7. After a while the brook dried up because there was no rain.
8. Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah,
9. “Go to Zarephath in Sidon. Live there. I have commanded a widow there to take care of you.”
10. So Elijah went to Zarephath. When he reached the town gate, he saw a widow there. She was gathering wood for a fire. Elijah asked her, “Would you bring me a little water in a cup? I would like to have a drink.”
11. As she was going to get his water, Elijah said, “Please bring me a piece of bread, too.”
12. The woman answered, “As surely as the Lord your God lives, I tell you the truth. I have no bread. I have only a handful of flour in a jar. And I have only a little olive oil in a jug. I came here to gather some wood. I will take it home and cook our last meal. My son and I will eat it and then die from hunger.”
13. Elijah said to her, “Don’t worry. Go home and cook your food as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread from the flour you have. Bring it to me. Then cook something for yourself and your son.
14. The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘That jar of flour will never become empty. The jug will always have oil in it. This will continue until the day the Lord sends rain to the land.’”
15. So the woman went home. And she did what Elijah told her to do. So Elijah, the woman and her son had enough food every day.
16. The jar of flour and the jug of oil were never empty. This happened just as the Lord, through Elijah, said it would.
17. Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. He grew worse and worse. Finally he stopped breathing.
18. So the woman said to Elijah, “You are a man of God. What have you done to me? Did you come here to remind me of my sin? Did you come here to kill my son?”