New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word."
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And Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, By the living Lord, the God of Israel, whose servant I am, there will be no dew or rain in these years, but only at my word.
2 The word of the Lord came to him, saying,
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Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
3 "Go from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.
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Go from here in the direction of the east, and keep yourself in a secret place by the stream Cherith, east of Jordan.
4 You shall drink from the wadi, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there."
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The water of the stream will be your drink, and by my orders the ravens will give you food there.
5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord; he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.
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So he went and did as the Lord said, living by the stream Cherith, east of Jordan.
6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the wadi.
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And the ravens took him bread in the morning and meat in the evening; and the water of the stream was his drink.
7 But after a while the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
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Now after a time the stream became dry, because there was no rain in the land.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
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Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
9 "Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you."
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Up! go now to Zarephath, in Zidon, and make your living-place there; I have given orders to a widow woman there to see that you have food.
10 So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink."
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So he got up and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the door of the town, he saw a widow woman getting sticks together; and crying out to her he said, Will you give me a little water in a vessel for my drink?
11 As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."
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And when she was going to get it, he said to her, And get me with it a small bit of bread.
12 But she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."
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Then she said, By the life of the Lord your God, I have nothing but a little meal in my store, and a drop of oil in the bottle; and now I am getting two sticks together so that I may go in and make it ready for me and my son, so that we may have a meal before our death.
13 Elijah said to her, "Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son.
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And Elijah said to her, Have no fear; go and do as you have said, but first make me a little cake of it and come and give it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.
14 For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth."
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For this is the word of the Lord, the God of Israel: The store of meal will not come to an end, and the bottle will never be without oil, till the day when the Lord sends rain on the earth.
15 She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days.
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So she went and did as Elijah said; and she and he and her family had food for a long time.
16 The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
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The store of meal did not come to an end, and the bottle was never without oil, as the Lord had said by the mouth of Elijah.
17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.
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Now after this, the son of the woman of the house became ill, so ill that there was no breath in him.
18 She then said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!"
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And she said to Elijah, What have I to do with you, O man of God? have you come to put God in mind of my sin, and to put my son to death?
19 But he said to her, "Give me your son." He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed.
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And he said to her, Give your son to me. And lifting him out of her arms, he took him up to his room and put him down on his bed.
20 He cried out to the Lord, "O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?"
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And crying to the Lord he said, O Lord my God, have you sent evil even on the widow whose guest I am, by causing her son's death?
21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the Lord, "O Lord my God, let this child's life come into him again."
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And stretching herself out on the child three times, he made his prayer to the Lord, saying, O Lord my God, be pleased to let this child's life come back to him again.
22 The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.
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And the Lord gave ear to the voice of Elijah, and the child's spirit came into him again, and he came back to life.
23 Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, "See, your son is alive."
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And Elijah took the child down from his room into the house and gave him to his mother and said to her, See, your son is living.
24 So the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth."
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Then the woman said to Elijah, Now I am certain that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is true.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.