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Elijah Revives the Widow’s Son

17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 She then said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!”(A) 19 But he said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. 20 He cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.”(B) 22 The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.(C) 23 Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” 24 So the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”(D)

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Elijah Brings a Boy Back to Life

17 Several days later, the son of the woman who owned the house[a] got sick, and he kept getting worse, until finally he died.

18 The woman shouted at Elijah, “What have I done to you? I thought you were God's prophet. Did you come here to cause the death of my son as a reminder that I've sinned against God?”[b]

19 “Bring me your son,” Elijah said. Then he took the boy from her arms and carried him upstairs to the room where he was staying. Elijah laid the boy on his bed 20 and prayed, “Lord God, why did you do such a terrible thing to this woman? She's letting me stay here, and now you've let her son die.” 21 (A) Elijah stretched himself out over the boy three times, while praying, “Lord God, bring this boy back to life!”

22 The Lord answered Elijah's prayer, and the boy started breathing again. 23 Elijah picked him up and carried him downstairs. He gave the boy to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive.”

24 “You are God's prophet!” the woman replied. “Now I know that you really do speak for the Lord.”

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Footnotes

  1. 17.17 the woman who owned the house: This may or may not be the same woman as the widow in verses 8-16.
  2. 17.18 Did you … God: In ancient times people sometimes thought that if they sinned, something terrible would happen to them.