The Widow of Zarephath

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁹ “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there, for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”^{(A) 10} So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” ¹¹ As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” ¹² But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.”^{(B) 13} Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said, but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.”^{(C) 15} She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶ The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

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!”^{(D) 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.”^{(E) 22} The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.^{(F) 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.”^(G)

¹¹ One day when he came there, he went up to the chamber and lay down there. ¹² He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite woman.” When he had called her, she stood before him.^{(A) 13} He said to him, “Say to her: Since you have taken all this trouble for us, what may be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?” She answered, “I live among my own people.” ¹⁴ He said, “What then may be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” ¹⁵ He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood at the door. ¹⁶ He said, “At this season, in due time, you shall embrace a son.” She replied, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not deceive your servant.”^(B)

¹⁷ The woman conceived and bore a son at that season, in due time, as Elisha had declared to her.

¹⁸ When the child was older, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. ¹⁹ He complained to his father, “Oh, my head, my head!” The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰ He carried him and brought him to his mother; the child sat on her lap until noon, and he died. ²¹ She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, closed the door on him, and left.^{(C) 22} Then she called to her husband and said, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again.” ²³ He said, “Why go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.” She said, “It will be all right.”^{(D) 24} Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Urge the animal on; do not hold back for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵ So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite woman;^{(E) 26} run at once to meet her and say to her: Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is the child all right?” She answered, “It is all right.” ²⁷ When she came to the man of God at the mountain, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi approached to push her away, but the man of God said, “Let her alone, for she is in bitter distress; the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.” ²⁸ Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not mislead me?’ ”^{(F) 29} He said to Gehazi, “Gird up your loins, and take my staff in your hand, and go. If you meet anyone, give no greeting, and if anyone greets you, do not answer, and lay my staff on the face of the child.”^{(G) 30} Then the mother of the child said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave without you.” So he rose up and followed her.^{(H) 31} Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. He came back to meet him and told him, “The child has not awakened.”

³² When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. ³³ So he went in and closed the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord.^{(I) 34} Then he got up on the bed^[a] and lay upon the child, putting his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and while he lay bent over him, the flesh of the child became warm.^{(J) 35} He got down, walked once to and fro in the room, then got up again and bent over him; the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.^{(K) 36} Elisha^[b] summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” So he called her. When she came to him, he said, “Take your son.” ³⁷ She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground; then she took her son and left.^(L)