1 Kings 17
New English Translation
Elijah Visits a Widow in Sidonian Territory
17 Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As certainly as the Lord God of Israel lives (whom I serve),[a] there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command.”[b] 2 The Lord’s message came to 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[c] the ravens to bring you food[d] there.” 5 So he carried out[e] the Lord’s message; 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,[f] the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 The Lord’s message came to him, 9 “Get up, go to Zarephath in Sidonian territory, and live there. I have already told[g] 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 little water in a cup, 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.”[h] 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.”[i] 13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go and do as you planned.[j] But first make me a small cake[k] and bring it to me; then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord God of Israel has said: ‘The jar of flour will not be empty and the jug of oil will not run out until the day the Lord makes it rain on the surface of the ground.’” 15 She went and did as Elijah told her; there was always enough food for Elijah and for her and her family.[l] 16 The jar of flour was never empty and the jug of oil never ran out, in keeping with the Lord’s message that he had spoken through Elijah.
17 After this[m] the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. His illness was so severe he could no longer breathe. 18 She asked Elijah, “Why, prophet, have you come[n] to me to confront me with[o] my sin and kill my son?” 19 He said to her, “Hand me your son.” He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him down on his bed. 20 Then he called out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, are you also bringing disaster on this widow I am staying with by killing her son?” 21 He stretched out over the boy three times and called out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, please let this boy’s breath return to him.” 22 The Lord answered Elijah’s prayer; the boy’s breath returned to him and he lived. 23 Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room to the house, and handed him to his mother. Elijah then said, “See, your son is alive!” 24 The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a prophet[p] and that the Lord’s message really does come through you.”[q]
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 17:1 tn Heb “before whom I stand.”
- 1 Kings 17:1 tn Heb “except at the command of my word.”
- 1 Kings 17:4 tn Heb “commanded.”
- 1 Kings 17:4 tn Heb “to provide for you.”
- 1 Kings 17:5 tn Heb “acted according to.”
- 1 Kings 17:7 tn Heb “And it came about at the end of days.”
- 1 Kings 17:9 tn Heb “Look, I have commanded.”
- 1 Kings 17:11 tn The Hebrew text also includes the phrase “in your hand.”
- 1 Kings 17:12 tn Heb “Look, I am gathering two sticks and then I will go and make it for me and my son and we will eat it and we will die.”
- 1 Kings 17:13 tn Heb “according to your word.”
- 1 Kings 17:13 tn Heb “cake from there.”
- 1 Kings 17:15 tn Heb “and she ate, she and he and her house [for] days.”
- 1 Kings 17:17 tn Heb “after these things.”
- 1 Kings 17:18 tn Heb “What to me and to you, man of God, that you have come.”
- 1 Kings 17:18 tn Heb “to make me remember.”
- 1 Kings 17:24 tn Heb “man of God.”
- 1 Kings 17:24 tn Heb “is truly in your mouth.”sn This episode is especially significant in light of Ahab’s decision to promote Baal worship in Israel. In Canaanite mythology the drought that swept over the region (v. 1) would signal that Baal, a fertility god responsible for providing food for his subjects, had been defeated by the god of death and was imprisoned in the underworld. While Baal was overcome by death and unable to function like a king, Israel’s God demonstrated his sovereignty and superiority to death by providing food for a widow and restoring life to her son. And he did it all in Sidonian territory, Baal’s back yard, as it were. The episode demonstrates that Israel’s God, not Baal, is the true king who provides food and controls life and death. This polemic against Baalism reaches its climax in the next chapter, when the Lord proves that he, not Baal, controls the elements of the storm and determines when the rains will fall.
1 Kings 17
Expanded Bible
Elijah Stops the Rain
17 Now Elijah the Tishbite was a prophet from the settlers in Gilead. “I ·serve [L stand before] the Lord, the God of Israel,” Elijah said to Ahab. “As surely as the Lord lives, no dew or rain will fall during the next few years ·unless I command it [except by my word; C the people were worshiping the false god Baal whom they believed brought rain].”
2 Then the ·Lord spoke his word [word of the Lord came] to Elijah: 3 “Leave this place and go east and hide near Kerith ·Ravine [Brook; Wadi] east of the Jordan River. 4 Drink from the stream, and I have ·commanded [ordered] ravens to bring you food there.” 5 So Elijah did ·what the Lord said [L according to the word of the Lord]; he went to Kerith ·Ravine [Brook; Wadi], east of the Jordan, and lived there. 6 The ·birds [ravens] brought Elijah bread and meat every morning and evening, and he drank water from the stream.
7 After a while the stream dried up because there was no rain in the land. 8 Then the ·Lord spoke his word to Elijah [L word of the Lord came to him], 9 “Go to Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I have commanded a widow there to ·take care of [provide for; feed] you.”
10 So Elijah went to Zarephath. When he reached the town gate, he saw a widow gathering ·wood for a fire [sticks]. Elijah asked her, “·Would you [Please] bring me a little water in a ·cup [jar; pitcher] so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get his water, Elijah said, “Please bring me a ·piece [scrap] of bread [L in your hand].”
12 The woman answered, “As surely as the Lord your God lives, I have no bread. I have only a handful of flour in a ·jar [bowl] and only a little olive oil in a jug. I came here to gather some wood so I could go home and cook our last meal. My son and I will eat it and then die [C of hunger].”
13 “Don’t ·worry [be afraid],” Elijah said to her. “Go home and cook your food as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread from the flour you have, and bring it to me. Then cook something for yourself and your son. 14 The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘That jar of flour will never be ·empty [spent; used up], and the jug will ·always have oil in it [not run dry/fail/be empty], until the day the Lord sends rain to the land.’”
15 So the woman went home and did what Elijah told her to do. And the woman and her ·son and Elijah [family; L household] had enough food ·every day [L for many days]. 16 The ·jar [bowl] of flour and the jug of oil were never empty, ·just as the Lord, through Elijah, had promised [L according to the word of the Lord, spoken through Elijah].
Elijah Brings a Boy Back to Life
17 ·Some time later [L After these things] the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. He grew worse and worse and finally ·stopped breathing [died; L there remained no breath in him]. 18 The woman said to Elijah, “Man of God, what ·have you done to me [do you have against me; L to me and to you]? Did you come here to ·remind me of [reveal; point out] my sin and to kill my son?”
19 Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” Elijah took the boy from ·her [her arms/lap/L bosom], carried him upstairs, and laid him on the bed in the room where he was staying. 20 Then he prayed to the Lord: “Lord my God, this widow is letting me stay in her house. Why have you ·done this terrible thing [brought tragedy/calamity] to her and caused her son to die?” 21 Then Elijah ·lay on top of [stretched himself on] the boy three times. He prayed to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this ·boy live again [boy’s life/breath/soul return to him]!”
22 The Lord ·answered [heard] Elijah’s ·prayer [cry; L voice]; the ·boy began breathing again [boy’s life/breath/soul returned to him] and ·was alive [revived]. 23 Elijah carried the boy downstairs and gave him to his mother and said, “See! Your son is alive!”
24 “Now I know you really are a man from God,” the woman said to Elijah. “I know that the ·Lord truly speaks through you [L word of the Lord in your mouth is true]!”
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