Add parallel Print Page Options

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] The Lord’s message came to him: “Leave here and travel eastward. Hide out in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. Drink from the stream; I have already told[c] the ravens to bring you food[d] there.” So he carried out[e] the Lord’s message; he went and lived in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. The ravens would bring him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he would drink from the stream.

After a while,[f] the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 17:1 tn Heb “before whom I stand.”
  2. 1 Kings 17:1 tn Heb “except at the command of my word.”
  3. 1 Kings 17:4 tn Heb “commanded.”
  4. 1 Kings 17:4 tn Heb “to provide for you.”
  5. 1 Kings 17:5 tn Heb “acted according to.”
  6. 1 Kings 17:7 tn Heb “And it came about at the end of days.”

Elijah Calls for a Drought

17 Elijah the foreigner,[a] who was an alien resident from Gilead, told Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, in whose presence I’m standing, there will be neither dew nor rain these next several years, except when I say so.”

Later, this message came to him from the Lord: “Leave here and go into hiding at the Wadi[b] Cherith, where it enters the Jordan River.[c] You will be able to drink from that brook, and I’ve commanded some crows to sustain you there.”

So Elijah[d] left and did exactly what the Lord had told him to do—he went to live near the Wadi[e] Cherith, where it enters the Jordan River. Crows would bring him bread and meat both in the morning and in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. But after a while,[f] the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 17:1 Lit. Tishbite; or sojourner
  2. 1 Kings 17:3 I.e. a seasonal stream or river that channels water during rain seasons but is dry at other times
  3. 1 Kings 17:3 The Heb. lacks River; and so throughout the chapter
  4. 1 Kings 17:5 Lit. he
  5. 1 Kings 17:5 I.e. a seasonal stream or river that channels water during rain seasons but is dry at other times
  6. 1 Kings 17:7 Lit. But at the end of days

Elijah Announces a Great Drought

17 Now Elijah(A) the Tishbite, from Tishbe[a] in Gilead,(B) said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain(C) in the next few years except at my word.”

Elijah Fed by Ravens

Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Leave here, turn eastward and hide(D) in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens(E) to supply you with food there.”

So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning(F) and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 17:1 Or Tishbite, of the settlers