Abram Goes to Egypt

¹⁰ At this time there was not much food in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live because there was so little food.

Isaac Lies to Abimelech

26 Now there was a time of hunger in the land, besides the time of hunger that happened during Abraham’s life. So Isaac went to the town of Gerar to see Abimelech king of the Philistines.

The Gibeonites Punish Saul’s Family

21 During the time David was king, there was a shortage of food that lasted for three years. So David prayed to the Lord.

The Lord answered, “Saul and his family of murderers are the reason for this shortage, because he killed the Gibeonites.”

Elijah Stops the Rain

17 Now Elijah the Tishbite was a prophet from the settlers in Gilead. “I serve the Lord, the God of Israel,” Elijah said to Ahab. “As surely as the Lord lives, no rain or dew will fall during the next few years unless I command it.”

² Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: ³ “Leave this place and go east and hide near Kerith Ravine east of the Jordan River. ⁴ You may drink from the stream, and I have commanded ravens to bring you food there.” ⁵ So Elijah did what the Lord said; he went to Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and lived there. ⁶ The birds brought Elijah bread and meat every morning and evening, and he drank water from the stream.

⁷ After a while the stream dried up because there was no rain. ⁸ Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah, ⁹ “Go to Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I have commanded a widow there to take care of you.”

¹⁰ So Elijah went to Zarephath. When he reached the town gate, he saw a widow gathering wood for a fire. Elijah asked her, “Would you bring me a little water in a cup so I may have a drink?” ¹¹ As she was going to get his water, Elijah said, “Please bring me a piece of bread, too.”

¹² The woman answered, “As surely as the Lord your God lives, I have no bread. I have only a handful of flour in a jar and only a little olive oil in a jug. I came here to gather some wood so I could go home and cook our last meal. My son and I will eat it and then die from hunger.”

¹³ “Don’t worry,” Elijah said to her. “Go home and cook your food as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread from the flour you have, and bring it to me. Then cook something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘That jar of flour will never be empty, and the jug will always have oil in it, until the day the Lord sends rain to the land.’”

¹⁵ So the woman went home and did what Elijah told her to do. And the woman and her son and Elijah had enough food every day. ¹⁶ The jar of flour and the jug of oil were never empty, just as the Lord, through Elijah, had promised.

Elijah Brings a Boy Back to Life

¹⁷ Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. He grew worse and worse and finally stopped breathing. ¹⁸ The woman said to Elijah, “Man of God, what have you done to me? Did you come here to remind me of my sin and to kill my son?”

¹⁹ Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” Elijah took the boy from her, carried him upstairs, and laid him on the bed in the room where he was staying. ²⁰ Then he prayed to the Lord: “Lord my God, this widow is letting me stay in her house. Why have you done this terrible thing to her and caused her son to die?” ²¹ Then Elijah lay on top of the boy three times. He prayed to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy live again!”

²² The Lord answered Elijah’s prayer; the boy began breathing again and was alive. ²³ Elijah carried the boy downstairs and gave him to his mother and said, “See! Your son is alive!”

²⁴ “Now I know you really are a man from God,” the woman said to Elijah. “I know that the Lord truly speaks through you!”

Elijah Kills the Prophets of Baal

18 During the third year without rain, the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: “Go and meet King Ahab, and I will soon send rain.”

²⁵ There was a shortage of food in Samaria. It was so bad that a donkey’s head sold for about two pounds of silver, and half of a pint of dove’s dung sold for about two ounces of silver.

²⁶ As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman yelled out to him, “Help me, my master and king!”

²⁷ The king said, “If the Lord doesn’t help you, how can I? Can I get help from the threshing floor or from the winepress?” ²⁸ Then the king said to her, “What is your trouble?”

She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we can eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ²⁹ So we boiled my son and ate him. Then the next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we can eat him.’ But she had hidden him.”

³⁰ When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes in grief. As he walked along the wall, the people looked and saw he had on rough cloth under his clothes to show his sadness. ³¹ He said, “May God punish me terribly if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat isn’t cut off from his body today!”

³² The king sent a messenger to Elisha, who was sitting in his house with the elders. But before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to them, “See, this murderer is sending men to cut off my head. When the messenger arrives, shut the door and hold it; don’t let him in. The sound of his master’s feet is behind him.”

³³ Elisha was still talking with the leaders when the messenger arrived. The king said, “This trouble has come from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”