The Lord said to Elijah, “Leave here and go to a certain brook. It will provide you water, and I have already told the ravens to bring you food.” 

So Elijah went and lived next to that brook. And just as the Lord said, the ravens brought him bread and meat every morning and every evening. But in time, the brook dried up because there hadn’t been any rain. 

The Lord said, “Go to a Gentile town called Zarephath. I have selected a widow to provide for you there.” When Elijah entered the village, he saw a woman gathering wood. He said to her, “Please bring me a little water.” As she went to get it, he said, “And also bring me some bread.” 

She turned and looked at him. “I don’t have any bread. All I have is a handful of flour in the jar, and a bit of oil in the jug. I was gathering these sticks so I could make it into bread for my son and myself. We were going to eat it and then die.” 

The prophet said, “Don’t be afraid to do what I say. Go and make your bread, but when it’s done, give some to me first. The Lord God of Israel has said, ‘The jar will always have flour, and the jug will always have oil until the day God sends rain.’”

Again, she looked at him, and then went and did as he asked. She made the bread, and gave some to him first. Sure enough, from that day on, the jar always had some flour, and the jug of oil never ran dry. 

She prepared a place for the prophet in the upper room of her house. 

Sometime later, the woman’s son got sick. Soon his illness was severe, and finally he died. The woman went to Elijah and said, “Man of God, why did you come in to my house? Was it to expose my guilt, so you could kill my son?” 

Elijah said, “Give me your son.” He took the boy to the upper room where he was staying. He laid him on the bed and then prayed, “Oh Lord God, why did you bring me into this woman’s home, and then kill her son? 

He then stretched out over the boy and prayed, “Oh Lord my God, please bring life back into this boy!” 

He stretched out over the boy a second time. “Oh Lord my God, please bring life back into this boy!” 

He stretched out over the boy a third time. “Oh Lord my God, please bring life back into this boy!” 

Suddenly the boy started breathing. Elijah took him back down into the house, and gave him to his mother. He said, “Here is your son. He’s alive.” 

The woman fell down before the prophet and said, “Now I know you are a man of God, and his word is in your mouth!”