijah's voice and the boy came back to life.
23 Elijah brought the boy downstairs and give him to his mother, saying, "Your son is alive."
24 The woman said, "Now I know you're a man of God, and that God's word in your mouth is true."
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The Skeptic's Annotated Bible
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