8The LORD’s message came to him,
9“Get up, go to Zarephath in Sidonian territory, and live there. I have already told a widow who lives there to provide for you.”
10So he got up and went to Zarephath. When he went through the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood. He called out to her,“Please give me a little water in a cup, so I can take a drink.”
11As she went to get it, he called out to her,“Please bring me a piece of bread.”
12She said,“As certainly as the LORD your God lives, I have no food, except for a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. Right now I am gathering a couple of sticks for a fire. Then I’m going home to make one final meal for my son and myself. After we have eaten that, we will die of starvation.”
13Elijah said to her,“Don’t be afraid. Go and do as you planned. But first make me a small cake and bring it to me; then make something for yourself and your son.
14For this is what the LORD God of Israel has said,‘The jar of flour will not be empty and the jug of oil will not run out until the day the LORD makes it rain on the surface of the ground.’”
15She went and did as Elijah told her; there was always enough food for Elijah and for her and her family.
16The jar of flour was never empty and the jug of oil never ran out, in keeping with the LORD’s message that he had spoken through Elijah.
17After this the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. His illness was so severe he could no longer breathe.
18She asked Elijah,“Why, prophet, have you come to me to confront me with my sin and kill my son?”
19He said to her,“Hand me your son.” He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him down on his bed.
20Then he called out to the LORD,“O LORD, my God, are you also bringing disaster on this widow I am staying with by killing her son?”