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Stories of Elijah and Ahab

Chapter 17

Elijah Predicts a Drought.[a] Now Elijah the Tishbite from Tishbe in Gilead said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives before whom I stand, there shall be no dew or rain these years except at my word.”

Then the word of the Lord came to him saying, “Go forth from here and go eastward to the Wadi Kerith near the Jordan and hide there. You can drink from the brook there, and I have commanded the ravens there to feed you.” So he went and did what the Lord had said, and he dwelt in the Wadi Kerith near the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the wadi.

After some time the wadi dried up because there had been no rain in the land. The word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Arise and go to Zarephath[b] which belongs to Sidon and live there. I have commanded a woman there who is a widow to take care of you.”

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the gate to the city, there was a woman there who was a widow. She was gathering sticks, and he called out to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a jar so that I can have something to drink.”

11 As she went to get it for him, he called out to her and said, “Please also bring me a bit of bread in your hand.” 12 But she said to him, “As the Lord, your God, lives, I do not have any bread. I only have a handful of flour in a jar and a little bit of oil in a jug. I am gathering two sticks so that I can prepare it for myself and my son so that we can eat it and die.”

13 Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do what you have said, but first make a small piece of bread and bring it to me. Afterwards, you can make some for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour will not be used up, the jug of oil will not go dry, up until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ”

15 She went and did what Elijah had told her to do. She, and he, and her household ate for a long time. 16 The jar of flour was not used up, and the jug of oil did not go dry, just as the word of the Lord had foretold through Elijah.

17 Elijah Restores Life to the Widow’s Son.[c] After these things happened, the son of the woman who owned the house fell ill. The illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.

18 She said to Elijah, “What do I have to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to make me remember my sins,[d] and to put my son to death?” 19 He said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him from her lap and carried him to the upper room, and he laid him upon his own bed. 20 He called out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, have you brought disaster upon the widow with whom I am living by killing her son?” 21 He stretched himself out upon the boy three times, and he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord, my God, may this child’s life return to him.”

22 The Lord heard Elijah’s voice, and the child’s life returned to him and he revived. 23 Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and handed him over to his mother saying, “See, your son is alive.” 24 The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of God that is in your mouth is true.”

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 17:1 The name “Elijah” means “The Lord is my God” and really suits him: in the midst of a people who prostrate themselves before idols, the prophet is a champion of the living God. Elijah confronted Ahab by predicting the long drought that would not be remedied by worshiping Baal, but only through the power of the true God.
  2. 1 Kings 17:9 Zarephath: on the coast of Phoenicia, south of Sidon.
  3. 1 Kings 17:17 The first raising from the dead of which the Bible speaks is on behalf of a foreign woman (see Lk 4:25-26).
  4. 1 Kings 17:18 Make me remember my sins: it was not uncommon at the time for a parent to blame themselves for a child’s disabilities. Elijah’s ability to raise the widow’s son from death was a sign to the people of God’s power among them.

以利亚预言旱灾

17 有一位先知名叫以利亚,是基列的提斯比人。他对亚哈说:“我凭我事奉的以色列的上帝——永活的耶和华起誓,如果我不祷告,这几年必没有雨水和甘露。” 耶和华对以利亚说: “你离开这里,往东去,到约旦河以东的基立溪旁躲起来。 你可以喝基立溪的水,我已吩咐乌鸦在那里供应你食物。” 以利亚遵从耶和华的话,到约旦河东的基立溪旁住下来。 乌鸦每天早晚为他叼来饼和肉,他喝溪里的水。

撒勒法的寡妇

因为天旱无雨,过了些日子,溪水干了。 耶和华对他说: “你去西顿的撒勒法,我已吩咐那里的一个寡妇供养你。” 10 他来到撒勒法的城门口,看见一个寡妇在捡柴,就对她说:“请给我一点水喝。” 11 那妇人去拿水的时候,以利亚又说:“请给我拿一点饼。” 12 她说:“我凭你的上帝——永活的耶和华起誓,我没有饼,我坛里只有一把面,瓶里只有一点油。我来捡柴就是要回去做饼,与儿子吃完后,就只能等死了。”

13 以利亚说:“不要害怕,你可以照你所说的去做饼,只是你要先做一小块饼给我,然后再做给你和你儿子。 14 因为以色列的上帝耶和华说,‘在耶和华降雨之前,你坛里的面和瓶里的油必不会空。’” 15 那妇人就依照以利亚的话做了。妇人一家和以利亚就这样吃了许多天, 16 坛里的面没有用完,瓶里的油也没有用光,应验了耶和华借以利亚说的话。

17 后来,妇人的儿子病了,病情越来越重,最后死了。 18 妇人对以利亚说:“上帝的仆人啊,我跟你有什么关系?你到我这里来是要让上帝想起我的罪,取我儿子的性命吗?” 19 以利亚对妇人说:“把你儿子交给我。”随后,他从妇人怀中接过孩子,抱到楼上自己的房间,放在床上。 20 他向耶和华呼求道:“我的上帝耶和华啊,我寄居在这寡妇家里,你为什么降祸给她,夺去她儿子的性命呢?” 21 他三次伏在孩子身上,求告耶和华说:“我的上帝耶和华啊,求你让这孩子活过来吧。” 22 耶和华听了以利亚的祈求,孩子就活过来了。 23 以利亚将孩子从楼上抱下来,交给他母亲,说:“看,你儿子活过来了!” 24 妇人对以利亚说:“现在我知道你是上帝的仆人,耶和华借你口所说的都是真的。”

17 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. 11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. 12 And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. 13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 14 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. 15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.

17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? 19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. 20 And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? 21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again. 22 And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. 24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.