Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

Elijah, who was from Gilead and lived among its people, said to Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there will be no dew or rain in these years except according to my word.

The Lord's message came to him, saying, "Go away from here and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which flows eastward into the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." So Elijah went and did as the Lord instructed: he traveled to live by the brook Cherith, which is before the Jordan.

The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and evening, and he also drank from the brook. But after a while, the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

Then the Lord's message came to Elijah again, saying, "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there; I have commanded a widow woman there to provide for you." When he arrived at the city gate, the widow woman was gathering sticks. He called out to her and said, "Fetch me a little water in a vessel that I may drink."

As she was going to fetch it, he asked her to bring him a small piece of bread in her hand. She replied, "As the Lord your God lives, I have only a handful of meal left in my barrel and a little oil in a jar; now I'm gathering two sticks to cook it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die." Elijah told her not to be afraid but to make him a small cake first and bring it to him. Then she should make one for herself and her son.

The Lord God of Israel had spoken through Elijah: "The barrel of meal will not run out, nor the jar of oil fail, until the day I send rain on the earth." So she did as Elijah said, and they ate for many days from the little food. The barrel of meal never ran out, nor did the jar of oil ever fail, just as the Lord had spoken.

Some time later, the widow's son fell gravely ill. There was no breath left in him. She cried out to Elijah, "What do you have against me, O man of God? Have you come to remind me of my sin and cause my son to die?" But he said to her, "Give me your son," and took him from her arms. Carrying the child up into a loft where he lay on his own bed, Elijah stretched himself out over him three times, crying out to the Lord.

The Lord heard Elijah's voice, and the child's life returned to him. Elijah took the child down from the room into the house and handed him back to his mother, saying, "Look, your son lives." The woman exclaimed, "I now know you are a man of God, and your words from the Lord are trustworthy."