Third Monday of Advent -

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Kings 17:1-16 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

1 Kings 17

Elijah Announces Famine

 ¹ Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, "As the LORD God of Israel lives, I stand before Him, and there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!"    ² Then a revelation from the LORD came to him: ³ "Leave here, turn eastward, and hide yourself at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. ⁴ You are to drink from the wadi. I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there."
    ⁵ So he did what the LORD commanded. Elijah left and lived by the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. ⁶ The ravens kept bringing him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening, and he drank from the wadi. ⁷ After a while, the wadi dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
   

Elijah and the Widow

 ⁸ Then the word of the LORD came to him: ⁹ "Get up, go to Zarephath that belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Look, I have commanded a woman who is a widow to provide for you there." ¹⁰ So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow woman gathering wood. Elijah called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup and let me drink." ¹¹ As she went to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand."    ¹² But she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I don't have anything baked—only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die."
    ¹³ Then Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid; go and do as you have said. Only make me a small loaf from it and bring it out to me. Afterwards, you may make some for yourself and your son, ¹⁴ for this is what the LORD God of Israel says: 'The flour jar will not become empty and the oil jug will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the surface of the land. ' "
    ¹⁵ So she proceeded to do according to the word of Elijah. She and he and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶ The flour jar did not become empty, and the oil jug did not run dry, according to the word of the LORD He had spoken through Elijah.