¹⁷ Elijah was a man ^(A)with a nature like ours, and ^(B)he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.

Elijah Proclaims a Drought

17 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the ^(A)inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, ^(B)“As the Lord God of Israel lives, ^(C)before whom I stand, ^(D)there shall not be dew nor rain ^(E)these years, except at my word.”

²⁵ But I tell you truly, ^(A)many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land;

¹⁵ and saying, “Men, ^(A)why are you doing these things? ^(B)We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from ^(C)these useless things ^(D)to the living God, ^(E)who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them,

⁶ These ^(A)have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

Elijah’s Message to Ahab

18 And it came to pass after ^(A)many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and ^(B)I will send rain on the earth.”

²⁶ But Peter lifted him up, saying, ^(A)“Stand up; I myself am also a man.”

² God has not cast away His people whom ^(A)He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying,