1Ki 17:2 The word of the Lord came to him, saying,

1Ki 17:3 "Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.

1Ki 17:4 It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there."

1Ki 17:5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.

1Ki 17:6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook.

1Ki 17:7 It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

1Ki 17:8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

1Ki 17:9 "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."

1Ki 17:10 So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, "Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink."

1Ki 17:11 As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand."

1Ki 17:12 But she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die."

1Ki 17:13 Then Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son.

1Ki 17:14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel, 'The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth.'"

1Ki 17:15 So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days.

1Ki 17:16 The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.

1Ki 17:17 Now it came about after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.

1Ki 17:18 So she said to Elijah, "What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!"

1Ki 17:19 He said to her, "Give me your son." Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed.

1Ki 17:20 He called to the Lord and said, "O Lord my God, have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?"

1Ki 17:21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, "O Lord my God, I pray You, let this child's life return to him."

1Ki 17:22 The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived.

1Ki 17:23 Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, "See, your son is alive."

1Ki 17:24 Then 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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1Ki 18:1 Now it happened after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, "Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth."

1Ki 18:2 So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria.

1Ki 18:3 Ahab called Obadiah who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly;

1Ki 18:4 for when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water.)

1Ki 18:5 Then Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys; perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle."

1Ki 18:6 So they divided the land between them to survey it; Ahab went one way by himself and Obadiah went another way by himself.

1Ki 18:7 Now as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him, and he recognized him and fell on his face and said, "Is this you, Elijah my master?"

1Ki 18:8 He said to him, "It is I. Go, say to your master, 'Behold, Elijah is here.'"

1Ki 18:9 He said, "What sin have I committed, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab to put me to death?

1Ki 18:10 As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent to search for you; and when they said, 'He is not here,' he made the kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you.

1Ki 18:11 And now you are saying, 'Go, say to your master, "Behold, Elijah is here."'

1Ki 18:12 It will come about when I leave you that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you where I do not know; so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth.

1Ki 18:13 Has it not been told to my master what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, that I hid a hundred prophets of the Lord by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water?

1Ki 18:14 And now you are saying, 'Go, say to your master, "Behold, Elijah is here"'; he will then kill me."

1Ki 18:15 Elijah said, "As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today."

1Ki 18:16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

1Ki 18:17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is this you, you troubler of Israel?"

1Ki 18:18 He said, "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and you have followed the Baals.

1Ki 18:19 Now then send and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."

1Ki 18:20 So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel.

1Ki 18:21 Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people did not answer him a word.

1Ki 18:22 Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men.

1Ki 18:23 Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it.

1Ki 18:24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, He is God." And all the people said, "That is a good idea."

1Ki 18:25 So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it."

1Ki 18:26 Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, "O Baal, answer us." But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they made.

1Ki 18:27 It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened."

1Ki 18:28 So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them.

1Ki 18:29 When midday was past, they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.

1Ki 18:30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down.

1Ki 18:31 Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, "Israel shall be your name."

1Ki 18:32 So with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two measures of seed.

1Ki 18:33 Then he arranged the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood.

1Ki 18:34 And he said, "Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood." And he said, "Do it a second time," and they did it a second time. And he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time.

1Ki 18:35 The water flowed around the altar and he also filled the trench with water.

1Ki 18:36 At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word.

1Ki 18:37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again."

1Ki 18:38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

1Ki 18:39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God."

1Ki 18:40 Then Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape." So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

1Ki 18:41 Now Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower."

1Ki 18:42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he crouched down on the earth and put his face between his knees.

1Ki 18:43 He said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go back" seven times.

1Ki 18:44 It came about at the seventh time, that he said, "Behold, a cloud as small as a man's hand is coming up from the sea." And he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot and go down, so that the heavy shower does not stop you.'"

1Ki 18:45 In a little while the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy shower. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.

1Ki 18:46 Then the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and outran Ahab to Jezreel.

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1Ki 19:1 Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.

1Ki 19:2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time."

1Ki 19:3 And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

1Ki 19:4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers."

1Ki 19:5 He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, "Arise, eat."

1Ki 19:6 Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.

1Ki 19:7 The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you."

1Ki 19:8 So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.

1Ki 19:9 Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

1Ki 19:10 He said, "I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

1Ki 19:11 So He said, "Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

1Ki 19:12 After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.

1Ki 19:13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

1Ki 19:14 Then he said, "I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

1Ki 19:15 The Lord said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram;

1Ki 19:16 and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.

1Ki 19:17 It shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death.

1Ki 19:18 Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him."

1Ki 19:19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him.

1Ki 19:20 He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, "Please let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you." And he said to him, "Go back again, for what have I done to you?"

1Ki 19:21 So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him.

====== TODAY =================
Day 178 -- 27 June:   1 Kings 17-19
===== PREVIOUS DAYS ==================

Day 176 -- 25 June:   2 Chronicles 13-16; 1 Kings 15:1-24
Day 177 -- 26 June:   1 Kings 15:25-16:34; 2 Chronicles 17
===== COMING DAYS =================
Day 179 -- 28 June:   1 Kings 20-21

Day 180 -- 29 June:   2 Chronicles 18;1 Kings 22
Day 181 -- 30 June:   2 Chronicles 19-23

Day 182 -- 1 July:   Obadiah 1; Psalm 82-83

Day 183 -- 2 July:   2 Kings 1-4