Elijah Announces Famine

17 Now Elijah(A) the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers,[a](B) said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives,(C) in whose presence I stand, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!” (D)

Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Leave here, turn eastward, and hide(E) at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. You are to drink from the wadi. I have commanded the ravens(F) to provide for you there.”

So he proceeded to do what the Lord commanded. Elijah left and lived at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. The ravens kept bringing him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening,(G) and he would drink from the wadi. After a while, the wadi dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

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Footnotes

  1. 17:1 LXX reads from Tishbe of Gilead

Elijah Fed by Ravens

17 Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives—the God I serve—there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!”

Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River. Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.”

So Elijah did as the Lord told him and camped beside Kerith Brook, east of the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook. But after a while the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land.

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