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And then this happened: Elijah the Tishbite, from among the settlers of Gilead, confronted Ahab: "As surely as God lives, the God of Israel before whom I stand in obedient service, the next years are going to see a total drought - not a drop of dew or rain unless I say otherwise."
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"Get out of here, and fast. Head east and hide out at the Kerith Ravine on the other side of the Jordan River.
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You can drink fresh water from the brook; I've ordered the ravens to feed you."
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Elijah obeyed God's orders. He went and camped in the Kerith canyon on the other side of the Jordan.
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And sure enough, ravens brought him his meals, both breakfast and supper, and he drank from the brook.
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Eventually the brook dried up because of the drought.
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"Get up and go to Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I've instructed a woman who lives there, a widow, to feed you."
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So he got up and went to Zarephath. As he came to the entrance of the village he met a woman, a widow, gathering firewood. He asked her, "Please, would you bring me a little water in a jug? I need a drink."
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As she went to get it, he called out, "And while you're at it, would you bring me something to eat?"
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She said, "I swear, as surely as your God lives, I don't have so much as a biscuit. I have a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a bottle; you found me scratching together just enough firewood to make a last meal for my son and me. After we eat it, we'll die."
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Elijah said to her, "Don't worry about a thing. Go ahead and do what you've said. But first make a small biscuit for me and bring it back here. Then go ahead and make a meal from what's left for you and your son.
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This is the word of the God of Israel: 'The jar of flour will not run out and the bottle of oil will not become empty before God sends rain on the land and ends this drought.'"
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And she went right off and did it, did just as Elijah asked. And it turned out as he said - daily food for her and her family.
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The jar of meal didn't run out and the bottle of oil didn't become empty: God's promise fulfilled to the letter, exactly as Elijah had delivered it!
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Later on the woman's son became sick. The sickness took a turn for the worse - and then he stopped breathing.
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The woman said to Elijah, "Why did you ever show up here in the first place - a holy man barging in, exposing my sins, and killing my son?"
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Elijah said, "Hand me your son."
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Then he prayed, "O God, my God, why have you brought this terrible thing on this widow who has opened her home to me? Why have you killed her son?"