1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
17:1-71 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
Elijah said to king Ahab,
There will be neither rain nor dew for years unless I say so. [1]
2 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
Go east. Hide by the brook Cherith.
4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
You'll drink from the brook; I'll send ravens to feed you.
5 So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
6And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
17:8-168 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
Get up and go to Zarephath.I've commanded a widow there to provide for you.
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
So Elijah went to Zarephath. When he arrived, he saw a widow gathering sticks. He called to her, saying,
Give me some water so I can drink.
11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
While she was fetching him some water, he said,
And bring me some bread, while you're at it.
12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
The widow said,
I don't have any cake, just a handful of meal and a cruse of oil.
I'm gathering two sticks so I can feed my son and me.
Then we'll die.
13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
Elijah said,
Okay. But first make me some cake.
Then you and your son can eat.
14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.
Because God says, "Your handful of meal and cruse of oil will last until I make it rain."
15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
16And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.
17:17-2417 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
Why'd you come here, man of God?To kill my son?
19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
20And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
Elijah said to her, "Give me your son."
And he took the boy's body upstairs to the bed in his room, laid him on the bed, and said to God,
Why did you kill this woman's son?
21And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.
Elijah stretched himself upon the child three times. And asked God to bring the boy back to life again. [2]
22And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
God heard Elijah's voice and the boy came back to life.
23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.
Elijah is being rather vague here. The number of years that the drought will last is not specified. It could be a few, it could be many. I guess it's just not going to rain until Elijah makes it rain.
See a similar but even creepier story in 2 Kings 4:32-35, where Elisha resurrects a dead boy by stretching himself upon him.
Strange Flesh: Elisha stretched himself upon the child three times
