Elijah Proclaims a Drought

17 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the ^(A)inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, ^(B)“As the Lord God of Israel lives, ^(C)before whom I stand, ^(D)there shall not be dew nor rain ^(E)these years, except at my word.”

¹⁷ Elijah was a man ^(A)with a nature like ours, and ^(B)he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.

²⁵ But I tell you truly, ^(A)many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; ²⁶ but to none of them was Elijah sent except to ^[a]Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

^17 (A)He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

¹⁴ And Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, ^(A)whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak.”

¹⁴ And Elisha said, ^(A)“As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you.

⁶ These ^(A)have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

² God has not cast away His people whom ^(A)He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying,

^36 (A)Watch therefore, and ^(B)pray always that you may ^[a]be counted ^(C)worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and ^(D)to stand before the Son of Man.”

³⁰ And behold, two men talked with Him, who were ^(A)Moses and ^(B)Elijah,