Life Over Death

^[1] Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” ^[2] Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: ^[3] “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. ^[4] You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” ^[5] So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. ^[6] The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. ^[7] Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. ^[8] Then the word of the LORD came to him: ^[9] “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” ^[10] So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” ^[11] As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” ^[12] “As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread-only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it-and die.” ^[13] Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. ^[14] For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.'” ^[15] She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. ^[16] For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah. ^[17] Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. ^[18] She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” ^[19] “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. ^[20] Then he cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” ^[21] Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” ^[22] The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. ^[23] Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” ^[24] Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.”

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.